Different people train with weights with different goals in mind. Some are looking to build muscle, some wish to tone up, some just want to look better shirtless, and some want to increase their strength. Powerlifting and strongman are now both very popular, and if you’re looking at getting into either discipline, or if you simply want to become a little stronger, you need to understand the basic principles of strength training. That’s where we factor into the equation. Below we’ll be listing four principles of strength training so you can get an idea of what it takes to increase your strength and power.
Work on your weaknesses – We all have strong points and weak points in the gym, which is why different people prefer different exercises, and prefer training different body parts. To improve your strength and power however, you need to focus on your weaknesses rather than your strong points. If your pressing power is weak, don’t focus on pulling movements, step up your training and work on your pressing exercises instead. Throw in extra pressing exercises each week, and consider switching up your training so you can get more pressing movements complete each day you train. The only way you are going to improve is by working on your weaknesses, so embrace them rather than ignoring them.
Surround yourself with stronger individuals – As harsh as it may sound, if you are training with people that use light weights, your workouts are far less likely to yield any serious strength improvements. If you can, try to train with people that use fairly heavy weights, as that way you can learn from them, they will motivate you, plus you will work that little bit harder for fear of being made to look like a weakling.
Stick with the basics – Strength training these days can be a little complicated. We’re here to tell you that improving your strength and power needn’t be as complex as you may have thought. Try to keep things simple and stick with the basics when training, and you’ll be amazed by just how much of an improvement you will see in your raw power. Make free weight exercises the foundation of your training as these exercises recruit more muscle groups at once, including core stabilizer muscles, which allow you to generate more power. Stick with basic exercises such as: squats, deadlifts, bench presses, military presses, and pull ups, and your strength should increase day by day.
Increase weight slowly – Remember, strength training takes a lot of time and effort, so you cannot rush things. As tempting as it may be to throw an extra 45 lbs on the bar, this is not practical and more importantly, it isn’t safe either. Instead, every time you train, try to increase the amount of weight you lift slowly. Throw an extra 5lbs on the bar instead, and aim to match what you did the last time. Gradual increases in weight are far more practical, plus they’re a lot safer as well.
In order to get the most out of your training, you must follow some basic simple training principles which are overload, specificity, reversibility, and variance.
Overload means we must put our bodies under more stress than normal in order for adaptive changes to be made. Specificity relates to ensuring the training done is specific to the sport or activity. Reversibility means if you don’t keep it up you will lose it and variance relates to varying the training activities.
What are the basic principles of training?
The basic training principles for all physical exercise are:
Overload
In order to progress and improve our fitness, we have to put our bodies under additional stress. Applying this training principles will cause long-term adaptations, enabling our bodies to work more efficiently to cope with this higher level of performance. Overloading can be achieved by following the acronym FITT:
Frequency: Increasing the number of times you train per week
Intensity: Increasing the difficulty of the exercise you do. For example, running at 12 km/h instead of 10 or increasing the weight you are squatting with.
Time: Increasing the length of time that you are training for each session. For example, cycling for 45 minutes instead of 30.
Type: Increase the difficulty of the training you are doing. For example progress from walking to running.
Specificity
This principle of training relates to the type of training that you do. It should be specific to you and your sport. You should train the energy system which you use predominantly (i.e. don’t run 5,000 meters in training if you’re a sprinter!) and the fitness and skill components most important to your sport, for example, agility, balance or muscular endurance.
Another example is to swim a lot in training then expecting your running to improve significantly. Your general fitness will improve so therefore your running may also improve, not nowhere near as much as if you focusson on running instead of swimming.
You should also test the components which are important in your sport to see your strengths and weaknesses. With this information, you can focus on improving your weak points.
Reversibility
Use it or lose it! Basically, if you stop training then the improvements you have made will be reversed. So if you are ill or have a holiday and do not train for a period of time (even as little as a week) you may not be able to resume training at the point where you left off.
Variance
Try to vary your training. This keeps you interested and gives your body different challenges. Remember a change is as good as a rest with this training principle. Many professional athletes will play a completely different sport in-between their main season, to keep their fitness up whilst still having a rest!
Principles of training quizzes
Training principles External links
- Sports injuries at Sportsinjuryclinic.net
There are lots of ways to approach a resistance training workout. You can use barbells, dumbbells, resistance bands. and even your own body weight. Plus, you can change the training variables – the volume of training, resistance, rest between sets etc. Still, certain underlying principles make up the foundation of resistance training. Unfortunately, some people unknowingly violate these principles and expect to get results. Here are four basic training principles and how some people unintentionally get them wrong.
Resistance Training: Principle of Progressive Overload
Possibly the most important resistance training principle is that of progressive overload. The principle of progressive overload says what you probably already know: Your muscles won’t continue to grow unless you subject them to more stress than they’re accustomed too. It’s overload that forces your muscles to adapt by becoming stronger and larger. If you’re trying to build strength you primarily overload your muscles by adding more resistance to your lifts. If your goal is to increase muscle endurance, you do it by gradually adding more volume to your sets. To jumpstart muscle growth, you increase resistance AND volume over time since muscles grow in response to both.
