Strength training - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Strength training is the use of resistance to muscular contraction to build the strength

Physical strength

Physical strength is the ability of a person or animal to exert force on physical objects using muscles. Increasing physical strength is the goal of strength training.-Overview:...

, anaerobic endurance

Anaerobic exercise

Anaerobic exercise is exercise intense enough to trigger anaerobic metabolism. It is used by athletes in non-endurance sports to promote strength, speed and power and by body builders to build muscle mass...

, and size

Muscle hypertrophy

Muscle hypertrophy is an increase in the size of muscle cells. It differs from muscle hyperplasia, which is the formation of new muscle cells.-Hypertrophy stimuli:A range of stimuli can increase the volume of muscle cells...

of skeletal muscle

Skeletal muscle

Skeletal muscle is a form of striated muscle tissue existing under control of the somatic nervous system- i.e. it is voluntarily controlled. It is one of three major muscle types, the others being cardiac and smooth muscle...

s. There are many different methods of strength training, the most common being the use of gravity

Weight training

Weight training is a common type of strength training for developing the strength and size of skeletal muscles. It uses the weight force of gravity to oppose the force generated by muscle through concentric or eccentric contraction...

or elastic/hydraulic forces

Resistance training

Resistance training has two different meanings. A broader meaning that refers to any training that uses a resistance to the force of muscular contraction , and elastic or hydraulic resistance, which refers to a specific type of strength training that uses elastic or hydraulic tension to provide...

to oppose muscle contraction. See the resistance training
Resistance training
Resistance training has two different meanings. A broader meaning that refers to any training that uses a resistance to the force of muscular contraction , and elastic or hydraulic resistance, which refers to a specific type of strength training that uses elastic or hydraulic tension to provide...

article for information about elastic/hydraulic training, but note that the terms "strength training" and "resistance training" are often used interchangeably.

When properly performed, strength training can provide significant functional benefits and improvement in overall health and well-being, including increased bone

Bone

Bones are rigid organs that constitute part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells and store minerals. Bone tissue is a type of dense connective tissue...

, muscle, tendon

Tendon

A tendon is a tough band of fibrous connective tissue that usually connects muscle to bone and is capable of withstanding tension. Tendons are similar to ligaments and fasciae as they are all made of collagen except that ligaments join one bone to another bone, and fasciae connect muscles to other...

and ligament

Ligament

In anatomy, the term ligament is used to denote any of three types of structures. Most commonly, it refers to fibrous tissue that connects bones to other bones and is also known as articular ligament, articular larua, fibrous ligament, or true ligament.Ligament can also refer to:* Peritoneal...

strength and toughness, improved joint

Joint

A joint is the location at which two or more bones make contact. They are constructed to allow movement and provide mechanical support, and are classified structurally and functionally.-Classification:...

function, reduced potential for injury, increased bone density, a temporary increase in metabolism

Metabolism

Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that happen in the cells of living organisms to sustain life. These processes allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments. Metabolism is usually divided into two categories...

, improved cardiac function, and elevated HDL (good) cholesterol

High density lipoprotein

High-density lipoprotein is one of the five major groups of lipoproteins, which, in order of sizes, largest to smallest, are chylomicrons, VLDL, IDL, LDL, and HDL, which enable lipids like cholesterol and triglycerides to be transported within the water-based bloodstream...

. Training commonly uses the technique of progressively increasing the force output of the muscle through incremental increases of weight, elastic tension or other resistance, and uses a variety of exercises and types of equipment to target specific muscle groups. Strength training is primarily an anaerobic

Anaerobic exercise

activity, although some proponents have adapted it to provide the benefits of aerobic exercise

Aerobic exercise

Aerobic exercise is physical exercise of relatively low intensity that depends primarily on the aerobic energy-generating process. Aerobic literally means "living in air", and refers to the use of oxygen to adequately meet energy demands during exercise via aerobic metabolism...

through circuit training

Circuit training

Circuit training is a form of conditioning combining resistance training and high-intensity aerobics. It is designed to be easy to follow and target strength building as well as muscular endurance. An exercise "circuit" is one completion of all prescribed exercises in the program. When one circuit...

.

Strength training differs from bodybuilding

Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding is a form of body modification involving intensive muscle hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. In competitive and professional bodybuilding, bodybuilders display their physiques to a panel of judges, who assign points based on their...

, weightlifting, powerlifting

Powerlifting

Powerlifting is a strength sport. It resembles the sport of Olympic weightlifting, as both disciplines involve lifting weights in three attempts. Powerlifting evolved from a sport known as 'odd lifts' which followed the same three attempt format but used a wide variety of events akin to Strongman...

, and strongman

Strongman (strength athlete)

In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or circus performers of similar ilk who displayed feats of strength such as the bent press , supporting large amounts of...

, which are sports rather than forms of exercise, although training for them is inherently interconnected with strength training, as it is for shotput, discus

Discus

Discus, "disk" in Latin, may refer to:* Discus , a progressive rock band from Indonesia* Discus , a fictional character from the Marvel Comics Universe and enemy of Luke Cage* Discus , a freshwater fish popular with aquarium keepers...

, and Highland games

Highland games

Highland games are events held throughout the &Highland games are events held throughout the &Highland games are events held throughout the &(-è_çà in Scotland and other countries as a way of celebrating Scottish and Celtic culture and heritage, especially that of the Scottish Highlands. Certain...

. Many other sports use strength training as part of their training regimen, notably football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

, wrestling

Wrestling

Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...

, rugby

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

, rowing

Rowing (sport)

Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...

, lacrosse

Lacrosse

Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...

, basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, hockey

Hockey

Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...

, and track and field

Track and field

Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

History

Until the 20th century, the history of strength training was very similar to the history of weight training. With the advent of modern technology, materials and knowledge, the methods that can be used for strength training have multiplied significantly.

Hippocrates

Hippocrates

Hippocrates of Cos or Hippokrates of Kos was an ancient Greek physician of the Age of Pericles , and is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine...

explained the principle behind strength training when he wrote "that which if used develops, and that which if not used wastes away", referring to muscular hypertrophy

Muscle hypertrophy

and atrophy. Progressive resistance training dates back at least to Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

, when legend has it that wrestler Milo of Croton

Milo of Croton

Milo of Croton was a 6th century BC wrestler from the Magna Graecian city of Croton in southern Italy who enjoyed a brilliant wrestling career and won many victories in the most important athletic festivals of ancient Greece...

trained by carrying a newborn calf

Calf

Calves are the young of domestic cattle. Calves are reared to become adult cattle, or are slaughtered for their meat, called veal.-Terminology:...

on his back every day until it was fully grown. Another Greek, the physician Galen

Galen

Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus , better known as Galen of Pergamon , was a prominent Roman physician, surgeon and philosopher...

, described strength training exercises using the halteres

Halteres (ancient Greece)

Halteres were a type of dumbbells used in Ancient Greece. In ancient Greek sports, halteres were used as lifting weights, and also as weights in their version of the long jump, which was probably a set of three jumps. Halteres were held in both hands to allow an athlete to jump a greater distance;...

(an early form of dumbbell

Dumbbell

The dumbbell, a type of free weight, is a piece of equipment used in weight training. It can be used individually or in pairs .-History:...

) in the 2nd century. Ancient Persians used the meels, which became popular during the 19th century as the Indian club, and has recently made a comeback in the form of the clubbell.

