Why Should I do Resistance Training?
Muscular strength can be defined as a muscle’s ability to exert force on an object. In short form, strength is state of being physically strong!
While muscular strength is important for many athletes, it is also an essential part of daily living. Young, old, and athletic individuals can use resistance training, as a way to improve strength!
So, why should I start resistance training?
There is a myriad of health benefits that come from starting resistance training. These include:
Improved muscle strength to help protect joints
Maintaining flexibility and balance which will keep you independent while you age
Weight management and an increased muscle-to-fat ratio
Increased bone density and reduced risk of osteoporosis
Prevention and control of chronic conditions
Pain management
Improved fitness to ensure you won’t get as tired as easily.
Improved sleep, sense of well being and self-esteem
Training Cycles, what are they and why do we use them?
In training cycles we use the concept of periodisation to help structure training programs. Periodisation can be defined as the planned manipulation of training variables to optimise performance. Variables can include volume, intensity and exercise selection. By varying these across various cycles we are able to build fitness and strength over a set period.
We then break theses down into three different cycles:
Macrocycle - lasts around a year
Mesocycle - lasts around a month
Microcycle - lasts around a week
There is substantial variation between the lengths of each training cycle, all of which will depend on your goals and your schedule. This is where an Exercise Physiologist can step in to assist with adjusting these to best suit your personal goals and lifestyle.
How often should I do resistance training?
The Australian guidelines for resistance training indicate that resistance training should be completed twice a week. These training sessions should look to work all your major muscle groups in the body (legs, hips, back, chest, core, shoulders and arms). For those who are just beginning a strength program may contain between six and ten exercises. Within these exercises you’ll start with one set of each exercise of between eight to ten repetitions. From there, as you become more comfortable you can increase the sets and repetitions.
As you become more accustomed to resistance training an Exercise Physiologist can help you safely progress the intensity of your training to help improve your muscle adaptations. Various ways they may do this increase increasing the weight lifting, increase the duration of the contraction (increasing the time the muscle is under tension), reducing rest time or increasing the training volume.
