The following is a write up I did for my own pleasure my junior year of high school, I strongly suggest skimming through it:
*It's not complete.
Knowledge is Power
By: Connor Sherman
Whether you're training for a sport, or just trying to build a physique that demands respect, weight training will undoubtedly be the path you take. The world of weight training can be very perplexing, with so many contradicting ideas, one can be overwhelmed as to what to believe. The purpose of this write-up is to steer you clear of all the misleading information associated with weight training, and get you to where you want to be.
* I do not take credit for any of the concepts or principles used in this write-up. I do however take credit for putting the concepts and principles in my own words and using my own examples; making this write up ideal for a beginner trainee.
More is not better
I believe too much of anything is not ideal. This is especially true with regards to weight training. People get the idea, that the more you do, the more you will gain. If that were the case, why would some one do 4 sets of bench press, when they could do 5, 20, or 100 sets? The reason it doesn't work that way is because the body grows when it is at rest, not when in the gym. If some one were to do that amount of volume (Sets x Reps), they would experience overtraining, something we will cover later. The only individuals that can get away with that amount of volume are the ones that have chosen to take Anabolic Steroids. Training that much would halt gains, and can even set you further back in your training. This first rule is very hard for a lot of beginner lifters to comprehend, and use to their advantage. If you can master this concept, your gains will reflect it.
Weight Training Routines
What many people fall victim to is picking up the latest "muscle magazine", and trying out one of the pre made workout templates found inside. Unfortunately 99.9% of the programs you find in those magazines break the first rule. The truth is, there is no "perfect" program. A program that works wonders for your friend might just be mediocre for you. The human body is very complicated, and still not totally understood. For the most part, the program that works best for an individual is the one they stick with and believe in. However, there are some programs out there that do follow many rules for a natural lifter, and therefore have a better chance of working for many people. I will attach some routines that have stood the test of time.
Progressive Overload
This is one of the most important rules in my opinion. This rule refers to continually increasing the demands of the musculoskeletal system in order to continually make gains in muscle size, strength and endurance. In simplest terms- In order to get bigger and stronger you must continually lift more and more and make your muscles work harder than they are used to. If you don't, your muscle will not become any bigger or stronger than they currently are. The human body is very smart and will adapt to the challenges you put forth on it. If you don't give your body a reason to grow, it won't. There are seven good ways to use the principle of Progressive Overload.
Numbers 1-6 are ways to increase training volume or make the muscle(s) do more work
Number 7 is a way to make your muscle(s) do more work in less time.
1-
Increase Resistance ( this is number 1 for a reason)
Simply put- If you benched 300lbs for 3 sets of 5 reps, the following week you would increase that weight. The increase is usually very small (2.5, or 5lbs). If you try to increase the weight in larger increments, you will only be let down, or injured. Be patient, weight training is a marathon, not a sprint.
2-
Increase Sets
Increase the number of sets you perform for a given exercise. Instead of 3 sets of bench, try 4 to really fatigue the muscle.
3-
Increase Repetitions
Increase the number of repetitions you do for a given exercise. Don't stop yourself at some magical number- push yourself to do 1 or 2 more reps, you can use a spotter if necessary.
4-
Increase Frequency (not recommend for beginners)
Increase how often you train a certain muscle or muscle group. This technique is most useful for improving lagging or weak muscles.
5-
Increase Exercises
Increase the number of exercises you perform for a certain muscle or muscle group with the addition of a new one to your current program. An example for chest day would be doing dumbbell pullovers, something you didn't have in your routine before. You can also do something like combining chest and back day.
6-
Increase Intensity
This principle refers to how much effort you put into every set and rep. This is hard for many people to do, only because a big chunk of it has to do with mind set. A good training partner will serve to push you harder and keep you on task if you are not easily internally motivated.
7-
Decrease Rest Time
Decreasing the rest time between consecutive sets will force your body to adapt metabolically by removing toxins (lactic acid) and other byproducts of anaerobic exercise (weight lifting) faster and more efficiently over time. Eventually you will be able to lift more in less time.