The dumbbell was joined by the barbell

Barbell

A barbell is a piece of exercise equipment used in weight training, weightlifting and powerlifting. Barbells range in length from to although bars above 7' in length are used primarily by powerlifters and aren't commonplace...

in the latter half of the 19th century. Early barbells had hollow globes that could be filled with sand

Sand

Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...

or lead shot

Lead shot

Lead shot is a collective term for small balls of lead. These were the original projectiles for muskets and early rifles, but today lead shot is fired primarily from shotguns. It is also used for a variety of other purposes...

, but by the end of the century these were replaced by the plate-loading barbell commonly used today.

Strength training with isometric exercise

Isometric exercise

Isometric exercise or isometrics are a type of strength training in which the joint angle and muscle length do not change during contraction...

was popularised by Charles Atlas

Charles Atlas

Charles Atlas, born Angelo Siciliano , was the developer of a bodybuilding method and its associated exercise program that was best known for a landmark advertising campaign featuring Atlas's name and likeness; it has been described as one of the longest-lasting and most memorable ad campaigns of all...

from the 1930s onwards. The 1960s saw the gradual introduction of exercise machine

Exercise machine

An exercise machine is any machine used for physical exercise. These range from simple spring-like devices to computerized electromechanical rides to recirculating-stream swimming pools...

s into the still-rare strength training gyms of the time. Strength training became increasingly popular in the 1980s following the release of the bodybuilding movie Pumping Iron
Pumping Iron
Pumping Iron is a 1977 docudrama about the world of bodybuilding, focusing on the 1975 IFBB Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia competitions and the 100 days leading up to them. The film was inspired by a book of the same name, written by Charles Gaines and George Butler...

and the subsequent popularity of Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....

Resistance training

Resistance training as a term, is actually applicable to all forms of strength training, as resistance can come from a variety of forces, including overcoming inertia, momentum, or acceleration from gravity. In a more specific usage (which excepts weight resistance training) it refers to a form of strength training in which each effort is performed against a specific opposing force

Force

In physics, a force is any influence that causes an object to undergo a change in speed, a change in direction, or a change in shape. In other words, a force is that which can cause an object with mass to change its velocity , i.e., to accelerate, or which can cause a flexible object to deform...

generated by resistance (i.e. resistance to being pushed, squeezed, stretched or bent). Exercises are isotonic if a body part is moving against the force. Exercises are isometric if a body part is holding still against the force. Resistance exercise is used to develop the strength

Physical strength

Physical strength is the ability of a person or animal to exert force on physical objects using muscles. Increasing physical strength is the goal of strength training.-Overview:...

and size of skeletal muscle

Skeletal muscle

s. Properly performed, resistance training can provide significant functional benefits and improvement in overall health

Health

Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...

and well-being.
The goal of resistance training, according to the American Sports Medicine Institute

American Sports Medicine Institute

American Sports Medicine Institute located in Birmingham, Alabama was founded in 1986 by Dr. James Andrews and Dr. Lawrence Lemak with original funding from HealthSouth Corporation...

(ASMI), is to "gradually and progressively overload the musculoskeletal system so it gets stronger." Research shows that regular resistance training will strengthen muscle and increase bone

Bone

mass.

Weight training

Weight

Weight training

and resistance training

Resistance training

are popular methods of strength training that use gravity (through weight stacks, plates or dumbbells) or elastic/hydraulic resistance to oppose muscle contraction. Each method provides a different challenge to the muscle relating to the position where the resistance to muscle contraction peaks. Weight training provides the majority of the resistance at the initiating joint angle when the movement begins, when the muscle must overcome the inertia

Inertia

Inertia is the resistance of any physical object to a change in its state of motion or rest, or the tendency of an object to resist any change in its motion. It is proportional to an object's mass. The principle of inertia is one of the fundamental principles of classical physics which are used to...

of the weight's mass (however, if repetitions are performed extremely slowly, inertia is never overcome and resistance remains constant). In contrast, elastic resistance provides the greatest opposition to contraction at the end of the movement when the material experiences the greatest tension while hydraulic resistance varies depending on the speed of the submerged limb, with greater resistance at higher speeds. In addition to the equipment used, joint angles can alter the force output of the muscles due to lever

Lever

In physics, a lever is a rigid object that is used with an appropriate fulcrum or pivot point to either multiply the mechanical force that can be applied to another object or resistance force , or multiply the distance and speed at which the opposite end of the rigid object travels.This leverage...

age.

Isometric training

Isometric exercise, or "isometrics", is a type of strength training in which the joint angle and muscle length do not change during contraction. Isometric exercises are opposed by a force equal to the force output of the muscle and there is no net movement. This mainly strengthens the muscle at the specific joint angle at which the isometric exercise occurs, with some increases in strength at joint angles up to 20° in either direction depending on the joint trained. In comparison, isotonic exercises strengthen the muscle throughout the entire range of motion

Range of motion

Range of motion , is the distance that a movable object may normally travel while properly attached to another object. It is also called range of travel, particularly when talking about mechanical devices and in mechanical engineering fields...

of the exercise used.

Basic principles

The basic principles of strength training involve a manipulation of the number of repetitions (reps), sets, tempo, exercises and force to cause desired changes in strength, endurance, size or shape by overloading of a group of muscles. The specific combinations of reps, sets, exercises, resistance and force depend on the purpose of the individual performing the exercise: sets with fewer reps can be performed using more force, but have a reduced impact on endurance.

Strength training also requires the use of 'good form

Form (exercise)

Form is a specific way of performing a movement, often a strength training exercise, to avoid injury, prevent cheating and increase strength.-'Proper form':Exercises or drills in sport have a recognized way of performing the movements that have two purposes:...

', performing the movements with the appropriate muscle group(s), and not transferring the weight to different body parts in order to move greater weight/resistance (called 'cheating'). Typically failure to use good form during a training set can result in injury or an inability to meet training goals - since the desired muscle group is not challenged sufficiently, the threshold of overload is never reached and the muscle does not gain in strength. There are cases when cheating is beneficial, as is the case where weaker groups become the weak link in the chain and the target muscles are never fully exercised as a result.

The benefits of strength training include increased muscle, tendon and ligament strength, bone density, flexibility, tone, metabolic rate and postural support.

Terminology

Strength training has a variety of specialized terms used to describe parameters of strength training:

Exercise - different exercises involve moving joints in specific patterns to challenge muscles in different ways
Form
Form (exercise)
Form is a specific way of performing a movement, often a strength training exercise, to avoid injury, prevent cheating and increase strength.-'Proper form':Exercises or drills in sport have a recognized way of performing the movements that have two purposes:...

- each exercise has a specific form, a topography of movement designed to maximize safety and muscle strength gains
Rep - short for repetition, a rep is a single cycle of lifting and lowering a weight in a controlled manner, moving through the form of the exercise
Set - a set consists of several repetitions performed one after another with no break between them with the number of reps per set and sets per exercise depending on the goal of the individual. The number of repetitions one can perform at a certain weight is called the Rep Maximum (RM). For example, if one could perform ten reps at 75 lbs, then their RM for that weight would be 10RM. 1RM is therefore the maximum weight that someone can lift in a given exercise - i.e. a weight that they can only lift once without a break.
Tempo - the speed with which an exercise is performed; the tempo of a movement has implications for the weight that can be moved and the effects on the muscle.

