In the world of exercise, it is common to see people going to extremes: from bulimia to three-hour workouts every day. But all extremes carry health risks. What is the right way to do strength training to get results and benefits for your body?
Beginners often mistakenly believe that daily workouts will help them achieve their desired shape and proportions faster. This is a misconception, as constant training without allowing for recovery periods can be detrimental to your health. Often external influences, such as posts on social networks actively posting photos from the gym, create the illusion of tirelessness. But it is important to understand the basic principles:
Rule #1. Recovery The most important thing is to recover properly. This means restoring the energy resources used, depending on the severity of the training (weight, intensity, duration) and age. It is generally accepted that a person needs 24 to 48 hours to fully recover before the next training session. For example, this interval is suitable for beginners with up to 2-3 months’ experience, older people over 50 and those who prefer low-intensity exercise (cycling, group programmes, cardio). Twenty-four hours is the minimum recovery time to allow the body to repair structures and regain energy for the next activity.
Beginners (under 1 year) cannot work as hard as experienced exercisers and need less recovery time. For example, if you are training large muscle groups, a rest period of 36-48 hours is sufficient for beginners. Exceeding the maximum recovery time will not result in improved body composition and muscle performance.
Rule #2. Warming up is an important part of preparing for strength training. It is necessary to adapt the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, raise body temperature, prevent injury, prepare joints and ligaments, improve circulation and blood supply to the muscles, adapt metabolism, improve movement coordination and prepare for the upcoming workout.
An effective pre-exercise warm-up should achieve a number of these objectives, with no significant contribution from aerobic exercise as a whole. We structure the warm-up as follows
- Cardio:
– Do 3-5 minutes of cardio on any exercise machine (treadmill, bike, stepper, elliptical).
- Joint exercises:
– Focus on working the joints associated with the target muscle groups: elbow and shoulder joints for chest and shoulder work; elbow, shoulder, hip and lower back joints for back work; and ankle, knee and hip joints for leg work. Joint exercises are performed from small to large joints.
- Body Weight Exercises:
– A selection of exercises designed to work a specific muscle group such as squats, lunges, push-ups, chin-ups, chin-ups, Romanian chin-ups on one leg without the use of additional weights.
- Cortical exercises:
– Incorporate cortex training exercises such as planks, twists, leg raises, glute bridges and hyperextensions.
After the warm-up, move on to the strength part of the workout, starting with a weight half your normal working weight. You don’t want to overload yourself in the warm-up, but it will give you energy for a more productive workout, even if you come in tired.
Rule 3: Exercise should be painless. If you’re sore after a workout, you may not be using the right weight. Don’t ignore joint and ligament pain and stop exercising to avoid injury.
Signs of incorrect weight selection.
– Lack of progress.
– Joint and muscle pain.
– Difficulty recovering from colds.
– Poor sleep.
– Changes in appetite.
– Unusual menstrual periods (painful, early or late).
Plan your training using periodisation to vary your programmes and avoid overtraining. If you are unsure about weight selection, use the checklist provided.
Weight Selection Checklist for Strength Training
- Determine the number of reps:
– Choose the number of reps in an exercise that suits your goal. The last 3-4 repetitions should require maximum effort. If you can’t do this, reduce the weight. If you can easily do more reps and recover quickly, increase the weight.
2- The weight:
– Use a really heavy and unfamiliar weight. Larger muscle groups require heavier weights, smaller muscle groups require lighter weights. For hybrid exercises, choose the weight according to the weakest link. Machines may have more weight than free weights, so don’t compare them directly.
3- Technique:
– Remember that technique is more important than weight. Keep a training diary and note your working weight to monitor progress and avoid negligence.
How many repetitions and approaches:
– Intensive for strength: 8×3, 6×4, 5×5, 4×6
– Moderate for muscle growth: 4×8, 4×10, 3×10, 3×12
– Low intensity for endurance: 2×12, 2×15, 2×20
– To increase muscle volume, 2-3 exercises for each muscle group with 2-5 reps are sufficient.
Breathing during resistance training:
– Always exhale on effort to increase efficiency and prevent pressure build-up. Do not hold your breath, use exhalation on effort.
How many repetitions and reps to do:
– The training programme includes a warm-up, a cool-down, working all muscle groups (starting with the larger ones and working down to the smaller ones) and a warm-up on the track, and takes approximately 40-45 minutes.
– The warm-up, cool-down and main workout for beginners can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half.
In summary, your training should be effective, but it doesn’t have to be long. Follow a proper plan, control your calories and remember that the most important thing is to move and take care of your body, not only in the gym but also in your everyday life.
