Do you actively participate in a strength training program? That was the easy question, but here’s the more challenging one: Is your program effective? No one likes to feel like they’re spinning their wheels without getting anywhere, and seeing tangible results is a major motivating factor in adhering to an active lifestyle. So, how can you get the most out of your program? In this series of articles, I’m going to cover the following six general guidelines for an effective strength training program:
- How to make progress
- Exercise selection
- Training volume
- Training intensity
- Nutrition
- Rest and recovery
As you consider each point, note how your current habits compare with the recommendations and then determine if you have any room for improvement. In Part 1 of 3, we will discuss the first two areas, progression and exercise selection.
1) Progression
If you’re not making progress in your workouts, then you’re not getting stronger. Simple enough, right? Many gym-goers make one of two common mistakes that hinder their progress: 1) never increasing the resistance, or 2) increasing it too quickly. If you always use the same resistance workout after workout, you will never provide the stimulus needed to get stronger. On the other hand, if you try to add 50 lbs. every time you bench press, you’re not going to make progress beyond a couple workouts.
How do you know how much progress to make? I’m not going to attempt to design a program for everyone who may read this, but a good progression for anyone to use is to work toward a set number of reps at a given weight, then increase the weight by 5 or 10 lbs. for the next workout. As an example, if you’re attempting to squat with 150 lb. for 5 sets of 5 reps and you successfully complete all 25 reps, the next time you squat you would use 155 lb., or maybe even 160 lb. As you continue to increase the resistance on a particular exercise, you may find that you cannot perform all of your desired reps. Sticking with our example of squat progression, if you complete your first 3 sets of 5 reps with 155 lb., but for the 4th and 5th sets you only get 3 and 2 reps respectively, then you would use 155 lb. again for your following workout and make another attempt at completing all 5 sets of 5 reps.
As you can see, this requires having some type of game plan, and applying it with consistency. You should know what your workouts will look like for at least the next few weeks and know exactly what you’re trying to accomplish. This requires that you stick with a defined workout for a period of time so that you know what works for you and what doesn’t. It may seem more appealing to adopt the more casual approach of going to the gym and performing whichever exercises you feel like doing that day, using whatever weight looks or feels right to you. Progress isn’t the result of random efforts, however, and this is a recipe for stagnation. If you don’t have the inclination and resolve to design a solid program yourself, then find someone who can do it for you.
Yes, you’ll hear a lot of talk about muscle confusion, but so-called experts who recommend changing your workouts too frequently are suffering from mental confusion. Strength training is no different from any other endeavor and the rule of specificity applies. For example, if you want to get better at corner-kicks in soccer, then you should practice corner-kicks more often. Likewise, if you want to improve your strength in certain movements, then you need to practice those movements more often. This is not to imply that there’s no room for exercise variety. All it means is that you should stick with a program until it stops working, or at least until you reach a predetermined goal, however long that may take. If your program is producing results, why would you want to change it anyway?
2) Exercise Selection
Since the point of strength training is to get stronger, doesn’t it make sense to perform movements that allow you to use the most weight? Compound lifts, involving movement across more than one joint will accomplish this much more effectively than isolation exercises. To be sure, there is a place for isolation movements but in almost all cases, they should be used as assistance to the main compound lifts. This means you should be focusing on squats, deadlifts, lunges, presses, rows, etc., which all involve movement across multiple joints by large muscle groups, instead of bicep curls, kickbacks, pec flys, leg extensions and curls, hip abductions and adductions, and anything else which isolates movement across a single joint.
Performing movements that allow you to use heavier weight and involve more muscle groups is also a much more efficient use of your time. For example, instead of doing leg extensions, leg curls, hip abductions and adductions, and glute extensions, you can do lunges and hit all the same muscle groups at once. The main objection to this approach may be that “big” lifts like squats and lunges are hard! Well, anyone who thinks that they don’t need to lift any appreciable amount of weight because all they want to do is “shape and tone” will either be disappointed or their initial expectations will have to be lowered. It just doesn’t work that way, so stop spinning your wheels and do it right the first time!
You might notice that I have excluded machine exercises from the list. There are differing opinions regarding the effectiveness of machines and here’s mine: Unless you have a really good reason to use them for either rehab or assistance work, then forget ‘em! In a way, you can view compound lifts on a machine as semi-isolation exercises because they isolate the prime movers, or large muscle groups. The reason many guys can leg press 600+ pounds is because the machine is doing all the stabilizing work for them. Take those same guys and have them attempt a back squat with 225 lb. with proper form, going below parallel, and I’m willing to bet that 99 out of 100 contestants will fail miserably. So, what was the point of the 600 lb. leg press? Waste of time, in my opinion. A full range of motion back squat will have much greater carryover to real world demonstrations of strength than a leg press, and the same rule would apply to most other machines. I should note that I’m not deriding the use of cable machines or similar devices, which require the trainee to stabilize the load and can be utilized very effectively, as long as entire workouts aren’t built around cable flys, curls, extensions, etc.
Squats have a proven history of making people stronger
You can and should include ab work, of course, but not to the ridiculous extent that is frequently practiced. Don’t be obsessed with abs, and don’t confuse strength work with volume work. By training your abs and obliques with excessive volume, you may actually be thickening the one area of your body you’d most like to slim down. Not to mention, your abs do not work in isolation from the rest of your body so they should be getting some additional involvement during other exercises if they’re being performed correctly. When you squat with a loaded barbell on your back, don’t you think that your abs, and really your entire core, must be activated to stabilize your torso? Yes, of course! Besides, having a ripped mid-section has more to do with your diet anyway. You absolutely cannot spot reduce body fat, no matter what the never-ending onslaught of late-night infomercials claim.
Quick Recap
To sum up what was covered so far: adopt a sustainable plan for making progress, and choose exercises that provide the biggest bang for the buck. How’s that for a quick recap? Part 2 will outline two more vital components of an effective, progressive strength training program: training volume and training intensity.
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