Realization of training goals

According to popular theory:

Sets of one to five repetitions primarily develop strength, with more impact on muscle size and none on endurance
Endurance
Endurance is the ability for a human or animal to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from, and have immunity to trauma, wounds, or fatigue. In humans, it is usually used in aerobic or anaerobic exercise...

.
Sets of six to twelve repetitions develop a balance of strength, muscle size and endurance.
Sets of thirteen to twenty repetitions develop endurance, with some increases to muscle size and limited impact on strength.
Sets of more than twenty repetitions are considered to be focused on aerobic exercise
Aerobic exercise
Aerobic exercise is physical exercise of relatively low intensity that depends primarily on the aerobic energy-generating process. Aerobic literally means "living in air", and refers to the use of oxygen to adequately meet energy demands during exercise via aerobic metabolism...

. They do still use the anaerobic system, but usually at a rate through which it can consistently remove the lactic acid
Lactic acid
Lactic acid, also known as milk acid, is a chemical compound that plays a role in various biochemical processes and was first isolated in 1780 by the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele. Lactic acid is a carboxylic acid with the chemical formula C3H6O3...

generated from it.

Individuals typically perform one to six sets per exercise, and one to three exercises per muscle group, with short breaks between each set - the specific combinations of reps, exercises, sets and break duration depends on the goals of the individual program. The duration of these breaks determines which energy system the body utilizes. Performing a series of exercises with little or no rest between them, referred to as "circuit training

Circuit training

", will draw energy mostly from the aerobic energy system. Brief bursts of exercise, separated by breaks, are fueled by anaerobic systems, which use either phosphagen

Phosphagen

The phosphagens are energy storage compounds, also known as high-energy phosphate compounds, are chiefly found in muscular tissue in animals. They allow a high-energy phosphate pool to be maintained in a concentration range, which, if it all were ATP, would create problems due to the ATP consuming...

s or glycolysis

Glycolysis

Glycolysis is the metabolic pathway that converts glucose C6H12O6, into pyruvate, CH3COCOO− + H+...

.

For developing endurance, gradual increases in volume and gradual decreases in intensity is the most effective program.

It has been shown that for beginners, multiple-set training offers minimal benefits over single-set training with respect to either strength gain or muscle mass increase, but for the experienced athlete multiple-set systems are required for optimal progress. However, one study shows that for leg muscles, three sets are more effective than one set.

Beginning weight-trainers are in the process of training the neurological aspects of strength, the ability of the brain to generate a rate of neuron

Neuron

A neuron is an electrically excitable cell that processes and transmits information by electrical and chemical signaling. Chemical signaling occurs via synapses, specialized connections with other cells. Neurons connect to each other to form networks. Neurons are the core components of the nervous...

al action potential

Action potential

In physiology, an action potential is a short-lasting event in which the electrical membrane potential of a cell rapidly rises and falls, following a consistent trajectory. Action potentials occur in several types of animal cells, called excitable cells, which include neurons, muscle cells, and...

s that will produce a muscular contraction that is close to the maximum of the muscle's potential.

Variable	Training goal
Variable	Strength Physical strength Physical strength is the ability of a person or animal to exert force on physical objects using muscles. Increasing physical strength is the goal of strength training.-Overview:...	Power Human power Human power is work or energy that is produced from the human body. It can also refer to the power of a human. Power comes primarily from muscles, but body heat is also used to do work like warming shelters, food, or other humans....	Hypertrophy Muscle hypertrophy Muscle hypertrophy is an increase in the size of muscle cells. It differs from muscle hyperplasia, which is the formation of new muscle cells.-Hypertrophy stimuli:A range of stimuli can increase the volume of muscle cells...	Endurance Endurance Endurance is the ability for a human or animal to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from, and have immunity to trauma, wounds, or fatigue. In humans, it is usually used in aerobic or anaerobic exercise...
Load (% of 1RM One rep maximum One rep maximum in weight training is the maximum amount of weight one can lift in a single repetition for a given exercise. One repetition maximum can be used for determining an individual's maximum strength and is the method for determining the winner in events such as powerlifting and... )	80-90	45-55	60-80	40-60
Reps per set	1-5	1-5	6-12	15-60
Sets per exercise	4-7	3-5	4-8	2-4
Rest between sets (mins)	2-6	2-6	2-5	1-2
Duration (seconds per set)	5-10	4-8	20-60	80-150
Speed per rep (% of max)	60-100	90-100	60-90	60-80
Training sessions per week	3-6	3-6	5-7	8-14
Table reproduced from Siff, 2003

Weights for each exercise should be chosen so that the desired number of repetitions can just be achieved.

Progressive overload

In one common method, weight training uses the principle of progressive overload, in which the muscle

Muscle

Muscle is a contractile tissue of animals and is derived from the mesodermal layer of embryonic germ cells. Muscle cells contain contractile filaments that move past each other and change the size of the cell. They are classified as skeletal, cardiac, or smooth muscles. Their function is to...

s are overloaded by attempting to lift at least as much weight as they are capable of. They respond by growing larger and stronger. This procedure is repeated with progressively heavier weights as the practitioner gains strength and endurance.

However, performing exercises at the absolute limit of one's strength (known as one rep max

One rep maximum

One rep maximum in weight training is the maximum amount of weight one can lift in a single repetition for a given exercise. One repetition maximum can be used for determining an individual's maximum strength and is the method for determining the winner in events such as powerlifting and...

lifts) is considered too risky for all but the most experienced practitioners. Moreover, most individuals wish to develop a combination of strength, endurance and muscle size. One repetition sets are not well suited to these aims. Practitioners therefore lift lighter (sub-maximal) weights, with more repetitions, to fatigue the muscle and all fibres within that muscle as required by the progressive overload principle.

Commonly, each exercise is continued to the point of momentary muscular failure. Contrary to widespread belief, this is not the point at which the individual thinks they cannot complete any more repetitions, but rather the first repetition that fails due to inadequate muscular strength. Training to failure

Training to failure

In weight training, training to failure is repeating an exercise to the point of momentary muscular failure, i.e. the point where a repetition fails due to inadequate muscular strength....

is a controversial topic with some advocating training to failure on all sets while others believe that this will lead to overtraining

Overtraining

Overtraining is a physical, behavioral, and emotional condition that occurs when the volume and intensity of an individual's exercise exceeds their recovery capacity. They cease making progress, and can even begin to lose strength and fitness...

, and suggest training to failure only on the last set of an exercise. Some practitioners recommend finishing a set of repetitions just before the point of failure; e.g. if you can do a maximum of 12 reps with a given weight, perform only 11. Adrenaline and other hormones may promote additional intensity by stimulating the body to lift additional weight (as well as the neuro-muscular stimulations that happen when in “fight-or-flight” mode, as the body activates more muscle fibres), so getting "psyched up" before a workout can increase the maximum weight lifted.

Weight training can be a very effective form of strength training because exercises can be chosen, and weights precisely adjusted, to safely exhaust each individual muscle group after the specific numbers of sets and repetitions that have been found to be the most effective for the individual. Other strength training exercises lack the flexibility and precision that weights offer.

