Efficient strength training

Efficient strength training

Welcome

Welcome to the daily session “Efficient Strength Training”. In this session you will learn more about what strength training is, how the body is affected and how muscle fibre changes. We will explain you the most important technical terms and training effects and give you tips on how to train efficiently.

Why should I undertake strength training?

To begin, let’s clarify what strength training means in the first place. The term is used to describe physical training that improves your muscular strength. The recommendations in this unit apply to all people without physical limitations. Of course, ideally, each person should be considered individually. If you have injuries or illnesses and/or are experiencing pain while exercising, be sure to talk to your doctor.

Your strength capability is important to perform better in physical activities, prevent injuries and maintain your independence throughout life. Strength training and the change in your physique are made up of different factors. Some of these are adjustable (e.g. diet, type of training and training experience), others are not (e.g. age, gender, hereditary factors).

Yet there are other, far more trivial reasons to train your muscle strength. Targeted strength training reduces back pain and can prevent it in the long term. Strengthening your muscles also helps prevent muscle atrophy and the loss of muscle strength, also known as sarcopenia. The tensile and compressive forces on your bones increase bone density and bone mineralisation. This in turn prevents the development of osteoporosis.

For further information on strength training, see the daily unit “Strength training basics”.

Section 2: Strength Training Basics I

Get yourself off balance

Muscle growth is stimulated by mechanical stress on the muscle fibres, as when using a dumbbell. In general, this is a matter of disturbing the biochemical balance (homeostasis). The muscle adapts either by adding muscle cells and boosting metabolism or by enhancing the interaction between the brain, nervous system and muscle. Weight plays an important role here. Just like the intensity (the weight), the duration or the extent of the physical stress is decisive for the muscles’ adaptation.

Technical terms

When it comes to fitness and especially strength training, there are many technical terms. We will explain some of them here so that you can have a better understanding of the context.

Adaptation as a basic law in training

Adaptation means the the body adjusting to physical stress. In strength training, for example, this is reflected in an increase in strength. But also your lungs, your heart or your bones adapt when they are stressed. This also works the other way round: if your body is not put under any physical stress, it will rebuild all the tissue it doesn’t need. In fact, this makes sense in the context of our early ancestors’ genetics, as they had to minimise any energy consumption in order to survive. They had neither grocery shops nor refrigerators.

Adaptation is only possible when the usual training level is being exceeded. You can achieve this by an increase in physical stress, intensity or volume and by using more complex exercises or heavier weights in your training.

Physical stress

This refers to the weight, for example of a dumbbell, measured in kilograms. The higher the physical stress, the greater the physical efforts on the muscle. Later on, we will clarify whether a high load also leads to a greater muscle adaptation.

Intensity

Mostly this term is used synonymously for the difficulty of the exercises. The more difficult an exercise is, the more intense it is. The maximum intensity in strength training is the 1-repetition maximum (also called “one-repetition maximum”). This term describes the weight with which you can complete an exercise only once. The 1-RM is also used in high-performance sports to determine the level of performance. There are also the 2- and 3-RM, where the repetition can be performed a maximum of two and three times respectively.

From the mass that was successfully moved during the 1-RM, the intensity can now be given as a percentage. For a squat with a 1-RM of 100kg, 60 % would therefore correspond to 60 kg. High training intensities (70-80% 1-RM) are still recommended in strength training to stimulate the muscle’s adaptation. Whether this is still appropriate today will be clarified in the course of the unit.

Loading intensity

Muscle failure

This is about determining until which point you should train in order to use as much muscle fibre as possible (this process is called recruitment). You will often hear that only training to the point of complete muscle failure will result in optimal stimulation of the muscles. This is known as training to concentric muscle failure. The performer ends the set only when they can no longer control the exercise concentrically. Taking the push-up as an example, this would be the case when you can no longer push yourself upwards.

Coordination failure

This is another condition whereby a strength exercise can be ended. Here, the complete recruitment of all muscle fibres is also observed, although the set will already be finished a few repetitions before the muscle failure is reached. As soon as you are no longer able to perform the exercise correctly, you end the set. In the case of the push-up, this would be, for example, strong trembling during the execution, sagging hips or elbows turned outwards.

Interim conclusion

Your muscles need to be used in order to adapt. This can be done with strength training at an increased intensity. In addition, you can work your muscles to the point of muscle or coordination failure.

Strength Training Basics II

Recovery

If you don’t take some rest from time to time, your body just won’t function. During the recovery phase (regeneration phase), your body begins to regain the energy it has used in order to restore its homeostasis. Regeneration is essential for our body and it is precisely during this phase that your bones, tendons and muscles adapt. If you train too often or too intensely and don’t take breaks, you’ll overstrain your body.

Overtraining and overstraining 

Overtraining occurs when you don’t give your body enough time to recover. Not only does your performance drop, but also your immune system collapses, you’ll experience hormonal changes or depression.

