I have been writing about the components of the exercise program. Today’s discussion considers the weight training component. Remember, we are talking the long-term program aspects of exercise, as well as the exercise session. Typically, the best fitness results are going to come from compartmentalizing the exercise, i.e., applying the principle of “specificity”. In other words, not all weight training is the same. Thus, the driving force behind programming a weight training plan is always going to be the individual’s goals (and, of course, the strength and conditioning coach’s goals in the case of athletes), as well as needs.
An important consideration in any exercise program is “periodization”. While periodization plans can seem overly complicated, at times, the principle is quite simple: it is the systematic cycling of the training for peak athletic or physical performance. While it might be easy to buy-in to the idea of “muscle confusion”—i.e., that one must constantly be surprising the muscle with random stimuli to promote adaptation—the science of exercise demonstrates quite the opposite. Because the muscle (or physiological system) responds to the specific stimulus with a specific adaptation and the adaptations to exercise occur during the recovery period, it is important to have a planned approach to the exercise—carefully manipulating the stimuli to optimize the response. Athletes take a periodized approach to training to peak at specific times, e.g., key competitions. For most collegiate athletes, for example, training is planned around an annual competitive schedule.
Periodization is scheduled around macrocycles (6-20+ weeks), mesocycles (3-6 weeks), and microcycles (usually 1 week). I am going the avoid the details here, as books have been written about this stuff, and, frankly, there is no “perfect” plan—plans are also very specific to the individual goals. In general, it should be considered that the overall plan should consider training for hypertrophy, muscle strength, muscle endurance, and power are separate goals. The cycling of the exercise takes advantage of what is referred to as “phase potentiation”—that is, the gains in a preceding cycle positively affect the subsequent cycle. Strength, for example, is built of hypertrophy gains, and power (the ability to produce force quickly) is built on strength.
For the average person—i.e., the non-athlete—who is looking for broad improvements in muscle function, I find it effective to vary the training components within a microcycle (e.g., varying the volume and intensity across the week). This could be referred to as “undulating periodization”. When discussing periodization, one can easily get caught up in the terminology and the differences in opinion and experience. Thus, let’s keep to the K.I.S.S. principle. An effective training program will vary the volumes and intensities of the lifts cyclically over defined—planned—periods with the goals of hypertrophy, strength, and power in mind. Most importantly, the cycling must include overload (i.e., in order for a body system to adapt, it must be stressed to a level greater than that to which it is accustomed) and progression. In other words, you must you have to plan for overall increases over time (linear periodization). In addition, the variation of exercises must be considered (conjugated periodization).
As a foundation of exercises, I prefer what I call the “basic 5”: squat, deadlift, bench, row, and press. There are numerous variations of these based on access, preference, needs, and goals, but overall, these should form the core of the training. Preferably, one variation of each of these is repeated throughout the mesocycle. This allows for more consistent progression. There should be no randomness to the selection of exercises.
It is an over-simplification, but key considerations for the individual training sessions include: intensity, repetitions, sets, and volume. These will define what and how much is done in a single session.
Intensity is relative to the maximum weight that can be lifted. It can be based off the one-repetition maximum (1-RM) or the repetition maximum for the intended exercise (e.g., 70% of the 5-RM squat). In most cases, we are not lifting to maximum intensity (i.e., momentary muscular failure) because we want to optimize the volume for recovery and adaptation, thus we keep a couple repetitions “in the tank”. Generally, the higher the intensity the fewer the repetitions performed in the set.
Greg Everett, in Olympic Weightlifting, 3rd ed, defines intensity both subjectively and objectively: light (50-70%), moderate (70-80%), moderate-heavy (80-85%), heavy (85-90%), submaximal (90-95%), and maximal (95-100%). Intensity increases as the goals shift through the progression from warm-up/technique training to speed or explosive strength training (power) to hypertrophy to absolute strength.
Repetitions are how many times an exercise is repeated within a set. In general, repetitions are grouped as low (1-3), moderate (4-6), or high (7-15). The repetitions are prescribed according to the goal—low reps for strength and power, moderate reps for strength and myofibrillar hypertrophy, and high repetitions for sarcoplasmic hypertrophy and muscular endurance.
Sets are driven by two important factors: recoverability and time. It is likely more complicated than this, but for the average person it comes down to how much can you accomplish in a given exercise session and be able to return fully recovered (or nearly recovered, depending on programming and recovery strategies) for the subsequent session. In general, three working sets (excluding warm-up sets) seems to be the consensus starting point.
Volume is an important aspect of the training. Too much can lead to overtraining. Too little can lead to undertraining. Volume is calculated as the products of weight lifted x repetitions performed x sets performed. Dr. Mike Israetel identifies what he terms “landmark volumes”. Accordingly, the training volumes need to be somewhere between the “minimum effective volume (MEV)” and the “maximum recoverable volume (MRV)” to produce growth and above the “maintenance volume (MV)” to maintain progress. In the most simplest terms, volume and intensity are inversely related.
In the video linked below*, Chad Wesley Smith (Juggernaut Training) summarizes overload for hypertrophy v. strength as follows:
Hypertrophy: driven by increased volume—60-75%; sets of 6-12 reps; 15-30 sets per week directed at each lift (body part).
Strength: driven by increased intensity—70-85% (intermediate/advanced) or 75-90% (intermediate/beginner); sets of 3-6 reps; 10-20 sets per week.
The key to success in the weight room is planning—and effort. Effort without planning, after all, can be like spinning one’s tires in the mud.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!