Split training

Split training involves working no more than three muscle groups or body parts per day, instead spreading the training of specific body parts throughout a training cycle of several days. It is commonly used by more advanced practitioners due to the logistics involved in training all muscle groups maximally. Training all the muscles in the body individually through their full range of motion in a single day is generally not considered possible due to caloric and time constraints. Split training involves fully exhausting individual muscle groups during a workout, then allowing several days for the muscle to fully recover. Muscles are worked roughly twice per week and allowed roughly 72 hours to recover. Recovery of certain muscle groups is usually achieved on days while training other groups. I.e. a 7 day week can consist of a practitioner training trapezius, side shoulders and upper shoulders to exhaustion on one day, the following day the arms to exhaustion, the day after that the rear, front shoulders and back, the day after that the chest. In this way all mentioned muscle groups are allowed the necessary recovery.

Intensity, volume, and frequency

Three important variables of strength training are intensity, volume and frequency. Intensity refers to the amount of work

Mechanical work

In physics, work is a scalar quantity that can be described as the product of a force times the distance through which it acts, and it is called the work of the force. Only the component of a force in the direction of the movement of its point of application does work...

required to achieve the activity, and is proportional

Proportionality (mathematics)

In mathematics, two variable quantities are proportional if one of them is always the product of the other and a constant quantity, called the coefficient of proportionality or proportionality constant. In other words, are proportional if the ratio \tfrac yx is constant. We also say that one...

to the mass

Mass

Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...

of the weights being lifted. Volume refers to the number of muscles worked, exercises, sets and reps during a single session. Frequency refers to how many training sessions are performed per week.

These variables are important because they are all mutually conflicting, as the muscle only has so much strength and endurance, and takes time to recover due to microtrauma

Microtrauma

Microtrauma is the general term given to small injuries to the body.Microtrauma can include the microtearing of muscle fibres, the sheath around the muscle and the connective tissue. It can also include stress to the tendons, and to the bones . It is unknown whether or not the ligaments adapt like...

. Increasing one by any significant amount necessitates the decrease of the other two, e.g. increasing weight means a reduction of reps, and will require more recovery time and therefore fewer workouts per week. Trying to push too much intensity, volume and frequency will result in overtraining

Overtraining

, and eventually lead to injury and other health issues such as chronic soreness and general lethargy, illness or even acute trauma such as avulsion fracture

Avulsion fracture

An avulsion fracture is a bone fracture which occurs when a fragment of bone tears away from the main mass of bone as a result of physical trauma. This can occur at the ligament due to the application forces external to the body or at the tendon due to a muscular contraction that is stronger than...

s. A high-medium-low formula can be used to avoid overtraining, with either intensity, volume, or frequency being high, one of the others being medium, and the other being low. One example of this training strategy can be found in the following chart:

Type	High	Med	Low
Intensity (% of 1RM One rep maximum One rep maximum in weight training is the maximum amount of weight one can lift in a single repetition for a given exercise. One repetition maximum can be used for determining an individual's maximum strength and is the method for determining the winner in events such as powerlifting and... )	80-100%	50-70%	10-40%
Volume (per muscle)	1 exercise	2 exercises	3+ exercises
Sets	1 set	2-3 sets	4+ sets
Reps	1-6 reps	8-15 reps	20+ reps
Session Frequency	1 p/w	2-3 p/w	4+ p/w

A common training strategy is to set the volume and frequency the same each week (e.g. training 3 times per week, with 2 sets of 12 reps each workout), and steadily increase the intensity (weight) on a weekly basis. However, to maximize progress to specific goals, individual programs may require different manipulations, such as decreasing the weight, and increase volume or frequency.

Making program alterations on a daily basis (daily undulating periodization) seems to be more efficient in eliciting strength gains than doing so every 4 weeks (linear periodization), but for beginners there are no differences between different periodization models.

Periodization

There are many complicated definitions for periodization, but the term simply means the division of the overall training program into periods which accomplish different goals.

Periodization is the modulating of volume, intensity, and frequency over time, to both stimulate gains and allow recovery.

In some programs for example; volume is decreased during a training cycle while intensity is increased. In this template, a lifter would begin a training cycle with a higher rep range than he will finish with.

For this example, the lifter has a 1 rep max of 225 lb:

Week	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Volume Lbs.	Peak Intensity(Last Set)	% of 1 Rep Max(Last Set)
1	95 lb x 8reps	100 lb x 8reps	110 lb x 8reps	115 lb x 8reps	120 lb x 8reps	4,320	73%	52.5%
2	105 lb x 8reps	110 lb x 7reps	115 lb x 7reps	125 lb x 7reps	130 lb x 7reps	4,200	79%	57.75%
3	110 lb x 7reps	120 lb x 7reps	125 lb x 6reps	135 lb x 6reps	140 lb x 6reps	4,010	84%	63%
4	125 lb x 6reps	130 lb x 6reps	140 lb x 6reps	145 lb x 5reps	155 lb x 5reps	3,870	88%	68.25%
5	130 lb x 5reps	140 lb x 5reps	150 lb x 5reps	155 lb x 5reps	165 lb x 4reps	3,535	94%	73.5%
6	140 lb x 4reps	150 lb x 4reps	160 lb x 4reps	165 lb x 4reps	175 lb x 4reps	3,160	99%	79%

This is an example of periodization where the number of repetitions decreases while the weight increases.

Benefits

The benefits of weight training include greater muscular strength, improved muscle tone and appearance, increased endurance and enhanced bone density.

Many people take up weight training to improve their physical attractiveness

Physical attractiveness

Physical attractiveness refers to a person's physical traits which are perceived to be aesthetically pleasing or beautiful. The term often implies sexual attractiveness or desirability, but can also be distinct from the two; for example, humans may regard the young as attractive for various...

. Most men can develop substantial muscles; most women lack the testosterone

Testosterone

Testosterone is a steroid hormone from the androgen group and is found in mammals, reptiles, birds, and other vertebrates. In mammals, testosterone is primarily secreted in the testes of males and the ovaries of females, although small amounts are also secreted by the adrenal glands...

to do it, but they can develop a firm, "toned" (see below) physique, and they can increase their strength by the same proportion as that achieved by men (but usually from a significantly lower starting point). An individual's genetic

Genetics

Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....

make-up dictates the response to weight training stimuli to some extent.

The body's basal metabolic rate

Basal metabolic rate

Basal Metabolic Rate , and the closely related resting metabolic rate , is the amount of daily energy expended by humans and other animals at rest. Rest is defined as existing in a neutrally temperate environment while in the post-absorptive state...

increases with increases in muscle mass, which promotes long-term fat loss

Dieting

Dieting is the practice of eating food in a regulated fashion to achieve or maintain a controlled weight. In most cases dieting is used in combination with physical exercise to lose weight in those who are overweight or obese. Some athletes, however, follow a diet to gain weight...

and helps dieters avoid yo-yo dieting

Yo-yo dieting

Yo-yo dieting or Yo-yo effect, also known as weight cycling The term "yo-yo dieting" was coined by Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D., at Yale University, in reference to the cyclical up-down motion of a yo-yo. In this process, the dieter is initially successful in the pursuit of weight loss but is...

. Moreover, intense workouts elevate metabolism

Metabolism

for several hours following the workout, which also promotes fat loss.

Weight training also provides functional benefits. Stronger muscles improve posture, provide better support for joint

Joint

s, and reduce the risk of injury

Injury

-By cause:*Traumatic injury, a body wound or shock produced by sudden physical injury, as from violence or accident*Other injuries from external physical causes, such as radiation injury, burn injury or frostbite*Injury from infection...

from everyday activities. Older

Old age

Old age consists of ages nearing or surpassing the average life span of human beings, and thus the end of the human life cycle...

people who take up weight training can prevent some of the loss of muscle tissue that normally accompanies aging—and even regain some functional strength—and by doing so become less frail. They may be able to avoid some types of physical disability

Physical disability

A physical disability is any impairment which limits the physical function of one or more limbs or fine or gross motor ability. Other physical disabilities include impairments which limit other facets of daily living, such as respiratory disorders and epilepsy....

