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When you're just getting started with weight training, it's important to know the basic strength training principles. These are pretty straightforward and can be helpful in figuring out how to set up your workouts so that you're always progressing and avoiding weight loss plateaus.
Overload: The first thing you need to do to build lean muscle tissue is to use more resistance than your muscles are used to. This is important because the more you do, the more your body is capable of doing, so you should increase your workload to avoid plateaus. In plain language, this means you should be lifting enough weight that you can only complete the desired number of reps. You should be able to finish your last rep with difficulty, but also with good form.
Progression: To avoid plateaus or adaptation, you need to increase your intensity regularly. You can do this by increasing the amount of weight lifted, changing your sets/reps, changing the exercises, and/or changing the type of resistance. You can make these changes on a weekly or monthly basis.
Specificity: This means you should train for your goal. If you want to increase your strength, your program should be designed around that goal (e.g., train with heavier weights closer to your 1 RM, or 1 rep max). To lose weight, you might want to focus on circuit training, since that may give you the most bang for your buck.
Rest and Recovery: Rest days are just as important as workout days. It is during these rest periods that your muscles grow and change, so make sure you're not working the same muscle groups two days in a row.
KEYWORDS AND CONCEPTS
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There are a few key words and concepts that you'll be seeing throughout this program. Please familiarize yourself with each term and concept.
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**Reps** – the number of times you raise and lower the weight
**Sets** – the number of times you repeat the prescribed number of reps
**Rest time** – the amount of time in between performing each set. Use this time to catch your breath and focus, not to text or talk to your friends.
**Tempo** – the speed at which you perform each rep. It is important to note that the rep can be broken into 4 parts:
The eccentric motion or “negative”. This is when the muscle is lengthened in the direction of resistance. (ex. Lowering the weight when performing a bicep curl)
The concentric motion or “positive”. This is when the muscle is shortened against the force of resistance. (ex. Raising the weight when performing a bicep curl)
The “pause” that follows the completion of the concentric portion of the rep.
The "pause" that follows the completion of the eccentric portion of the rep.
**A tempo of 3-1-1-1 would mean:**
- Lower the weight for 3 seconds
- Take a 1 second pause after completely lowering the weight
- Raise the weight for 1 second
- Take a 1 second pause after completely raising the weight
- We will utilize several different tempos throughout the training so be sure - to understand this concept.
**Superset** – when you perform two different exercises back to back with no rest time in between.
Superset 1: barbell bench press & DB flyes
- Perform the prescribed number of reps for bench press.
- Rack the weight.
- Immediately grab the dumbbells
- Perform the prescribed number of reps for flyes
**Giant Set** -- same as Superset, just with 3 or more different exercises combined.
**Drop set** – These are normally done on the last set of an exercise. Perform the prescribed number of reps, then immediately drop the weight 20-30% and perform reps until failure. Then drop the weight an additional 20-30% and perform reps until failure.
Example: Bicep Curl Drop Set
Set 1 – 12 Reps
Set 2 – 12 Reps
Set 3 – 12 Reps
Set 4 (drop set) – 12 Reps, drop weight by 20%, go to failure, drop weight by 20%, go to failure.
**Rest/Pause** -- Utilizing 2-4 warm up sets (or as many as needed) until your joints are warm and your muscles are firing properly. Once your working weight is found you are to complete 1 DC style rest/pause set to failure of 15-30 total reps. This means that you should load the bar with as much weight as you can handle for **8 reps**. Do as many reps as you can with perfect form until technical failure. Put the weight down and wait 20 seconds. Pick up the weight again and do another set of perfect reps until you hit technical failure again. Set it back down and wait 20 seconds again before attempting one final set to failure. Upon completing the set, go directly into an extreme stretch for 30-60s.
Note: This is basically 3 small sets with 20 secs rest between, forced into 1 set. You will only do 1 complete Rest/Pause set per exercise.
**HIIT Cardio** – HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training. This is a form of cardio that is performed by doing brief (but intense) periods of High/Low cardio. Research shows that this type of training can help maximize fat loss with a minimum amount of muscle loss. In fact, it can even help add extra muscle. You can benefit from doing HIIT cardio a few days per week in most programs.
Example: 10 rounds of 15/30 second Sprints
Sprint as fast as you can for 15 seconds
Walk/Rest for 30 seconds
Sprint as fast you can for 15 seconds
Walk/Rest for 30 seconds
Repeat
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