SS 110 – Basic Weight Training (Part 2)

Understanding Repetitions
The number of repetitions, or reps, you perform matters a lot and it all depends on your basic training goals.

Training for Strength - A strength training program is characterized by high-resistance, near maximal contractions for
a small number of repetitions, 6 repetitions or less, with a full recovery period between each
set. This type of training also stimulates an increase in the size of the exercised muscles, with
type II fibers increasing more readily and at a faster rate than type I. However, size increases in
this rep range are not as optimal as in training primarily for muscle size

Training for Muscle Size - A hypertrophy training program (also referred to as a bodybuilding program) involves
moderate loads that allow more repetitions than strength training programs but heavy
enough for contraction failure (inability of muscle to shorten or lengthen under control)
within 6 to 12 repetitions ideally within a 3-repetition range (6-8, 7-9, 8-10, etc). The rest
period is short to moderate (60-90 seconds) thus starting the next set of the exercise
before full recovery has been achieved. This higher overall volume appears to be optimal
for increasing muscles girth.

Weight training isn’t an exact science and genetic factors play a significant role in determining the ideal rep range for
the optimum size and strength that your muscles can develop.

Understanding Sets
Beginners should start with 1 to 2 sets for each of the major muscle groups. Typically, you are considered a beginner
if you have completed less than 6 months of regular training. After that, you’re in the intermediate level if you have
completed 2 years of regular training. Beyond that, you are considered an advanced lifter.

You will, of course, gain more strength and faster results with more sets. After a month or two, you may want to
increase the number of sets. If you want to continue to increase your strength over time, studies show that trained
individuals require multiple-set training of at least three or more. Below are the basic guidelines for training goals
and their recommended reps, sets and rest intervals.

Goal Reps Sets Rest

Power 1-2 3-5 2-5 min

Strength 3-5 3-5 2-5 min
Hypertrophy 6-12 3-6 30-90 sec
M. Endurance > 12 2-3 < 30 sec

Rest and Recovery

When it comes to training more isn’t necessarily better. Moderation and balance are critical to getting the best
possible results and avoiding injury. When you train, you stress or overload your muscles and microscopic tears
occur in the muscle fibers. When you rest, your body repairs these tears and your muscles become stronger. Rest
and good nutrition, therefore, are just as important to your training as your workouts.

Exercise-induced Muscle Damage

Hard exercise can induce Delayed-onset Muscle Soreness or DOMS. DOMS typically occurs 24-48 hours after
exercise.
The cause of this phenomenon is not definitively known. However, inflammation-induced increase in fluid in the
muscle probably causes the muscle discomfort, at least in part. Eccentric contraction has been found to induce the
most DOMS.

Resting a trained muscle at least one day

Always let a muscle rest at least one day between workouts. This doesn’t mean you can’t train two days in a row –
for example, you could work your chest and back one day and then your legs the next. However, if you’re doing a
full-body routine, don’t lift weights more than three times a week and don’t cram your three workouts into one
weekend.

Avoiding overtraining
Many exercisers become overly enthusiastic after they start getting results and think that if a little is good, even
more has to be great. While the risk of overtraining isn’t high, it’s important to mention so you can appreciate the
importance of variety and rest in your program.

Overtraining typically occurs in the following scenarios:

 Training too many times per week
 Doing too many exercises per session
 Lifting excessive numbers of sets
 Lifting too heavy a weight over too long a period of time

Signs and symptoms of overtraining include, but aren’t limited to, the following:
 Loss of strength
 Chronic fatigue
 Poor sleep or eating habits
 Reduced appetite
 Excess muscle soreness
 Loss of interest in training
 Increased frequency of illness combined with slow rate of healing

Be sure to avoid overtraining through the following strategies:

 Deload every 4-6 weeks
 Avoid monotonous training, introduce variety every 1-2 months
 Avoid overusing certain muscles or joints

Getting enough sleep

Regular training improves the quality of your sleep because you’ll be physically tired at night when you go to bed.
Current sleep researchers recommend that most people get around 7 to 9 hours per night. Individuals vary so you
need to discover how much is best for you. Sleep is always important to your health, but even more so when you’re
training your body. Because you’re actively stressing your muscles, your cells need more time to repair. If you
deprive yourself of adequate sleep, you’re limiting your opportunity for your muscle tissue to optimally repair itself.

Detraining
Last but not least, while you need to make rest a part of your training program, you need to avoid resting too much.
Unfortunately, we can’t save or store our fitness. Research evidence suggests that detraining occurs slowly – Power
decreases within 1 week of no training, Strength decreases within 1-3 weeks of no training and Hypertrophy
decreases within 2-3 weeks of no training (assuming that diet remains normal).

