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Understanding the Variables of Weight Training

By John Preston

Many people are confused and intimidated by weight training. But with a little information there really is no need to be confused or intimidated. Designing your own weight training workout should be fun and easy. With this basic information you should be able to create fresh and effective weight training routines that will ultimately lead to you reaching your goals. In this article I will focus on the five weight training components; repetitions (reps), sets, load, rest periods and tempo and how they affect each other.

My goal with this article is to give you the information you need to reach your goals and ultimately have the body you want. The truth of the matter is that if you haven’t done any weight training for a long time you probably could just randomly lift some weights and see some results. But eventually you will stop seeing results, when that happens what do you do? By changing the way you workout your body will continue to adapt. So if you’ve been doing 3 sets of 12 reps for eight months and you haven’t made any progress in the last six, you needed to change what you were doing six months ago.

A repetition (rep) is the performance of an exercise one time. When you perform an exercise in succession and then stop that would comprise a set. Your goal will determine the proper amount of repetitions. Sets of 1-8 repetitions will increase strength with moderate muscle gains and muscle endurance. Sets of 8-12 reps will increase muscle size, with some increase in strength and muscle endurance. And sets of 12 to 20 will increase muscular endurance with little muscle growth or strength increases. With rare exceptions if you can perform more than 15 reps the weight you’re working with is too light, and in my opinion you will see little or no results.

The number of repetitions you perform will dictate the load and vice versa. If you are working within the 4-6 rep range you will have to select much greater resistance than if you plan on performing 15 reps. Also if you are planning on doing 8-12 reps you will need to pick an appropriate weight. In other words a weight you can do at least 8 times but will take everything you have to do 12 times. The number of reps will also have an impact on rest periods. Performing high intensity short rep sets will require longer rest periods between sets, while lower intensity high rep sets will require much shorter rest periods. There is also an inverse relationship between reps and sets. Meaning that the fewer reps you perform of each set the more sets you will perform of that exercise. The more repetitions you perform each set, the fewer total sets you will need to perform. What does all of this mean to you?

As far as sets go three is the magic number. If you are just beginning, start with only one set. But increase to two when your body is ready, and then to three. When planning your weight training routine keep the total amount of sets between 30 and 36. If you are working out at the proper intensity you should be adequately fatigued at this point and any more sets could lead to injury. As you can see each exercise variable has an effect on the others, changing one thing will affect your workout. It is important that your understand how to consistently make changes, it is the only way to be the lean, strong, in shape person you want to be.

Load, simply put is weight or resistance. It can come from your body weight, machines, cables, elastic tubing, and free weights. There are many misconceptions when it comes to load. You need to select a weight that will stress your muscles beyond their current abilities. Typically women select resistance that is far too light. You also want to work with a resistance that you can control and perform with correct form. In this case men typically will select weight that is far too heavy. There is a small window for selecting the proper resistance.

First let’s look at how load will affect the other weight training variables. Load will have the most obvious impact on repetitions. Logic dictates that the more weight you select the fewer repetitions you will be able to complete. If you are working with a light resistance and a high number of repetitions you will need to perform fewer total sets for each exercise and vice versa. Tempo or speed of movement is also affected by load. The heavier the weight the slower you will be able to move it. The lower the load and higher the reps the shorter rest periods between sets can be. The higher the weight and lower the reps the longer rest periods should be.

If you what the shape of your body to change, you are going to have to push yourself a little. If you are having a conversation with your friend during a set of weight training and when you finish the set you don’t even need to pause to catch your breath, the weight is too light. By the time you finish a set you should be experiencing a burning sensation in the muscle(s) you are exercising. Both your heart rate and breathing rate should be elevated, and rest is mandatory not optional. This is called the overload principle, if you don’t stress your body beyond that which it is accustomed, no adaptation will occur, i.e. no results.

If you are new to weight training this intense of a workout may leave your muscles sore for several days. The easiest way to select the proper weight is to slowly progress to using the correct resistance. So it’s okay to start out light and prepare the body for the hard workouts to follow; in fact that is the smart way to begin weight training. But if you plan on doing eight to twelve reps each set eventually you will want to select a weight that you can perform correctly at least eight times. If you can do only seven it is too heavy. When you finish a set of twelve if you could have done one more then the weight is too light. If you do this on every set for every exercise you will see results.

An important thing to know about choosing the proper load is that selecting the same weight for every muscle is a huge mistake. Look at your thigh; now look at your upper arm. Are they the same size? NO! You will be able to pick up far more weight from the floor (dead lift) then you will ever be able to curl with your arms. Even though this seems obvious I have seen up to forty women in a group strength training class use the same resistance for an hour. I have also seen women come into the gym and pick up an eight pound dumbbell and use it on every weight training exercise for over 30 minutes. Please don’t make the same mistake. Another important thing to know is that all weight machines are not created equal. They all are designed with different mechanics. Therefore you may use fifty pounds on one leg machine and one hundred fifty on another that exercises the exact same muscle. So when working with machines it is important to select the proper resistance based on the number of reps you want to complete and not get caught up by the number on the weight stack. This advise will come in handy when you travel and find yourself using a brand of equipment you are unfamiliar with.

Rest periods are simply the time between sets when you are resting. Unlike aerobic exercise, where you want the exercise session to be continuous, weight training requires rest after short bouts of exercise. This rest allow for muscles to recover so that the next set can be performed with nearly the same efficiency.

Rest periods can be very simple. For lower intensity exercises with low weight and higher reps (12-15 reps), rest periods should be relatively short (30 to 60 seconds). For medium intensity (8-12 reps) rest periods of about 1 to 2 minutes are appropriate. And for higher intensity (1-8 reps) rest periods can be long, (2 to 5 minutes). It does get a little tricky though; if you are working out with a medium amount of resistance and shorten the rest period the workout can become very intense.

About the Author:

John Preston is a Certified Pesonal Trainer with 14 years of experience. He holds certifications from both the American Council on Exercise (ACE), and The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), as well as a B.A. in Kinesiology for Long Beach State. His website is http://www.johnprestonfitness.com