. Weight-bearing exercise also helps to prevent osteoporosis

Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a disease of bones that leads to an increased risk of fracture. In osteoporosis the bone mineral density is reduced, bone microarchitecture is deteriorating, and the amount and variety of proteins in bone is altered...

. The benefits of weight training for older people have been confirmed by studies of people who began engaging in it even in their 80s and 90s.

Strength training helps to maintain good flexibility. The ability of the body to resist the stresses that can result from an injury can be increased by obtaining a greater amount of strength. That is true in the athletic world and it has its advantages in performing everyday activities, such as lifting or carrying objects. Strength contributes to the overall efficiency of the human body. Starting a strength training program means you have started a new lifestyle because strength is reversible. It will decline if you do not continue to obtain a strength stimulus throughout your entire life.

For many people in rehabilitation

Rehabilitation (neuropsychology)

Rehabilitation of sensory and cognitive function typically involves methods for retraining neural pathways or training new neural pathways to regain or improve neurocognitive functioning that has been diminished by disease or traumatic injury....

or with an acquired disability

Disability

A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...

, such as following stroke or orthopaedic surgery, strength training for weak muscles is a key factor to optimise recovery. For people with such a health condition, their strength training is likely to need to be designed by an appropriate health professional, such as a physiotherapist.

Stronger muscles improve performance in a variety of sports. Sport-specific training routines are used by many competitors. These often specify that the speed of muscle contraction

Muscle contraction

Muscle fiber generates tension through the action of actin and myosin cross-bridge cycling. While under tension, the muscle may lengthen, shorten, or remain the same...

during weight training should be the same as that of the particular sport.

Though weight training can stimulate the cardiovascular system, many exercise physiologists, based on their observation of maximal oxygen

Oxygen

Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...

uptake, argue that aerobics

Aerobics

Aerobics is a form of physical exercise that combines rhythmic aerobic exercise with stretching and strength training routines with the goal of improving all elements of fitness...

training is a better cardiovascular stimulus. Central catheter

Catheter

In medicine, a catheter is a tube that can be inserted into a body cavity, duct, or vessel. Catheters thereby allow drainage, administration of fluids or gases, or access by surgical instruments. The process of inserting a catheter is catheterization...

monitoring during resistance training reveals increased cardiac output

Cardiac output

Cardiac output is the volume of blood being pumped by the heart, in particular by a left or right ventricle in the time interval of one minute. CO may be measured in many ways, for example dm3/min...

, suggesting that strength training shows potential for cardiovascular exercise. However, a 2007 meta-analysis found that, though aerobic training is an effective therapy for heart failure patients, combined aerobic and strength training is ineffective.

One side-effect of any intense exercise is increased levels of dopamine

Dopamine

Dopamine is a catecholamine neurotransmitter present in a wide variety of animals, including both vertebrates and invertebrates. In the brain, this substituted phenethylamine functions as a neurotransmitter, activating the five known types of dopamine receptors—D1, D2, D3, D4, and D5—and their...

, serotonin

Serotonin

Serotonin or 5-hydroxytryptamine is a monoamine neurotransmitter. Biochemically derived from tryptophan, serotonin is primarily found in the gastrointestinal tract, platelets, and in the central nervous system of animals including humans...

and norepinephrine

Norepinephrine

Norepinephrine is the US name for noradrenaline , a catecholamine with multiple roles including as a hormone and a neurotransmitter...

, which can help to improve mood and counter feelings of depression

Depression (mood)

Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...

Bodybuilding

is a sport in which the goal is to increase muscle size and definition. Famous competitors include Steve Reeves

Steve Reeves

Stephen L. Reeves was an American bodybuilder and actor. At the peak of his career, he was the highest-paid actor in Europe.-Childhood:...

, Sergio Oliva

Sergio Oliva

Sergio Oliva is a bodybuilder known as "The Myth". This sobriquet was given to him by bodybuilder/writer Rick Wayne. Wayne had begun calling Oliva "The Myth" ""....

, Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger

, Lou Ferrigno

Lou Ferrigno

Louis Jude "Lou" Ferrigno is an American actor, fitness trainer/consultant, and retired professional bodybuilder. As a bodybuilder, Ferrigno won an IFBB Mr. America title and two consecutive IFBB Mr. Universe titles, and appeared in the bodybuilding documentary Pumping Iron...

and Ronnie Coleman

Ronnie Coleman

Ronnie Dean "Big Ron" Coleman is an American professional bodybuilder who holds the record of eight straight wins as Mr. Olympia, a record career total that he shares with Lee Haney.-Biography:...

. Bodybuilding increases the endurance of muscles, as well as strength, though not as much as if it were the primary goal. Bodybuilders compete in bodybuilding competitions, and use specific principles and methods of strength training to maximize muscular size and develop extremely low levels of body fat

Adipose tissue

In histology, adipose tissue or body fat or fat depot or just fat is loose connective tissue composed of adipocytes. It is technically composed of roughly only 80% fat; fat in its solitary state exists in the liver and muscles. Adipose tissue is derived from lipoblasts...

. In contrast, most strength trainers train to improve their strength and endurance while not giving special attention to reducing body fat below normal. Strength trainers tend to focus on compound exercises to build basic strength, whereas bodybuilders often use isolation exercises to visually separate their muscles, and to improve muscular symmetry

Symmetry

Symmetry generally conveys two primary meanings. The first is an imprecise sense of harmonious or aesthetically pleasing proportionality and balance; such that it reflects beauty or perfection...

. Pre-contest training for bodybuilders is different again, in that they attempt to retain as much muscular tissue as possible while undergoing severe dieting

Dieting

. However, the bodybuilding community has been the source of many strength training principles, techniques, vocabulary, and customs.

Bodybuilding, strongman competitions and other sports are illustrations of how the basic principles and methods of strength training can be applied to achieve very different goals.

Nutrition

It is widely accepted that strength training must be matched by changes in diet

Diet (nutrition)

In nutrition, diet is the sum of food consumed by a person or other organism. Dietary habits are the habitual decisions an individual or culture makes when choosing what foods to eat. With the word diet, it is often implied the use of specific intake of nutrition for health or weight-management...

in order to be effective. Adequate protein

Protein

Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

is generally believed to be required for building skeletal muscle with popular sources advising weight trainers to consume a high-protein diet with from 1.4 to 3.3 g of protein per kg

Kilogram

The kilogram or kilogramme , also known as the kilo, is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units and is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram , which is almost exactly equal to the mass of one liter of water...

of body weight per day (0.6 to 1.5 g per pound

Pound (mass)

The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...

). Protein that is neither needed for cell growth and repair nor consumed for energy is converted by the liver into fat

Fat

Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and generally insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are triglycerides, triesters of glycerol and any of several fatty acids. Fats may be either solid or liquid at room temperature, depending on their structure...

, which is then stored in the body. Some people believe that a high-protein diet entails risk of kidney

Kidney

The kidneys, organs with several functions, serve essential regulatory roles in most animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. They are essential in the urinary system and also serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of acid–base balance, and...

damage, but studies have shown that kidney problems only occur in people with previous kidney disease. Nonetheless, the deamination process creates urea

Urea

Urea or carbamide is an organic compound with the chemical formula CO2. The molecule has two —NH2 groups joined by a carbonyl functional group....

