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General Strength Training Guidelines

Determine your goal:

1. Power/Speed - ability to do something in short bursts and be stronger and more powerful performing that task (i.e. Jumping, pushing)
2. Hypertrophy - larger muscle size
3. Endurance - ability to work with a moderate load over a longer period of time without getting fatigued

Once you have determined the goal for training you can make informed decisions about your training regimen.

Consider these factors after setting your goal:

Control: Determine what muscles are acting (agonist) within the scope of each exercise. Learn how to best fit your body on the machine for optimal range of motion (movement within each repetition), and how or where to apply force. Once you have determined the proper alignment or body position, try a couple of repetitions to make sure the muscles that are intended to be worked are in fact being contracted during each individual repetition. If you feel pain or discomfort beyond what is considered reasonable muscle discomfort, discontinue the exercise.

Range of Motion: Each machine has a predetermined range of motion (ROM) or movement pattern it travels through per repetition. When performing the exercise make sure to achieve the ideal ROM. It’s easy to relax the body so much on a machine that body posture suffers and as a result the movement is compromised.

Effort: The amount of effort involved in each repetition or set will evolve over time. Based on your goal of training the effort will be determined based on the level of fatigue that is experienced in the final 1 or 2 repetitions for each set. Ideally an individual should feel moderate to intense fatigue at the end of a set in order to provide enough stimuli to the muscles for adaptation. In basic terms, if one does not work hard enough the results will not happen as quickly (this does not mean working to injury or intense pain).

Things to think about when discussing exercise effort:

1. A movement must be learned before it is intensified
2. You can only progress as fast as the weakest muscle (meaning that skipping exercises in the circuit could be detrimental to your overall muscular balance) An example of this is being very "strong" on the leg press and skipping the leg extension or leg curl. The front (quadriceps) and the back (hamstrings) of the leg are muscle groups that provide stability to the body and are two of the primary muscle groups that contract in a squat or leg press...therefore eliminating them would or could be detrimental to overall progress.
3. If control is still a challenge, adding another form of challenge is inappropriate (this means that adding more weight or more sets to an exercise that is already difficult or more complex is a bad idea).
4. To progress in one area you may have to temporarily regress or stay the same in others. For example if you are very tight in the hamstrings and have a difficult time extending the leg using the leg extension machine within the full ROM, you may have to decrease the resistance on the leg extension and focus on active hamstring flexibility.

Repetitions

The following chart lists the appropriate number of repetitions based upon your goal.

Training Goal	Repetitions
Power/Speed	3-9
Hypertrophy	10-12
Endurance	13-15

The number of repetitions is less important than the quality of each rep performed. Repetitions are less about how many times the movement was performed than they are about the time under which muscular work occurred. The speed of each rep should be approximately 6 seconds in length (unless you are working for more power and speed - these reps will be quicker (still maintaining control).

Sets

A set is a series of continuous movements or repetitions the end of which is determined by fatigue/training goal. Fatigue is a sensation that one is unable to complete another repetition without compromising form or ROM. Levels of fatigue will range from the initiation of shaky or burning sensation in the muscles worked to a progressive reduction in the ability to complete a repetition.

Start out with one (1) set of your goal repetitions. The maximum number of sets necessary to provide stimulus to the muscle per exercise session is three (3). Anything above and beyond that is excessive movement and is also evidence that the load or resistance you have selected is incorrect (most of the time it’s too low).

The rest between sets should be longer for power or speed and less for hypertrophy and endurance. The rest for power speed can be up to 3 minutes between sets and for hypertrophy and endurance from 30-60 seconds.

Load

The resistance or weight you choose should be gradual and progressive over time. To start with choose a weight that you can perform at least 5-7 repetitions of without the onset of burning or shaking. This will assure you that you have not overdone it. Once you have had a couple sessions you can adjust the weight more appropriate based on your goals of training. Try not to adjust the resistance too often. Muscle adaptation does take time; it will not happen overnight or even in a week. If you are new to this type of exercise, make sure you are able to finish 2-3 sets with the weight selected and are able to complete all reps in each set, and then you can increase the weight or resistance by 5-7 %. This process is called progressive overload. Progressive overload is necessary to notice changes safely in your body and in achievement of your goals.

If too much load is applied too quickly or improperly (meaning body positioning will be incorrect), this will not lead to progress...in fact it will lead to injury and poor functional posture. You need to make sure to set yourself up in the machine properly, learn the movement pattern correctly and then lastly apply resistance or load.