But how do you structure an effective and, above all, efficient strength training programme? Should you train with high or low intensity? What about volume (number of repetitions and sets) and frequency? After a few more definitions you need to know, we will explain to you what effective training planning looks like.

Exercise execution

Speed and range of movement

A proper workout starts with correct exercise execution. The speed at which you train plays a role as well as the so-called range of motion (ROM).

ROM – Range Of Motion

When you train with a full ROM, you strain the corresponding muscle entirely, i.e. from maximum stretch to maximum shortening. The resistance is applied over the full active joint mobility, i.e. the joint amplitude that can be utilised by the active muscle work. Passive joint mobility is greater than active joint mobility, but can only be achieved through external forces acting in the moving direction or with momentum.

Exercises with full ROM not only build muscles but also develop passive patterns. You also become more flexible and reduce your risk of injury. You can also prevent muscular imbalances that occur when certain muscle-joint systems are not entirely exercised.

Speed of movement

In order to achieve a specific goal or train a specific type of muscle, the speed of movement is of huge relevance. It makes a significant difference whether you do an exercise in slow motion, normal speed or very fast.

One well-known method is the time under tension (TUT) method. It measures the time a muscle is under tension. There are several phases: The positive concentric phase is the time in which the muscle is contracting. In the example of biceps curls, this is the upward movement. In the static phase, the tension is still held before it goes into the eccentric phase. During the negative eccentric phase, the muscle is stretched under tension. Thus, during the biceps curls, the dumbbell is moved downwards.

If you lower the weight for three seconds, then hold it for one second and lift it for two seconds, this corresponds to the TUT 3/1/2. This number is also called cadence. In this example, one repetition takes 9 seconds, which would be 90 seconds for a set of 10 repetitions. For health-oriented strength endurance training, a cadence of 2/0/2 (concentric/static/eccentric) is recommended. This provides a steady pace of movement and allows the muscle to be kept under tension at all times during the movement.

Interim conclusion

Let’s draw another short interim conclusion and then continue with the practical tips. You are now aware that resting plays an important role in strength training. Without regeneration, your body will be overloaded and your immune system and metabolism will be negatively affected.

Another important aspect we have mentioned above is the execution of the exercise. In addition to correct execution, the speed of movement (TUT) and the range of motion (ROM) are very important. For health-oriented strength training, we recommend the maximum active possible range of motion and a time under tension of 4 seconds per repetition (2 seconds concentric + 2 seconds eccentric).

We now come to the most exciting part of this unit: how do you design an effective and, above all, efficient strength training? Should you train with high or low intensity? What about volume (number of repetitions and sets) and frequency?

How am I going to train?

Does great intensity mean great adaptation?

Let’s now clarify the question of how efficient training can look. Because after all this theory, we would now like to confront you with something practical and show you that the dogma of “go hard or go home”, which is so popular in gyms all over the world, is a fairy tale. Heavier dumbbells do not lead to more growth.

Training without muscle failure

Numerous studies have shown that loads or intensities greater than 60% of the 1-RM do not additionally stimulate muscle growth. This means that “low” training intensities below 60% are also useful for your training. In addition, training with less weight is much easier on the joints than training with higher loads or intensities. This way you avoid high stress on your tendons, ligaments and joints and reduce your risk of injury.

Training until muscle failure

When training until muscle failure, intensity does not play a major role either. For both untrained and trained individuals, an external load of between 30-90% of 1-RM is enough. Studies show that all subjects, regardless of the intensity at which they trained, had similar adaptations in muscle thickness and strength. And when training to muscle failure, the argument of reduced injury risk weighs even more heavily, as the final repetitions can be uncoordinated. The strain on the passive and active musculoskeletal system becomes greater and the risk of damage increases enormously. If you also train with extremely heavy weights, you are in a way asking for a break due to injury.

Recommendations for health-oriented strength training

How often should you train if you want to build muscle and strength? On average, two to three strength training sessions per week are recommended. You then always have at least one day off to regenerate. The exercise selection should primarily target large muscle groups. Do 3-4 sets of each exercise at an intensity of 30-60 percent of your maximum strength. That equals to 15-40 repetitions per set.

Choose your weight so that you can still perform the last repetitions correctly and cleanly – i.e. until coordination failure. In this way you avoid technical inaccuracies and at the same time reduce the risk of injury. Remember to train in the full range of motion and allow about 4 seconds for each repetition. Important: Pay attention to your breathing during strength training. During the active (concentric) phrase you exhale and during the passive (eccentric) phase you inhale. Holding your breath during exercise should be avoided at all costs. During the so-called forced respiration during expulsion the blood pressure rises enormously. This can result in reduced blood flow to the heart, vascular ruptures, cardiac arrhythmias and fainting.

Conclusion

If you want to make your strength training efficient, you don’t need to push yourself to the limit during your training session. A workout that uses only 30-60% of the maximum strength has the same effects as a maximum strength workout.