Strength Training Guidelines

The following strength training guidelines will help you safely and effectively incorporate strength training into your fitness program.

Frequency

There's no single ideal training frequency. How many days per week you lift weights depends on factors such as your training goals, your level of training experience, your recovery ability, and how many different muscle groups you train each workout.

Rest days are just as important as training days, because muscles don't grow during training, they grow after training. Weight lifting causes microscopic tears in muscles, and rest days allow muscles to repair themselves, grow and get stronger. A muscle needs at least 48 hours of rest to recover from a weight lifting workout, so never train the same muscle group two days in a row.

Duration

A weight lifting workout should last no more than 60 minutes. After 60 minutes your body begins to stop producing the muscle building/fat burning hormones testosterone and human growth hormone and starts producing the hormone cortisol, which can tear down muscle tissue and contribute to fat storage.

Repetitions and Sets

A repetition (also called a rep) is one complete motion of an exercise. A set is a group of consecutive repetitions. Performing 1-5 reps per set primarily builds strength and power. Performing 6-12 reps per set is best for overall muscle development. Performing greater than 12 reps per set primarily builds muscular endurance. Fitness experts have varying opinions on how many sets should be performed for each exercise during a workout, but many recommend performing three sets (not including warm up sets) per exercise. Use this as a general guideline and then adjust as needed based on factors such as what body part you're training, what exercises you're performing, and what your training goals are.

Rest Between Sets

As a general guideline, the rest between sets should be 30-90 seconds. The rest time will vary depending on factors such as what body part you're training, what exercises you're performing, and what your training goals are.

Number of Exercises

As a general guideline, beginning weight lifters should perform one exercise per body part, intermediate lifters should perform two exercises per body part, and advanced lifters should perform three exercises per body part. Adjust this guideline as needed based on factors such as what body part you're training, what exercises you're performing, and what your training goals are.

Intensity

One of the most important strength training guidelines is that you have to work out with a high level of intensity in order to achieve optimum results. But what's considered a high level of intensity? Some fitness experts advocate reaching "muscle failure" on every set. Muscle failure is when your muscle is so tired you can't do another full rep in good form. Other fitness experts feel that taking every set to muscle failure will lead to overtraining and/or injury. Since there's no consensus on this, it's best to take some of your sets to muscle failure and others to just short of muscle failure. This will vary from workout to workout depending on factors such as how you feel, what body part you're training, and what exercises you're performing.

Once you reach a point where a particular exercise isn't very challenging anymore, it's time to raise the intensity. You can do this by increasing the number of reps or the amount of weight. If you increase the amount of weight, you probably want to do so in small increments. Depending on the body part you're training, a small weight increase can often make a big difference.

Free Weights vs. Weight Machines

There's long been debate about which is better, free weights or weight machines. Both have pros and cons, but the bottom line is that both will build muscle and increase strength. If you have access to both free weights and weight machines, use both in your workout routine. You'll find that some of your body parts respond better to free weight exercises while other body parts respond better to machine exercises. Also, the combination of both free weights and weight machines will add more variety to your workout routine.

Form and Technique

Using good form and technique is one of the most disregarded strength training guidelines. Many people perform their reps at a fast speed or swing the weight up and down. It's often because they're using a weight that's too heavy for them and they have to use momentum in order to lift the weight. Use muscle power, not momentum, when lifting weights. Don't heave, swing or bounce the weight. Lift and lower the weight in a steady and controlled manner. Concentrate on feeling the muscle that you're working (this is called the mind-muscle connection).

Warming Up

Warming up is another one of the strength training guidelines that's frequently ignored. Too many people don't take the time to properly warm up before lifting weights. Warming up will stimulate blood flow to your muscles, increase your joint flexibility and range of motion, get you mentally prepared for your workout, and help prevent injury. Warm up by doing a few minutes of light aerobic exercise and/or one or two light sets of each weight lifting exercise before using heavier weights.

Changing Workout Routines

You should change your workout routine once you stop seeing noticeable results on a consistent basis. You don't necessarily have to change your entire workout routine, but some new stimulus must be put into the routine or you're not likely to make further progress. Changes also keep things interesting. The frequency of change is different for everyone - it depends on how long you've been training and what your training goals are. When you're a beginner you can make progress on the same workout routine for a long time. The more advanced you get the more quickly your muscles adapt. But make sure that you don’t change your workout routine too often, as this would not provide any continuity. Get everything you can out of your workout routine and then make changes.

Muscle Soreness

If you've never lifted weights before or it's been a long time since you've lifted weights, you'll have some muscle soreness after your first several workouts. The soreness is usually at its worst about 48 hours after you lift weights. This is called delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). After a couple of weeks of weight lifting you won't experience DOMS anymore, except for maybe after an especially tough training session.

In conclusion, these strength training guidelines will help you develop a strength training program tailored to your individual needs and goals.