Keep in mind that progressive overload needn’t occur in a linear fashion. When you’re first starting out, focus on getting the form right before adding more resistance. If you’re eating right and training regularly, you’ll probably make rapid gains in the first few months, but after that, you’ll have to work harder for those gains. At some point, you’ll want to periodize your workouts so you cycle the stimulus you place on your muscles during different phases to avoid plateaus and overtraining.
Resistance Training: How Some People Get It Wrong:
If you’ve ever worked out at a gym, you probably noticed people who lifted regularly but never seemed to change. Usually, it’s because they do the same routine using the same resistance day after day and month after month. To see change, you have to increase the challenge over time. If you’re trying to build strength, you shouldn’t be lifting the same weight today that you did three months ago. To monitor your progress, keep a written log so you can look back and see if you’re progressing over time or whether you’re staying stagnant.
Resistance Training: Principle of Specificity
The principle of specificity is referred to as SAID (specific adaptation to imposed demand). The SAID principle simply states that adaptations are specific to the type of training you do. For resistance training, if you train using lighter weights and high reps, you’ll build muscle endurance, but strength gains will be limited. Likewise, if you use high resistance and low reps, you build strength but gain little endurance. SAID doesn’t just apply to resistance training, it holds for any type of athletic training you do. An athlete doesn’t become an awesome sprinter by running long distances or doing kickboxing workouts. They power up their ability to sprint by sprinting. Similarly, when you train to become better at a particular sport, the exercises you do should mimic movements you do when you play that sport.
Resistance Training: How Some People Get It Wrong:
Some people train with light weights and high reps and expect to get stronger. It’s not going to happen. With lighter weights, you target mostly slow-twitch muscle fibers, ones optimized for endurance. With heavy resistance, you recruit mostly fast-twitch fibers, ones designed for strength and power. You might make some strength gains, in the beginning, using lighter weight, because of neurological adaptations, but you’ll quickly reach a plateau. Recent research suggests it’s possible to build muscle using lighter weights, especially if you lift to failure, but don’t count on making significant strength gains.
The take-home message? Think about what your objectives are and tailor your training around what you’re trying to achieve. Then make your training adaptation specific.
Resistance Training: Principle of Reversibility
This is a principle most of us wish didn’t exist. You sweat and train to build up a certain level of strength and muscle size. Then you stop training for a few months and slowly lose those gains. All of that hard work for nothing? The good news is muscles have “memory.” Once you carve the neurological pathways that made you stronger, you regain strength faster even after taking a long break.
Even building muscle size is easier the second time around. When you resistance train, the number of nuclei within each muscle cell increases. Scientists used to think you lose these nuclei when you stop training. Turns out you don’t (based on animal studies). Since you still have those extra nuclei, regaining muscle size is faster the second time.
How Some People Get It Wrong:
The quickest way to “get it wrong” is to stop training. Regrettably, sometimes life gets in the way or you experience an injury that keeps you from working out. Rather than quitting entirely, try to modify your routine in a way that won’t aggravate the injury or make it worse. If your lower body is injured, work your upper body. Do what you can to stay active. If time is the reason you can’t workout, do short, intense workouts that get the job done quickly. Even if you can’t do anything for a few weeks or months, muscle memory is still on your side.
Resistance Training: The Principle of Individual Variability
Each of us responds to resistance training in a different way based on age, gender, genetics, training and nutrition. Some people build muscle easily while others have to work hard to see a significant change. In general, women and older people have to train more intensely to build muscle, partially due to differences in hormonal make-up. That doesn’t mean you can’t build muscle or increase your strength. It just might take longer for you than it does someone else.
Don’t let age stop you. Studies show that even people in their ninth decade of life are capable of increasing muscle size and strength. Research shows elderly people need to train at a higher intensity (greater than 85% of one-rep max) and will gain the most benefits by more frequent training, 3 to 4 times a week.
Resistance Training: How Some People Get It Wrong:
Some people get it wrong by not using a high enough resistance and not consuming enough protein and calories to build lean body mass. Nutrition is part of the equation too. You can’t build lean body mass if you have a calorie deficit. The other part of the equation is being patient. Gains in strength and muscle size take time.
The Bottom Line
Keep these training principles in mind and violate them at your own risk. They’re backed by a number of research studies. The good news is they can work in your favor if you let them.
References:
J Clin Invest. 2008 Apr;118(4):1450-7. doi: 10.1172/JCI34022.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Aug 24;107(34):15111-6. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0913935107. Epub 2010 Aug 16.
IAAF.org. “Principles of Training”
Experimental Physiology. Volume 91, Issue 2, pages 457-464, March 2006.
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