Strength Training Harrogate

It has been, or should I say used to be, a long standing misconception that strength training was just for athletes and casual fitness enthusiasts who wanted to build bigger muscles. However, it is now widely accepted that strength training is an integral part of many sports conditioning programmes, as a means of improving power, speed and muscular endurance.

Sports specific strength training requires a more sophisticated approach than merely picking up an impressive weight and curling it to absolute exhaustion. While most sports are very skill specific, it's easy to see that most of them require some kind of muscular endurance, speed, power or even all three.

---

When designing a strength training programme, it's important to address which elements of strength training you wish to focus on. The most obvious element, for the recreational gym user, is muscular hypertrophy (size). Maximal strength training is ideal for weightlifters and strongmen. A strength endurance training programme would suit endurance athletes like cyclists and swimmers. The least used element of strength training would have to be explosive power. Explosive power is rarely needed in any sport except powerlifting and possibly olympic weightlifting.

Muscular Hypertrophy (Growth) Guidelines

When training for muscular hypertrophy, it's important to be aware that almost any new stimulus, whether it's a change in sets, reps, exercises or training split, will produce some hypertrophy. This is due to the muscle adapting to the new demand placed upon it. However, if you're new to hypertrophy training there are some simple guidelines to adhere to:

Sets (per muscle group)

Muscular hypertrophy has been shown to occur with a moderate to high volume. This means that a particular muscle group like the quadriceps should be subjected to 9-12 total sets. This could be 2 sets on 5 exercises, 3 sets on 4 exercises or 4 sets on 3 exercises.

Repetitions

Hypertrophy has been shown to occur greatest in the 8-12 repetition range and you should be failing on your last rep.

Weight

Loads should be approximately 70-85% of your one rep max.

Rest time

2--4 minutes of rest should be taken between sets to give the muscles enough time to recuperate for the next set. (Reduced rest time have been shown to increase fat loss).

Frequency

Frequency is a very important factor in any training programme. To achieve the best results try to train each muscle group 2-4 times per week.

Strength Endurance Guidelines

There are two types of endurance: Long term, which is suitable for long continuous events such as marathons and triathlons. Short term endurance focuses on 30 second to 2 minute bouts. As long term endurance will be focused on in the "endurance training" page, short term endurance will be explained further.

Sets (per exercise)

Due to the intensity from the number of repetitions, only 2-5 sets are needed to fatigue the muscle.

Repetitions

15-30 repetitions is just outside of the hypertrophy rep range and ensures a high build up of lactic acid in order to force the athlete to deal with higher levels of blood lactate.

Weight

A 40-60% of your one rep max load is ideal for short term endurance. The light load is needed to ensure the indicated rep range is achieved.

Rest period

60-90 seconds.

Frequency

2-3 times per week.

Explosive Power Guidelines

Whilst explosive power is not needed for many sports, but it plays an important role in events such as Powerlifting, martial arts and MMA fighting. Maximum power is achieved by applying a great force over a certain distance in the shortest time (force times distance, divided by time). The difference between generic strength training and explosive power is that you can have an exceptionally strong man, but if he can't apply the force he can produce over a short period of time, he lacks power.

Sets (per exercise)

3-5 sets.

Repetitions

3-5 reps.

Weight

75-85% of your one rep max.

Rest period

2-5 minutes.

Frequency

2-3 times per week.

Personal Trainer in Harrogate

Our personal trainers in Harrogate are extremely qualified in all aspects of strength training including even more advanced training techniques that really increase strength dramatically in a short space of time.