, which places low, but consistent, strain on the nephron

Nephron

The renal tubule is the portion of the nephron containing the tubular fluid filtered through the glomerulus. After passing through the renal tubule, the filtrate continues to the collecting duct system, which is not part of the nephron....

s. Failure to properly hydrate can result in an exaggeration of this effect.
An adequate supply of carbohydrates (5-7g per kg) is also needed as a source of energy and for the body to restore glycogen

Glycogen

Glycogen is a molecule that serves as the secondary long-term energy storage in animal and fungal cells, with the primary energy stores being held in adipose tissue...

levels in muscles.
A light, balanced meal prior to the workout (usually one to two hours beforehand) ensures that adequate energy and amino acids are available for the intense bout of exercise. The type of nutrients consumed affects the response of the body, and nutrient timing

Nutrient timing

Nutrient timing is a sports dieting concept that incorporates time as the missing dimension in superior muscular development. This concept represents a change over the previous school of thought that focused on protein loading without emphasizing the synchronicity between eating and...

whereby protein and carbohydrates are consumed prior to and after workout has a beneficial impact on muscle growth. Water

Water

Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

is consumed throughout the course of the workout to prevent poor performance due to dehydration

Dehydration

In physiology and medicine, dehydration is defined as the excessive loss of body fluid. It is literally the removal of water from an object; however, in physiological terms, it entails a deficiency of fluid within an organism...

. A protein shake is often consumed immediately following the workout, because both protein uptake and protein usage are increased at this time. Glucose (or another simple sugar) is often consumed as well since this quickly replenishes any glycogen

Glycogen

Glycogen is a molecule that serves as the secondary long-term energy storage in animal and fungal cells, with the primary energy stores being held in adipose tissue...

lost during the exercise period.
To maximise muscle protein anabolism, recovery drink should contain glucose (dextrose), protein (usually whey

Whey

Whey or Milk Serum is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. It is a by-product of the manufacture of cheese or casein and has several commercial uses. Sweet whey is manufactured during the making of rennet types of hard cheese like cheddar or Swiss cheese...

) hydrosylate containing mainly dipeptides and tripeptides, and leucine

Leucine

Leucine is a branched-chain α-amino acid with the chemical formula HO2CCHCH2CH2. Leucine is classified as a hydrophobic amino acid due to its aliphatic isobutyl side chain. It is encoded by six codons and is a major component of the subunits in ferritin, astacin and other 'buffer' proteins...

.
Some weight trainers also take ergogenic aid

Ergogenic aid

Ergogenic aids are any external influences that can be determined to enhance performance. These include mechanical aids , pharmacological aids, physiological aids, nutritional aids , and psychological aids....

s such as creatine

Creatine

Creatine is a nitrogenous organic acid that occurs naturally in vertebrates and helps to supply energy to all cells in the body, primarily muscle. This is achieved by increasing the formation of Adenosine triphosphate...

or steroid

Steroid

A steroid is a type of organic compound that contains a characteristic arrangement of four cycloalkane rings that are joined to each other. Examples of steroids include the dietary fat cholesterol, the sex hormones estradiol and testosterone, and the anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone.The core...

s to aid muscle growth. However, the effectiveness of some products is disputed and others are potentially harmful.

Sex differences in mass gains

Due to the androgenic hormonal differences between males and females, the latter are generally unable to develop large muscles regardless of the training program used. Normally the most that can be achieved is a look similar to that of a fitness model

Fitness and figure competition

Fitness and Figure competition is a class of physique-exhibition events for women. While bearing a close resemblance to female bodybuilding, they emphasizes muscle tone over muscle size.-Overview:...

. Muscle is denser

Density

The mass density or density of a material is defined as its mass per unit volume. The symbol most often used for density is ρ . In some cases , density is also defined as its weight per unit volume; although, this quantity is more properly called specific weight...

than fat, so someone who builds muscle while keeping the same body weight will occupy less volume; if two people weigh the same (and are the same height) but have different lean body mass percentages, the one with more muscle will appear thinner.

The results obtained by female bodybuilders are extremely atypical: they are self-selected for their genetic ability to build muscle, perform enormous amounts of exercise, their musculature is exaggerated by very low body fat, and like many male bodybuilders their results may be enhanced by anabolic steroids. In addition, though bodybuilding uses the same principles as strength training, it is with a goal of gaining muscle bulk. Strength trainers with different goals and programs will not gain the same mass as a male professional bodybuilder.

Muscle toning

Some weight trainers perform light, high-repetition exercises in an attempt to "tone" their muscles without increasing their size.

Tonus is the Latin equivalent of the English word tone. In anatomy and physiology as well as medicine the term muscle tone refers to, the continuous and passive partial contraction of the muscles or the muscle’s resistance to passive stretch during resting state as can determined by a deep tendon reflex. Muscle tonus

Muscle tone

In physiology, medicine, and anatomy, muscle tone is the continuous and passive partial contraction of the muscles, or the muscle’s resistance to passive stretch during resting state. It helps maintain posture, and it declines during REM sleep.-Purpose:Unconscious nerve impulses maintain the...

is dependant on neurological input into the muscle. In medicine alterations in muscle tonus are findings used to determine normal or abnormal states which can be indicative of pathology. The common strength training term tone is derived from this use.

What muscle builders refer to as a toned physique or "muscle firmness" is one that combines reasonable muscular size with moderate levels of body fat, qualities that may result from a combination of diet and exercise.

Muscle tone or firmness is derived from the increase in actin and myosin cross filaments in the sarcomere. When this occurs the same amount of neurological input creates a greater firmness or tone in the resting continuous and passive partial contraction in the muscle.

Exercises of 6-12 reps cause hypertrophy of the sarcoplasm in slow-twitch and high-twitch muscle fibers, contributing to overall increased muscle bulk. This is not to be confused with myofibril hypertrophy which leads to strength gains. Both however can occur to an extent during this rep range. Even though most are of the opinion that higher repetitions are best for producing the desired affect of muscle firmness or tone, it is not. Low volume strength training of 5 repetitions or less will increase strength by increasing actin and myosin cross filaments thereby increasing muscle firmness or tone. The low volume of this training will inhibit the hypertrophy effect. [Cite Needed]

Lowered-calorie diets have no positive effect on muscle hypertrophy

Muscle hypertrophy

for muscle of any fiber type. They may, however, decrease the thickness of subcutaneous fat (fat between muscle and skin), through an overall reduction in body fat, thus making muscle striations

Striated muscle

Striated muscle tissue is a form of fibers that are combined into parallel fibers. More specifically, it can refer to:* Cardiac muscle .* Skeletal muscle* Branchiomeric muscles...

more visible.

Safety concerns related to children

Orthopaedic

Orthopedic surgery

Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system...

specialists used to recommend that children avoid weight training because the growth plates on their bone

Bone

s might be at risk. The very rare reports of growth plate fractures in children who trained with weights occurred as a result of inadequate supervision, improper form or excess weight, and there have been no reports of injuries to growth plates in youth training programs that followed established guidelines. The position of the National Strength and Conditioning Association is that strength training is safe for children if properly designed and supervised.

