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The Key Elements of Strength Training Part Three

June 15, 2016
The Key Elements of Strength Training Part Three

 

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I don’t care how much it burns – the burn is GOOD! Love it, chase it, become ONE with it.

Hi everyone, and welcome back! Today we are going to discuss weight selection & reps and how they pertain to your goals. As I have stated in my earlier blogs my goal is to teach people how to become stronger while getting a lean sexy body, so…

 

Let’s talk weight and reps! Basically, nothing in this world is free or easy so I’m sorry folks but I gotta break it down to you: as Ronnie Coleman says, everybody wants to look good but nobody wants to lift the heavy weights. (That’s not the exact quote but you get the idea.) If you want an awesome physique you have to train like you actually want it. When I say to you,”Do 8 reps!” that means 8 EXACTLY. If you push really hard and can do 10 reps, then that means that the weight was too light! Make it heavier so that you can only do 8 reps with good form. Also, many times when I train clients I watch as they push the weight with the bar steadily going up and down. I often hear this weight is too heavy – they are grunting, screaming or saying I can’t lift anymore, but the bar is still moving. You have not failed until either you break form or the bar stops moving. I don’t care how much it burns, the burn is good, the burn as your friend, chase it, love it, become one with it. I promise nothing bad will happen, your arms will stay attached. The more it burns, the more muscle you tear/repair, the more your metabolism increases, the more fat you burn, the closer you get to that lean sexy body! So don’t fake it, be honest with yourself, and don’t shortchange your gains.

The other side of the coin are those that cheat to get the eight reps because the weight is too heavy. You might do it once, you might do it a thousand times, but because the trauma to the joints is cumulative, eventually it will cause injury! Then you’re out of the game. So make sure you don’t break form.
Now that we’re clear what it means when I say do x amount of reps, let’s talk about what weights create what adaptations. If you want strength the best rep range in general is the 1-6 rep range. Training in this range will produce the most strength gains. Training in the 6-12 rep range will produce the best muscular gains as far as increasing myofibril or muscle fiber. Going over 12-30 reps will increase endurance/stamina and sacroplasmic reticulum or Sacraplasm between the muscle fibers. What rep scheme should you use? Personally, I recommend all three at various times. Especially the 1-6 & 6-12  rep ranges. Stick with 1-6 on compound exercises, 8-12 on isolation exercises and 12-30 for slow twitch muscle fiber exercises such as calves and abs. There are exceptions to this rule but this is a good general outline for you to follow.
Sometimes I have clients trained in only one rep range, other times all three. It’s good to do all 3 if you want not only a sexy body, but also a strong/powerful, endurant and efficient body as well. Thank you for reading my blog 🙂 Next week we will be discussing timing between sets and their applications. If you have any comments please leave them down below. Thanks, Donovan.

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