Weight training is a great fitness exercise. It fires up your nervous system so you can turn on more muscle cells. It stimulates your muscles to build more contractile proteins. You get bigger and stronger. The extra muscle looks good and helps keep your resting metabolism going strong. Pumping iron also makes your bones stronger, improves your posture, and prevents back problems. In this lesson, we’ll go over the FITT guidelines for weight training.
Weight training is a good deal—you can achieve up to about 80 percent of the possible strength gains by doing just one set of ten to twelve different weight training exercises, two times a week (ACSM, 2006). That’s a real bargain considering the minimal amount of work it takes to enjoy this much improvement. This “single-set” program is a great way to go when good health is your number-one goal or when you are learning to lift weights for the first time.
But, if you want to “move farther up the stairs,” you’ve got to do more. In this case, the “multiple-set” program is the way to go. This program involves doing two or more sets of each exercise and working each muscle or muscle group to fatigue, several times a week. With this approach, you can choose to do a whole-body or split-body routine. (I’ll talk about these later in this unit.)
If you do the whole-body routine, two to three workouts a week usually does the trick, depending on your goals. The split-body routine usually requires four to six workouts a week. It’s also important to space your workouts evenly throughout the week so your muscles can rest the right amount between workouts. Table 2-1 highlights the FITT guidelines for weight training.
| Category | Category Specifications |
|---|---|
| F = Frequency (how often) | 2 to 6 sessions a week |
| I = Intensity (how hard) | 60 to 80 percent of your 1-RM 8 to 12 reps to fatigue, 1 to 3 sets 1 to 3 minutes of rest between sets |
| T = Time (how long) | 15 to 60 minutes per workout |
| T = Type (Exercise choices) | Lift and lower weight through a normal range of movement; use calisthenics, free weights, machine weights, rubber resistance |
To get stronger, you have to overload your muscles and work harder than you normally do. To do this in a given workout, you can adjust the (1) training load, (2) training volume, or (3) rest time between sets.
The training load is the amount of weight you lift during the exercise. How much weight you lift, depends on your strength and what’s needed to overload your muscles.
To improve your muscle strength, fitness experts say the overload needs to be at least 60 percent of your maximum strength (1-RM) (ACSM, 2006). What’s interesting is that most people get tired after about ten reps when working at about 75 percent of their maximum strength (regardless of how strong they are). A stronger person lifts more total weight than a weaker person, but they both fatigue after about ten reps. This same concept applies when you work at any percentage of your 1-RM, up and down the list. The number of reps you complete before you get tired depends on what percent of your max you are working at. Take a look at Table 2-21 to see how the numbers line up. Just keep in mind that these numbers may vary depending on how fast you move and the muscles that are being used during the exercise.
| Percent of 1-RM | Number of Reps Completed Before Fatigue |
|---|---|
| 100 | 1 |
| 95 | 2 |
| 93 | 3 |
| 90 | 4 |
| 87 | 5 |
| 85 | 6 |
| 83 | 7 |
| 80 | 8 |
| 77 | 9 |
| 75 | 10 |
| 70 | 11 |
| 67 | 12 |
| 65 | 15 |
The concept behind Table 2-2 is simple and straightforward. The more weight you lift, the fewer reps you can do before you get tired. On the other hand, the less weight you lift, the more reps you can do before fatigue sets in. In addition, the amount of weight you lift (based on your strength), determines how many reps you can do.
For most people, a good training load is somewhere between 60 to 80 percent of max. This corresponds to a repetition count of about eight to twelve reps for most people. An easy way to find the right training load for each muscle or muscle group is to follow the simple steps outlined in Table 2-32.
| 1. For each exercise, pick a realistic weight and see how many reps you can do before you get tired. Use good form. Move your body slowly, through its normal range of movement. |
| 2. If you get tired and can’t do at least eight reps, lower the weight to make it easier. If you can do more than twelve reps, increase the weight to make it harder. Rest as needed. |
| 3. Continue adjusting the weight until you get tired somewhere between eight and twelve reps. Record this weight on your exercise log so you can remember it for your next workout. |
| 4. When you get stronger and can do more than twelve reps, increase the weight (about five pounds) to stay in your training zone. |
The more sets of exercise you do in your workout, the higher the training volume is and the harder the workout becomes. As mentioned before, beginners and many health-conscious people keep the volume low and do the single-set program, while athletes do more and follow the multiple-set program.
How much you rest between each set of exercise also affects how hard your workout feels. Fitness experts know it takes about one to three minutes to get your energy levels back to normal after a tiring set of eight to twelve reps (Wilmore & Costill, 2004). This rest time is a necessary and good thing. With a full supply of energy, you can lift the same amount of weight during your next set. This allows you to stay in your training zone and stimulates your muscles to get stronger.
Although getting enough rest between sets is important, most people don’t want to just sit around and wait. To solve this problem, a good approach is to work a different part of your body while your tired muscle is resting. For example, you might do an upper body lift, followed by a lower body lift or do a pushing exercise, followed by a pulling exercise. The key is to come back to a worked muscle after it has had time to rest.
