Strength Training
When talking about strength we are looking to increase the size and energy capacity of the muscle.
Strength helps the muscle to perform activities for longer.
80-90% of 1 rep max or 4-10 reps to fatigue
2-3 sets with 1 minute rest breaks between.
2 days per week for maintenance. 3 days a week for building muscle mass.
Example: How Many Squats can you do with perfect form? 20? Add more weight or make the exercise harder to dose for strength!
Fatigue:
Fatigue is when you are no longer able to hold proper form, start to see a lot of compensation patterns, or just simply can’t do another rep.
Helpful to have a workout buddy, trainer, coach, or PT who can look at your movement.
Use a mirror to watch your alignment.
An app for that - HUDL technique - great for slowing down videos.
Concentric, Eccentric, Isometric work:
Concentric exercise is when you perform an exercise that shortens the muscle.
Concentric work increases capillary density compared to eccentric so can be used for specificity in training.
Eccentric exercise focus on controlling the motion back to starting position or into a lengthened position.
This type of training usually requires more time to recover from because eccentrics increase peak torque.
Peak torque- maximum amount of force generated by a muscle to create movement around a joint.
Isometrics exercises hold one position under load for a prolonged period of time.
Isometrics are shown to build strength when dosed appropriately and a great tool to have in your pocket for training specific positions . . . I’m looking at you climbers.
Research on strength training shows that it can be used to prevent injury.
Here are some simple examples of exercises easily dosed for strength . . .
Calf raises (single leg)
Squats- pistol squat
Russian dead lift- single leg deadlift
Nordic curls
pushups/ pullups
Maximal strength training improves aerobic endurance performance
