Exercising can be compared to
a new job: imagine that from being an office worker from one
day to the next you become a road-worker:
at the beginning
your body would undergo several interesting changes. You would
develop your lower-back muscles by carrying stones in a wheelbarrow
and in addition you would develop a firmer grip in your hands,
because you would be working with a shovel all day long.
In this example, the changed working conditions would result
in positive adjustments, but after some time your muscle strength
would no longer develop as fast as when you first started
out on your new job. A sudden new impulse, however, would
again cause new adjustments. Exercising can be compared to this. Many trainees develop
tremendously during the first year, but subsequently hardly
achieve any noticeable results.
To force the body to keep on adjusting
(and therefore growing) the progressive resistance principle
is applied.
deltoids, bent over lateral raises
We will discuss two applications suitable for your workouts.
Proportional
incremental development: the weight is continuously
and proportionally increased. An example of this application
is when you add 1.25 kilograms of weight to your bench-pressing
exercises every week.
deltoids, cable upright rows
Step-by-step development:
weight is increased by leaps. Every leap is followed by a
certain period without any weight increase, after which another
large weight increase takes place and so on. This method is
used by very experienced athletes.
There are a number of methods which - provided they form
part of your training - ensure progress in your workouts.
- Increase the weight you are lifting. Do a standard number
of repetitions and sets every week. Add, for instance, 1
to 2.5 kilograms of weight to your last two sets.
- Increase the number of repetitions for each set. Use
the same weight for each workout, but try to increase the
number of repetitions from week to week.
- Increase the number of sets in each workout. Don't forget,
however, that by adding one extra set you increase the total
load by more than 25%!
- Shorten the rest period between the sets of an exercise.
Use the same weight, same number of repetitions and same
pace during each workout, but shorten the rest taken between
sets by for instance 10 seconds. This increases the intensity
enormously.
- Lengthen the time the muscle remains under tension. Use
the same weight and the same number of repetitions, but
try to slow down the downward motion. Start with a pace
of 3-0-1 (3 seconds to lower the weight, no rest, 1 second
to lift the weight). During the next workout slow the pace
down to 5-0-1. The following week slow down to 7-0-1 and
so on. In practice you often use 2 or more of these methods
at the same time.
It is important to know that there are a number of different
ways in which you can keep on exercising progressively.
deltoids, standing barbell presses
A slower development over a longer
period of time tends to lead to better and longer lasting
results. Try to develop your body as slowly and consistently
as possible.
Author: Tobias van der Avort
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