It takes about fifteen minutes to do a single-set workout if you move from one exercise to the next and don’t have to wait for equipment. This is a good deal for those who are short on time or who just want healthy levels of muscle fitness. A multiple-set workout takes about forty-five to sixty minutes to complete.
The best way to weight train is to move slowly through a normal range of movement. This is called dynamic exercise, and it involves both lifting and lowering movements. One advantage of dynamic exercise is that it causes your nervous system to turn on different muscle cells through each part of the movement. This makes you stronger at all possible body positions or joint angles.
You can choose from several types of weight training exercises: free weights, machine systems, calisthenics, and rubber tubing or resist-a-bands.
Free weights include dumbbells (a short bar held in one hand) and barbells (a long bar held with two hands). Before each lift, a certain amount of weight is placed on the bar. Large vinyl-covered plates (weighing twenty to sixty pounds) are usually used for barbells and small stainless steel plates (weighing five or ten pounds) for dumbbells. Barbells and dumbbells also come with the weight permanently attached, so the weight plates don’t have to be replaced. Shoulder shrugs, arm curls, and upright rows are common free-weight exercises (see Table 2-6).
Machine systems are designed to isolate and work specific muscles or muscle groups. Most weight machines have a cable and pulley system that require you to push or pull a handlebar, foot plate, or padded bar to move a certain amount of weight. Before each exercise, you usually insert a metal pin into a weight stack to select how much weight you are going to lift and also adjust the weight machine to fit your body size. As you do the exercise, the machine’s cable moves the weight plates up and down as your muscles work against the resistance. Lat pulldowns, leg extensions, and leg curls are common machine system exercises (see Table 2-6).
Calisthenic exercises involve moving your own body weight. Some exercises, such as pull-ups, require equipment. However, the following common calisthenic exercises (and the many variations of them) do not require extra equipment. There are a multitude of other examples of calisthenic exercises online as well.
Calisthenic Exercises: Calisthenic Wikipedia
Rubber resistance products include a wide variety of weight training equipment made from rubber and elastic materials. To see some examples of this type of equipment, go to the Internet (example equipment from spriproducts) and review the weight training examples found in the back of this course manual. This may be found in the Course Resources folder in the online version of this course.
Any type of weight training exercise is effective as long as you satisfy the overload principle and get tired at the end of the exercise set (usually after about eight to twelve reps). Table 2-4 briefly highlights the advantages and disadvantages of each type of equipment. Table 2-5 gives some tips on how to lift weights the right way. Table 2-6 outlines a list of common weight training exercises.
| Weight Training Option | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|---|
| Free Weights | Lets you move in any direction Involves more posture muscles (to hold the body in position) |
Higher risk of injury Takes more time Often requires a partner (spotter) |
Machine Systems | Lower risk of injury Takes less time Requires no partner (spotter) |
Expensive Take up a lot of space Limited movement pattern Involves fewer posture muscles |
| Calisthenics | Requires little or no equipment Takes less time |
May be too easy for some people Doesn’t work all of the major muscles |
| Rubber Tubing / Resist-a-Bands | Portable Inexpensive Takes less time |
May be too easy for some people Limited number of leg exercises |
| Here are some tips to guide you as you lift weights |
|---|
| 1. Lift slowly and smoothly. If you move too fast, the extra momentum makes the exercise easier and increases your risk of injury. As a general rule, count to three slowly while you lift the weight, and again while you lower it. |
| 2. Use good form. Do not lean forward, backward, or sway to the side during any lift. Never swing your body to make the exercise easier. Think more about moving your muscles and body parts in the right way rather than moving the equipment (barbells, dumbbells, or machine weights) in a particular way. |
| 3. Don’t hold your breath. If you hold your breath at the same time you lift a heavy weight it can limit how much blood returns to your heart and brain. This may cause you to pass out and possibly hit your head or to drop a heavy weight on top of yourself. To help prevent this from happening, always breathe out during the harder parts of the lift and breathe in during the easier parts. |
| 4. Work the larger muscles first, then the smaller ones. This is a good idea because then your small muscles (like your biceps, triceps, forearms, lower legs, lower back, and abdomen) will be fresh and rested so you can maintain good form and work even harder as you lift the heavier weights to work your larger muscles (like your chest, upper back, shoulders, hips, and upper legs). Take a look at figure 3-1 to see the recommended order you should do your exercises. |
| 5. Increase the difficulty of the exercise as needed. When an exercise becomes too easy, gradually increase the weight by about five pounds or move at a slower speed to stay within your training zone (ten to twelve reps to fatigue). |
For more information on common weight training exercises, see the Appendix A which is located in the Course Resources folder in the online version of this course.
| Muscle Group or Body Part | Exercises For Images of These Exercises, See Appendix |
|---|---|
| chest | bench press, chest press, push-up, bent-arm fly |
| buttocks | squat, lunge squat |
| shoulders | arm raise, side arm raise, rear arm raise, upright rowing |
| quadriceps | leg press, leg extensions, squat, lunge squat |
| abdomen | abdominal curls (crunch) |
1 Source: Adapted from American Council on Exercise, 2003.