Younger children are at greater risk of injury than adults if they drop a weight on themselves or perform an exercise incorrectly; further, they may lack understanding of, or ignore the safety precautions around weight training equipment. As a result, supervision of minors is considered vital to ensuring the safety of any youth engaging in strength training.

Weight loss

Exercises like sit-ups, or abdominal crunches, performs less work than whole-body aerobic exercises thereby expending fewer calories during exercise than jogging, for example.

Hypertrophy serves to maintain muscle mass, for an elevated basal metabolic rate

Basal metabolic rate

, which has the potential to burn more calories in a given period of time compared to aerobics. This helps to maintain a higher metabolic rate which would otherwise diminish after metabolic adaption to dieting, or upon completion of an aerobic routine.

Weight loss also depends on the type of strength training used. Weight training is generally used for bulking, but the bulking method will more than likely not increase weight because of the diet involved. However, when resistance or circuit training is used, because they are not geared towards bulking, women tend to lose weight more quickly. Lean muscles require calories to maintain themselves at rest, which will help reduce fat through an increase in the basal metabolic rate

Basal metabolic rate

Safety

Strength training is a safe form of exercise when the movements are controlled, and carefully defined. However, as with any form of exercise, improper execution and the failure to take appropriate precautions can result in injury.

Methods and equipment

A number of strength training methods exist, each with its own goals, equipment and results. Apart from weight training

Weight training

, they include isometric exercise

Isometric exercise

Isometric exercise or isometrics are a type of strength training in which the joint angle and muscle length do not change during contraction...

, plyometrics

Plyometrics

Plyometrics is a type of exercise training designed to produce fast, powerful movements, and improve the functions of the nervous system, generally for the purpose of improving performance in sports. Plyometric exercises may also be referred to as explosive exercises...

, Pilates

Pilates

Pilates is a physical fitness system developed in the early 20th century by Joseph Pilates in Germany, the UK and the USA. As of 2005, there were 11 million people practicing the discipline regularly and 14,000 instructors in the United States....

or Super Slow

Super Slow

Super Slow is a form of resistance training popularized by Ken Hutchins. The term SuperSlow and derivative terms are registered by Hutchins as trademarks...

.

Exercise equipment

Exercise equipment

An apparatus or device used in any given physical activity for shaping and forming muscle groups for specific areas of the body. A mechanism or machine that is intended to promote health and fitness by using motion with varying degrees of resistance either fixed or adjustable.-Exercise...

used for strength training includes weight machine

Weight machine

A weight machine is an exercise machine used for weight training that uses gravity as the primary source of resistance and a combination of simple machines to convey that resistance to the person using the machine...

s, resistance bands, Swiss ball

Swiss ball

An exercise ball is a ball constructed of soft elastic with a diameter of approximately 35 to 85 centimeters and filled with air. The air pressure is changed by removing a valve stem and either filling with air or letting the ball deflate...

s or Wobble boards, Indian clubs

Indian clubs

Indian clubs belong to a category of exercise equipment that was popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Europe, the British Commonwealth and the United States. They comprise bowling-pin shaped wooden "clubs" of varying sizes and weights, which are swung in certain patterns as part...

or weighted clothing

Weighted clothing

Weighted clothing is clothing that adds weight to various parts of the body, usually as part of resistance training. The effect is achieved through attaching weighted pieces to the body which leave the hands free to grasp objects. Unlike with held weights or machines, weighted clothing can leave...

Aerobic exercise versus anaerobic exercise

Strength training exercise is primarily anaerobic

Anaerobic exercise

. Even while training at a lower intensity (training loads of ~20-RM), anaerobic glycolysis is still the major source of power, although aerobic

Aerobic exercise

metabolism makes a small contribution. Weight training is commonly perceived as anaerobic exercise, because one of the more common goals is to increase strength by lifting heavy weights. Other goals such as rehabilitation, weight loss, body shaping, and bodybuilding often use lower weights, adding aerobic character to the exercise.

Except in the extremes, a muscle will fire fibres of both the aerobic or anaerobic types on any given exercise, in varying ratio depending on the load on the intensity of the contraction. This is known as the energy system continuum. At higher loads, the muscle will recruit all muscle fibres possible, both anaerobic ("fast-twitch") and aerobic ("slow-twitch"), in order to generate the most force. However, at maximum load, the anaerobic processes contract so forcefully that the aerobic fibers are completely shut out, and all work is done by the anaerobic processes. Because the anaerobic muscle fibre uses its fuel faster than the blood and intracellular restorative cycles can resupply it, the maximum number of repetitions is limited. In the aerobic regime, the blood and intracellular processes can maintain a supply of fuel and oxygen, and continual repetition of the motion will not cause the muscle to fail.

Circuit weight training is a form of exercise that uses a number of weight training exercise sets separated by short intervals. The cardiovascular effort to recover from each set serves a function similar to an aerobic exercise, but this is not the same as saying that a weight training set is itself an aerobic process.

Exercises for specific muscle groups

Weight trainers commonly divide the body's individual muscles into ten major muscle groups. These do not include the hip, neck

Neck

The neck is the part of the body, on many terrestrial or secondarily aquatic vertebrates, that distinguishes the head from the torso or trunk. The adjective signifying "of the neck" is cervical .-Boner anatomy: The cervical spine:The cervical portion of the human spine comprises seven boney...

and forearm

Forearm

-See also:*Forearm flexors*Forearm muscles...

muscles, which are rarely trained in isolation. The most common exercises for these muscle groups are listed below. (Videos of these and other exercises are available at exrx.net and from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.)

The sequence shown below is one possible way to order the exercises. The large muscles of the lower body are normally trained before the smaller muscles of the upper body, because these first exercises require more mental and physical energy. The core muscles of the torso

Torso

Trunk or torso is an anatomical term for the central part of the many animal bodies from which extend the neck and limbs. The trunk includes the thorax and abdomen.-Major organs:...

are trained before the shoulder

Shoulder

The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle , the scapula , and the humerus as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder make up the shoulder joints. The major joint of the shoulder is the glenohumeral joint, which...

and arm

Arm

In human anatomy, the arm is the part of the upper limb between the shoulder and the elbow joints. In other animals, the term arm can also be used for analogous structures, such as one of the paired forelimbs of a four-legged animal or the arms of cephalopods...

muscles that assist them. Exercises often alternate between "pushing" and "pulling" movements to allow their specific supporting muscles time to recover. The stabilising muscles in the waist

Waist

The waist is the part of the abdomen between the rib cage and hips. On proportionate people, the waist is the narrowest part of the torso....

should be trained last.

Advanced techniques

A number of techniques have been developed to make weight training exercises more intense, and thereby potentially increase the rate of progress. Many weight lifters use these techniques to bring themselves past a plateau, a duration where a weightlifter may be unable to do more lifting repetitions, sets, or use higher weight resistance.

Set structure

Drop sets: Drop sets do not end at the point of momentary muscular failure, but continue with progressively lighter weights.

Pyramid sets: Pyramid sets are weight training sets in which the progression is from lighter weights with a greater number of repetitions in the first set, to heavier weights with fewer repetitions in subsequent sets.

A reverse pyramid is the opposite in which the heavier weights are used at the beginning and progressively lightened.

Burnouts: Burnouts combine pyramids and drop sets, working up to higher weights with low reps and then back down to lower weights and high reps.

Diminishing set: The diminishing set method is where a weight is chosen that can be lifted for 20 reps in one set, and then 70 repetitions are performed in as few sets as possible.

