Principles of Stregth Training

Principles of Strength Training

The principles of strength training include progression, regularity, overload and specificity. This principle refers to the overall theme of training which also includes ranges such as repetition, sets, resistance and rest intervals. Another factor that contributes quite a bit is the FIT formula.

Progression means increasing the overload over a period of time-not all at once. It would be outrageous to expect a person who has not been doing any exercise to run 10 miles on their first day. However, it is generally accepted that if a person starts out running a mile each day, they can progress by increasing the distance or decreasing their time. Progression seems to happen naturally as a person's ability to exercise feels easier over time. Over time a person will have to slowly increase the frequency, intensity and the duration of their training.

Regularity involves the frequency and duration of the training. In other words, a person can achieve regularity by frequently exercising for a considerable amount of time, but also giving the body a break so it doesn't wear itself out. Regularity is all about balance. A good amount of exercise sessions would be about three times a week.

Overload is the practice of continually increasing the stress placed on the muscle as it becomes capable of producing greater force or has more endurance. As the body adapts to the demands placed upon it, load must be increased. For example, if a person runs two miles three times a week, he/she can increase their distance by one mile so they run three miles three times a week. As the body adapts to the conditions placed upon it, the more pressure it can handle in the future.

Specificity is all about exercising the muscle groups according to your goal. For example, if you wanted to increase your leg muscles, you would run rather than doing sit-ups. Setting up a goal is a very important factor for specificity.

A repetition is one movement of exercise. For example, if you do ten push ups and rest, you did one set of ten reps. Repetition is very important because it helps you keep records of your accomplishment and get organized. It also ties back to overload because if you did four reps of push ups a day and you want to intensify your workout, you can switch to five reps a day.

A set is a standard way to refer to the amount of exercise you did without stopping. Set refers back to repetition because a repetition is made out of sets. For example, you can do 5 push ups without a break so your sets would be five push ups.

Resistance is putting a load on a muscle, making it move against a force. For example, if you are tired after a certain number of reps and your muscles feel weak but you keep exercising. It's your muscles resisting to the exercise which will benefit them greatly because it results in them getting bigger.

Rest intervals are