Recording Workouts
This directly correlates with Progressive Overload. Recording workouts can be difficult at first, but eventually you'll feel weird not doing it. The point of recording workouts is to see what weight you used, how many reps you did, what exercises were done and the amount of rest you took. I don't know anyone that can remember all that without writing it down somewhere. I personally just use paper, but many will create an Excel page for their workouts. Don't guess what you did, write it down!
Nutrition
Nutrition is without a doubt the most important topic in this write up. Inadequate nutrition when weight training is like winning a Ferrari, except it doesn't have any fuel. Think of the Ferrari as your training program, and the fuel as food. You can have the best training program in the world, but without proper nutrition you will only be left disappointed. Your body needs calories to build muscle. This doesn't mean eating junk food to obtain those calories. A serious weight lifters diet should consist of milk, chicken, fish, lean beef or pork, eggs, pasta, nuts, yogurt, fruit, lots of water and vegetables.
The Infamous "Pump"
I can't tell you how many people have told me their workouts must be working because of the pump they get. That pump you get is Vasodilatation, or a widening of blood vessels, thus greater blood flow. It has no direct correlation with muscular development. Vasodilation can help with nutrient delivery via blood pathway, and can cause fascia stretching.
The Infamous "Soreness"
This is the soreness you feel hours, or days after unaccustomed or strenuous exercise. Its real name is Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness or DOMS. The concern many people have is if they don't feel the soreness days after training, they don't think their routine is working. If I were to hold my hand up all day, it would without a doubt be sore, but it doesn't produce gains. The only way you can track if you are making progress is recording your workouts, and incorporating Progressive Overload.
Bulking and Cutting
Bulking and cutting are (when done correctly) a very effective way to put on muscle quickly, and get rid of excess body fat. However, bulking and cutting can be difficult, discouraging people to give it a try.
Bulk- When someone goes on a "bulk" that's simply increasing calories (caloric surplus). For a bulk, you take the normal amount of calories you would consume (maintenance), and
add 200-500 calories more a day.
Cut- Cutting is decreasing calories (caloric deficit). When cutting you
subtract 200-500 calories from your maintenance.
A good rule of thumb is gaining a pound a week when bulking, and losing a pound a week when cutting. If you're not achieving that, adjust your calories accordingly.
Compound vs. Isolation Exercises
Compound exercises refer to multi joint movements (squat, deadlift, bench press, shoulder press, pull ups etc.). Isolation exercises refer to single joint movements (dumbbell curls, tricep push downs, leg curls etc). Compound exercises allow you to lift more weight than isolation, and stimulate the most muscle fibers. Isolation exercises allow you to "isolate a muscle". If pull ups aren't adequate enough to stimulate bicep growth, a curl variation can be thrown in. Most beginner programs focus on compound exercises only. As a beginner, you don't need isolation exercises to get bigger and stronger. As you become a more experienced trainee, isolation exercises may be needed to stimulate new muscle growth. COMPOUND EXERCISES ARE SUPERIOR TO ISOLATION, DON'T GET THIS CONFUSED.
Hypertrophy vs. Strength
This is one of the more confusing concepts, only because there are so many different beliefs as to how to achieve hypertrophy or strength. Hypertrophy is just a fancy name for muscle growth. Strength is self explanatory. Many uninformed individuals believe if you become stronger, you become bigger and vise versa. This is not always true. An example would be a power lifter vs. a bodybuilder. The bodybuilder is usually much bigger, but the power lifter is stronger; the reason being bodybuilders train for hypertrophy while power lifters train for strength. Some people believe low reps do a better job in training the CNS (Central Nervous System) and higher reps are better for muscle growth. This concept is just that…a concept. There are many individuals who have gained great size by training for strength, as well as individuals that gained strength training for hypertrophy. The best choice is to try both, and see how the body responds. The below tips are very generalized, and there are a range of other variables that go along with both training methods. A rule that no one will argue with is that beginners need to follow a strength routine; this builds a good base for doing hypertrophy style training in the future.