When your schedule is exceptionally busy and you find it difficult to do your full routine, remember that something
is always better than nothing. Even training one day a week, especially if performed at a higher intensity, can be very
valuable to prevent a loss of strength over time. It has been suggested that training once every 7-10 days is enough
for maintenance.

Tracking Your Progress (Logging Workouts)

Recording workouts increases your motivation and helps you keep up with your workout program. Logging workouts
are mainly done to track your progress and to easily remember the load/intensity you’ve been using in your exercise.

Workouts can be logged on a “Daily Workout Log” such as the one below:
Workouts can also be easily recorded on a small notebook and logged like the one below:

August 20, 2019

Barbell Rows -12 x 40 kg

10 x 40 kg
12 x 40 kg
Dumbbell Shrugs - 12 x 40 lbs
15 x 40 lbs
15 x 40 lbs
Lat. Pulldown - 10 x 100 lbs
12 x 100 lbs
10 x 120 lbs

============

General Weight Training Safety

Weight training is safe and people can go a lifetime without any injury. However, you may feel occasional muscle
soreness — especially if you’re a beginner. A little bit of post-workout soreness 24 to 48 hours after your workout,
rather than right away, is normal. This postponed period is called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS). There are
ways to reduce your amount of discomfort so you can be a normal, functioning human being after each workout.

Warm-up for Weight Training

A warm-up period is important before any exercise or athletic performance. To avoid injury, athletes should raise the
body’s internal temperature through light activity before engaging in exercise. Essentially, the goal is to prepare
physically and mentally for exercise or competition without causing fatigue (remember that the warm-up is not yet
the workout). Multiple studies have shown that physical exertion, and thus performance, is better when preceded by
a warmup than without. The positive effects of warmups can be divided into temperature-related and non-
temperature-related effects:

Temperature-related effects:
 Increase in muscle temperature
 Increase in core temperature
 Enhanced neural function
 Disruption of transient connective tissue bonds

Non-temperature-related effects:
 Increased blood flow to muscles
  Increased baseline oxygen consumption
 Postactivation potentiation

When warming up for a lifting session, it is recommended to follow the progression below:

1. General Warm-up – a general warm-up consists of 5 to 10 minutes of activity to increase heart rate, blood flow,
deep muscle temperature, respiration rate, joint fluid viscosity, and perspiration. These include activities such as
slow jogging, dynamic stretching, or riding a stationary bicycle. The increase in muscle temperature allows a
greater amount of flexibility, which readies the body for movements required by the sport or physical activity.
This is only to be done at the beginning of a session.

2. Specific Warm-up – a specific warm-up incorporates movements similar to the movements of the sport or
exercise. For weight training, this includes doing an 2 to 4 sets of an exercise using very light weight to start with.
Squatting using just 25% of your working set, for example, and then adding progressively more weight until you
get to about 75% of your working set. This is only to be done before the first exercise for a muscle group.

3. Potentiating set - a potentiating set involved lifting a weight that is close to your working set (around 90 to 100%
load of your working set) for only 1 to 2 reps. This primes the nervous system to perform more efficiently and
makes you lift more effectively in the working sets. This is to be done before the first working set of every
compound exercise.

4. Working sets – the sets which use the load you originally intended to lift to provide an overload. These are the
actual sets that you record on your training log.

5. Potentiating sets then working sets – once you move on to the next exercise for the same muscle group (for
example after doing Squats you proceed to doing a Leg Press), all you need is a potentiating set and then you can
proceed to the working sets.

6. Specific warm-up, potentiating set then working sets – once you move on to exercises for the next muscle
groups (for example, after the Leg Press you proceed to doing the Bench Press), you go back to doing a (1)
specific warm-up, (2) potentiating set and then (3) working sets. This sequence is only necessary for subsequent
compound exercises for difference muscle groups.

7. Specific warm-up then working sets – for isolation or single-joint exercises which are usually done on the latter
part of each session, 1 to 2 sets of a specific warm-up is typically enough before moving on to working sets.

Breathe Properly
Breathing is often the most overlooked and least understood component of weight training. Relaxed, normal
breathing while exercising is the best technique. Don’t hold your breath either. Holding your breath creates intra-
thoracic pressure — pressure in the chest cavity — that stops the circulation of blood from your muscles but can
increase blood pressure. When you relax, the muscle relaxes, the blood begins to flow again, and your blood
pressure drops. This drastic drop may cause you to pass out and get hurt.

In most cases, it is advised to exhale through the sticking point. The sticking point is when the muscle contracts from
the most stretched position and is the most difficult part of the movement. For example, in the bench press the
sticking point is when you’re trying to lift the bar off your chest; in the squat, the sticking point is when you’re trying
to get up from the bottom position.

