090117 Progressing towards strength training

090117 Progressing towards strength training by Daniel Pare

You have been working out for a while and you need a change of pace! You have heard about strength training and you are wondering what it will do for you! My objective is to help you make gains relatively quickly.

Most trainees are involved in a regular exercise program and or in a bodybuilding-type training program. Not too many are involved in strength training. Let’s go through some basics first. There are 2 different kinds of muscular hypertrophy. One is for muscular size and the second one is for muscular strength and size. We are going to focus on gains in muscular strength and size or strength training.

High repetition sets relate to muscular size and low repetition sets relate to muscular strength and size. You have been training for years or you are just starting out and you are regularly doing sets of 10 to 15 reps per set.

One question that arises is how can I get results with fewer repetitions? Let me explain. For example, let’s take the bench-press. You are used to doing 10 repetitions per set. You are training towards becoming bigger and not necessarily stronger. Why is that? You chose a weight that will permit you to complete 10 reps with proper form and technique and you are going to repeat that for approximately 3 sets. That is very good, except that you are training to increase size and strength suffers. Now let’s take the same exercise and let’s focus on a maximum of 5 reps per set with proper form and technique. The muscles remain strong and this brings good strength gains and this is followed by good quality muscular size. This is a win-win situation.

If you have been training for a while with sets of 10 you will need a little bit of time to adjust to this. You are a beginner! Right from the start you will build a strong foundation accompanied by good strength and size. Remember that in order to get long lasting results in your quest to sports performance, enjoy daily activities, weight loss or whatever your objective may be, you need to train at the level at which you remain strong.

Daniel Pare, NCCP, CSO, CSPS, CSTS.
Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach,
St. Thomas, 519-633-0771,
Fax 519-637-1210,
Email Stsa1258@aol.com