Hypertrophy tips(stimulating sarcoplasmic hypertrophy)
-Reps are kept between 8-12.
-Rest should be no longer than 2 min.
Strength tips(stimulating myofibrill hypertrophy)
-Reps are kept between 1-5(>75% of 1rm
-Rest should be between 3-5min.
Advanced training methods
These techniques will help individuals break plateaus (when progress has stopped). None of these techniques should be used on a regular basis, overtraining or injury are much more likely to occur.
Benching specific
Rack Lockouts
This exercise is used to improve an individual's lockout (very top part of bench movement). The exercise works the triceps more than the chest. It allows you to load up the bar with a weight that you wouldn't actually be able to bench. The exercise requires a power rack. You should set up the spotter bars so that you are only performing a 3-4 inch movement. Keep the weight under control.
Negatives (spotter needed)
Negatives, like rack lockouts, are loading up the bar with a weight you wouldn't be able to perform the full motion with. You perform a negative by only performing the eccentric part, or lowering. To set up for bench, have your partner help you lift the weight off the hooks, and then slowly, and under control, lower the weight by yourself. When you have touched your chest, have your partner hoist the weight back up onto the j hooks. You do not attempt to perform the concentric or raising part on a negative. On a negative you will "positively fail". Unlike rack lockouts, negatives can be used for other exercises…yes even barbell curls.
Floor Presses (dangerous)
Floor presses can't be performed in a power rack, making an injury more susceptible. Floor presses allow you to use a weight greater than your normal bench. They are performed by lying on the ground. You will only be able to so low, because your elbows will hit the ground. Your arms should form 90 degree angles.
Board Presses (2 spotters recommended)
The purpose of a board press is to train specific ranges of the pressing motion in order to increase overall power for a bigger bench press. The lifter places a stack of boards on his chest. The bar is lowered until it touches the boards, and is pressed back up. The great thing about this movement is that both the positive and negative bench motions can be utilized in a constrained range of motion. The height of the boards is chosen by the lifter. 2x6's are most commonly used, cut to 12-18 inches. It's recommended to use two spotters, one to help you un-rack the weight and one to hold the boards in place.
Techniques for everything else
Drop Sets (spotter needed)
A drop set is a simple technique where you perform a set of any exercise to failure, then drop some weight and continue for more repetitions with the reduced weight. I'll use bench as an example to illustrate a proper drop set. Let's say someone is benching three plates. To do a drop set they would perform 8 reps with 3 plates, and then the spotter would quickly remove a plate from each side, then another. All you're doing is shedding the weight.
Super Sets
Super sets can be a great time saver. To perform a super set you simply combine two exercises, with limited rest. Super sets are most commonly used with antagonistic (opposite) muscle groups, but don't have to. You could combine bench with lat pull downs, or barbell curls with triceps extensions.
Machines vs. Free weights
Let me start this out by saying free weights are a better choice than machines. Machines do have there place, but if your goal is strength and hypertrophy, free weights are a better choice. When I say "free weights" that includes dumbbells and barbells for the most part. "Machines" refer to leg curl/extension machine, leg press, smith machine, pec deck, chest press machine etc. Free weights are superior in many ways, the main reason being they work your stabilizer muscles. I'll do a free weight and machine comparison using the squat and the leg press. When you perform a leg press, you are in a stationary position; all you have to do is press. When you squat, obviously you are still pressing, but unlike the leg press you are using your full body to perform the exercise. When you squat you have to prevent yourself from falling forward/backward, making sure you don't go too low. To prevent this we use are abdominal muscles. Since the squat uses more muscles, it puts a greater stress on the musculoskeletal system, creating greater gains. You'll notice machines are easier to use than free weights; they do half the work for you. Squats, deadlifts, and OHP's are some of the best abdominal exercises. This is why it is not beneficial to work abs directly everyday; they get worked indirectly all the time.