Use Proper Form

Even subtle form mistakes, such as overarching your back or cocking your wrist the wrong way, can lead to injury. It’s
important to understand that form is everything in weight lifting. Poor form ultimately leads to injuries. Before you
start building muscle, you need to establish correct form and balance especially before you add more weight. When
you start using heavy poundage, bad form ultimately leads to injuries to muscles and joints.

Stand Clear from Moving Equipment

Observe proper Right of Way - people carrying weights to another spot in the room or area are given priority thus
other people should move aside. When you’re moving free weights to another spot, have the courtesy to say
“excuse me” to avoid accidents.

Observe proper Right of Space - People doing exercises with free weights or on a weight machine are given priority
over the space that they need to complete their set unobstructed.

Free Weights Safety

Be careful When Carrying Weights Around
• Hold heavier weight plates with two hands
• Keep the plates close to your body when you carry them
• Move sideways you carry barbells

Use Collars
A collar is a clamp-like device that you use to secure a weight plate onto a bar. Often, when you perform a barbell
exercise, the bar tilts slightly to one side. Without a collar, the plates may slide off and fall to one side.

Don’t Drop Weights on the Floor

After you complete a dumbbell exercise on a bench:
• Bring the weights to your chest
• Gently rock yourself up into a sitting position
• Do not simply let go of the dumbbells as it can roll anywhere and cause accidents

Safely Return Weights to the Rack

When you finish using dumbbells, barbells, or weight plates, don’t just lean straight over with locked knees and
swing the weights back on the rack. You should:
• Hold heavy dumbbells with 2 hands
• Gently lower the dumbbell, do not excessively “swing” towards the rack
• Be careful not to smash your fingers when placing the weights back on the rack

Weight Machines Safety

Custom Fit Each Machine

Some machines require a single adjustment, such as the seat height. Others require two or more adjustments. With
practice, fitting the machine to your body becomes second nature. Don’t get lazy about making adjustments. Using a
weight machine that doesn’t fit your body is uncomfortable and potentially dangerous.

Watch Your Fingers

Occasionally, a machine’s weight stack gets stuck in midair. Don’t try to rectify the situation yourself by fiddling with
the plates. Instead, call a staff member for help. If you have to, use bars to pry up the stuck plates. Again, never stick
your fingers underneath the plates.

Don’t Invent New Uses for Machines

Machines are usually built for one purpose and using them beyond this purpose may cause injury.

Spotting
A spotter is someone who stands close by, ready to take the weight in case your muscles give out. The spotter can be
your lifting partner that you go to the gym with or a stranger in the gym that you enlist for one or two exercises.

People need a spotter in the following situations:

 Trying an exercise for the first time
 Attempting a heavier weight than usual
 Attempting more reps than usual

Briefing Your Spotter

Your spotter can be a friend or a training partner that you meet at the gym. If you don’t know anyone, you can
usually ask a staff person who is working on the gym floor.
  Explain how many repetitions you’re aiming to complete
 Clarify whether you need help lifting the bar off the rack (liftoff) or getting dumbbells into position
 Don’t forget to thank your spotter

Being a Spotter
When people recruit you as a spotter, you have a big responsibility to perform your job correctly. The spotter should
be stronger or at least as strong as the lifter. Pay close attention so you’re ready at the precise moment your partner
needs help. Step in to help on when:

 The weight stops moving and it’s immediately apparent that the person is no longer in control
 The weight begins traveling in the wrong direction
 The lifter asks for “Help!” or “Spot!”

When spotting someone, Don’t:

 Impose a lift-or-die mentality. Just because he may have planned to complete five reps doesn’t mean that
you should withhold assistance if he starts struggling after three.

 Offer too much help too soon. This eagerness defeats the purpose of spotting because the person only
needs a spotter because they’re trying to test the edge of their limits.

 Lean so close to the lifter that you impede or distract his/her movement. Bench-pressing isn’t enjoyable
when someone’s face is directly over yours, and you can see up the person’s nose.

Exercises that Usually Need Spotters

 Bench Press - Stand behind the bench with your hands above or underneath the bar but not touching it.
When the lifter needs you, lean in and get a quick grip on the bar.

 Dumbbell Flys and Dumbbell Chest Press - For these dumbbell exercises (and versions performed on an
incline bench) place your hands close to the person’s wrists, not close to the weights. You may see people
spot underneath the elbows, which isn’t as safe.

 Barbell Squat - Stand behind and be prepared to assist at the hips, underneath the arms, or under the bar.
If you’re squatting with a particularly heavy weight, you may want two spotters - one standing on either
side of the bar.

 Pull-ups, Chin-ups and Dips - Stand behind and offer assistance by holding his or her shins or waist and
guiding them upward. Make sure to let go when they are done with the last rep!

 Machine exercises - Spot at the bar or lever of the machine. Never spot machine exercises by placing your
hand underneath the weight stack!

END OF 2ND LONG EXAM TOPICS