Rest-pause (heavy singles): Rest-pause heavy singles are performed at or near 1RM, with ten to twenty seconds of rest between each lift. The lift is repeated six to eight times. It is generally recommended to use this method infrequently.

Giant set: The Giant set, is a form of training that targets one muscle group (e.g. the triceps) with four separate exercises performed in quick succession, often to failure and sometimes with the reduction of weight halfway through a set once muscle fatigue sets in. This form of intense training 'shocks' the muscles and as such, is usually performed by experienced trainers and should be used infrequently.

Combined sets

Supersets: Supersets combine two or more exercises with similar motions to maximize the amount of work of an individual muscle or group of muscles. The exercises are performed with no rest period between the exercises. An example would be doing bench press, which predominantly works the pectoralis and triceps muscles, and then moving to an exercise that works just the triceps such as the triceps extension or the pushdown.

Push-pull supersets: Push-pull supersets are similar to regular supersets, but exercises are chosen which work opposing muscle groups. This is especially popular when applied to arm exercises, for example by combining biceps curls with the triceps pushdown. Other examples include the shoulder press and lat pulldown combination, and the bench press and wide grip row combination.

Pre-exhaustion: Pre-exhaustion combines an isolation exercise with a compound exercise for the same muscle group. The isolation exercise first exhausts the muscle group, and then the compound exercise uses the muscle group's supporting muscles to push it further than would otherwise be possible. For example, the triceps muscles normally help the pectorals perform their function. But in the "bench press" the weaker triceps often fails first, which limits the impact on the pectorals. By preceding the bench press with the pec fly, the pectorals can be pre-exhausted so that both muscles fail at the same time, and both benefit equally from the exercise.

Breakdowns: Breakdowns were developed by Fred Hatfield

Fred Hatfield

Fred James Hatfield , nicknamed "Scrap Iron", was a Major League Baseball infielder who played 9 seasons in the Major Leagues with the Boston Red Sox , Detroit Tigers , Chicago White Sox , Cleveland Indians , and Cincinnati Redlegs .Born in Lanett, Alabama, Hatfield signed by the Boston Red Sox as an...

and Mike Quinn

Mike Quinn

Michael Patrick Quinn is a former professional gridiron football quarterback. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 1997 and was also a member of the Rhein Fire, Indianapolis Colts, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans, Denver Broncos, Montreal Alouettes...

to work the different types of muscle fibers for maximum stimulation. Three different exercises that work the same muscle group are selected, and used for a superset. The first exercise uses a heavy weight (~85% of 1 rep max) for around five reps, the second a medium weight (~70% of 1 rep max) for around twelve reps, and finally the third exercise is performed with a light weight (~50% of 1 rep max) for twenty to thirty reps, or even lighter (~40% of 1 rep max) for forty or more reps. (Going to failure

Training to failure

In weight training, training to failure is repeating an exercise to the point of momentary muscular failure, i.e. the point where a repetition fails due to inadequate muscular strength....

is discouraged.) The entire superset is performed three times.

Beyond failure

Forced reps: Forced reps occur after momentary muscular failure. An assistant provides just enough help to get the weight trainer past the sticking point of the exercise, and allow further repetitions to be completed. Weight trainers often do this when they are spotting

Spotting (weight training)

Spotting, in weight or resistance training, is the act of supporting another person during a particular exercise, with an emphasis on allowing the participant to lift or push more than he could normally do safely....

their exercise partner. With some exercises forced reps can be done without a training partner. For example, with one-arm biceps curls the other arm can be used to assist the arm that is being trained.

Cheat reps: Cheating is a deliberate compromise of form

Form (exercise)

to maximize reps. Cheating has the advantage that it can be done without a training partner, but compromises safety. A typical example of cheat reps occurs during biceps curls when, beginning with the load at the waist, the exerciser swings the barbell or dumbbell forward and up during the concentric phase utilizing momentum to assist his biceps muscles in moving the load to a shortened muscle position. Momentum assistance during the concentric phase allows him to move greater loads during the more difficult concentric phase. The objective can be to position greater loads of resistance to the biceps in preparation of performing the eccentric phase than the more difficult concentric phase would otherwise allow. Replacing a typical function of a training partner with a solo exerciser performing cheat reps facilitates forced reps or negative reps when training alone.

Rest-pause (post-failure): After a normal set of 6-8 reps (to failure), the weight is re-racked and the trainer takes 10-15 deep breaths, and then performs one more repetition. This process can be repeated for two further repetitions. The twenty-rep squat is another, similar approach, in that it follows a 12-15 rep set of squats with individual rest-pause reps, up to a total of 20 reps.

Weight stripping a.k.a. Number Setting: Weight stripping is a technique used after failure with a normal resistance in certain exercises, particularly with easily adjustable machines, whereby the weight trainer or a partner gradually reduces the resistance after a full set is taken to failure. With each reduction in resistance, as many possible reps are completed and the resistance is then reduced again. This is continued until the resistance is approximately half the original resistance.

Negative reps: Negative reps are performed with much heavier weights. Assistants lift the weight, and then the weight trainer attempts to resist its downward progress through an eccentric contraction. Alternatively, an individual can use an exercise machine for negatives by lifting the weight with both arms or legs, and then lowering it with only one. Or they can simply lower weights more slowly than they lift them: for example, by taking two seconds to lift each weight and four seconds to lower it.

Partial reps: Partial reps, as the name implies, involves movement through only part of the normal path of an exercise. Partial reps can be performed with heavier weights. Usually, only the easiest part of the repetition is attempted.

Burns: Burns involve mixing partial reps into a set of full range reps in order to increase intensity. The partials can be performed at any part of the exercise movement, depending on what works best for the particular exercise. Also, the partials can either be added after the end of a set or in some alternating fashion with the full range reps. For example, after performing a set of biceps curls to failure, an individual would cheat the bar back to the most contracted position, and then perform several partial reps.

Other techniques

Progressive movement training: Progressive movement training attempts to gradually increase the range of motion

Range of motion

throughout a training cycle. The lifter will start with a much heavier weight than they could handle in the full range of motion, only moving through the last 3-5” of the movement. Throughout the training cycle, the lifter will gradually increase the range of motion until the joint moves through the full range of the exercise. This is a style that was made popular by Paul Anderson.

Super slow: Super slow

Super Slow

Super Slow is a form of resistance training popularized by Ken Hutchins. The term SuperSlow and derivative terms are registered by Hutchins as trademarks...

repetitions are performed with lighter weights. The lifting and lowering phases of each repetition take 10 seconds or more.

Timed rests: By strictly controlling the rest periods between reps and sets a trainer can reduce their level of blood oxygenation, which helps to increase the stress on the muscles.

Wrist straps: Wrist straps (lifting straps) are sometimes used to assist in gripping very heavy weights. They are particularly useful for the deadlift. Some lifters avoid using wrist straps in order to develop their grip strength

Grip strength

Grip strength is the force applied by the hand to pull on or suspend from objects and is a specific part of hand strength. Optimum-sized objects permit the hand to wrap around a cylindrical shape with a diameter from one to three inches. Stair rails are an example of where shape and diameter are...

, just as some go further by using thick bars. Wrist straps can allow a lifter initially to use more weight than they might be able to handle safely for an entire set, as unlike simply holding a weight, if it is dropped then the lifter must descend with it or be pulled down. Straps place stress on the bones of the wrist which can be potentially harmful if excessive.