Weight Training: Facts and Myths

• Weight training is a common method to improve the strength and size of skeletal muscles by providing stress causing them to adapt and get stronger.
• Weight training increases strength, muscle endurance and muscle mass by lifting weights.
• Weight training is also known as resistance training and is a standard part of comprehensive personal training programs.
• Resistance training is not just for athletes; it offers a continuum of benefits for anyone. Benefits includes:
• Increased muscle strength
• Enhanced muscle tone
• Better flexibility
• Prevention of muscle and joint injury
• Minimized risk of osteoporosis
• Decreased risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Resistance training can positively affect cardiovascular endurance but not as much as targeted cardio training.
• Resistance training is any exercise activity causing the muscles to contract against an external resistance with the expectation of increases in muscle strength, tone, mass, and/or endurance.
• Weight training is a form of exercise, not competition or sport, unlike Bodybuilding, Powerlifting and Weightlifting.
• Bodybuilding competitors perform poses on stage in front of judges and are scored based on muscle size, body symmetry and muscle definition.
• Powerlifting competitors attempt to lift the highest total weight in the squat, bench press, and deadlift.
• Weightlifting is an Olympic sport where competitors attempt to lift the highest total weight in the snatch and clean and jerk

Development of Weight Training

• In 1945, Dr. Thomas L. DeLorme, an army physician, experimented with a new rehabilitation technique for injured war veterans
• The protocol consisted of multiple sets of resistance exercises in which patients lifted their 10-repetition maximum.
• In 1948, DeLorme refined the system to include 3 progressively heavier sets of 10 repetitions, and he referred to the program as "Progressive Resistance Exercise."
• This was more successful than older protocols and was quickly adopted as the standard in both military and civilian physical therapy programs.
• In 1951, DeLorme published the text Progressive Resistance Exercise: Technic and Medical Application, which was widely read by other physicians and medical professionals.
• The book, and DeLorme's academic publications on progressive resistance exercise, helped legitimize strength training and played a key role in laying the foundation for the science of resistance exercise.
• In the late 1980s, the focus of much of the research changed from enhancement of athletic performance to improvement of health and fitness in the general population and among special populations

Weight Training Myths

• Weight training does not stunt growth
• Children can start weight training as soon as they are mature enough to follow instructions and exercise with proper form.
• Weight training may actually stimulate growth by improving bone mass and density.
• Weight training promotes moving a joint through a full range of motion, thus improves flexibility
• Strong muscles contract faster and generate more power making athletes faster; exercises movements must be similar to the sport and sport training should not be ignored.
• Muscle never turns to fat, they're different tissues. If you stop weight training, you need to eat less than before.
• The most effective means of resistance training in the long-term still uses simple free weights (barbells and dumbbells) on basic multi-joint exercises.
• Doing thousands of sit-ups will give you tight abdominal muscles, but they will do nothing to rid your midsection of fat; fat loss occurs through reducing daily energy intake or increasing activity
• There is virtually no difference between the muscle tissue of men and the muscle tissue of women on a microscopic level; hormone levels are responsible for differences in the amount of muscle.
• Many well-built athletes have no idea how they got where they are; elite bodybuilders are the last people in the world you want to for advice if you're genetically average.

Weight Training Equipment and Sources of Resistance

• Free weights include dumbbells, barbells, bars, and weight plates of different variety
• Weight machines include a seat, a cable or pulley, a variety of weight plates for adjustable resistance, and movable bars; newer machines are equipped with computerized programming and may use hydraulics or compressed air.
• Cam machines are variable-resistance machines featuring an elliptically shaped wheel, which restrict movement to one direction or one plane of motion.
• Pulley machine has one or more round pulleys of varying sizes looped around, over, or under by a narrow belt or plastic-encased steel cable, and can move through multiple directions of resistance.
• Rubber bands and tubes provide opportunities for strength training any time and any place, being cheap, lightweight, and portable
• Body weight can provide effective resistance in exercises such as sit ups, squats, lunges, and push-ups.

Weight Machines Advantages:

• Provide support, which is great for people who need help when learning new exercises, older people, people rehabilitating injuries, or for lifting heavy weights without the need of a spotter.
• Because most machines work on a fixed path, it's easier to use and ensures good form.
• It's much easier and faster to change the load/weight in machines.

Weight Machines Disadvantages:

• You use fewer muscle groups at the same time, burning less calories and working the body in a less overloading way.
• Most machines offer one exercise for one part of the body.
• Machines are much more expensive than dumbbells and barbells and offer less versatility.

Free Weights Advantages:

• Free weights can be used for a variety of exercises for the entire body.
• You work on specific muscles while involving smaller stabilizer muscles that can get neglected with machine training.
• The muscles are forced to maintain stability and move in a coordinated manner while lifting the weight.
• Free weights are much cheaper than machines and their versatility makes them a more practical weight training equipment.

Free Weights Disadvantages:

• Requires skill and coordination, so you may need some instruction when using them for the first time. Good form is harder to achieve without the added support from machines, so there's a higher learning curve with free weights.
• There isn't a fixed path, it's easier to put your body in the wrong position, which could lead to injury. There's also the risk of dropping the weights when lifting heavy.
• Working out with free weights is usually longer since loading and unloading the weights to adjust the load takes much longer than compared to machines.
• When you're a beginner, until you feel more comfortable with the movements, stick with machines
• When you're in a hurry, go with machines; workouts are time-efficient
• When you're working out at home, stick with free weights since machines are expensive.
• When you're rehabbing an injury, stick with machines since they offer the most support
• To get the most out of each workout, stick with free weights because you can incorporate more muscle groups at the same time.

Movement Categories

• SQUAT involves the following muscles:
• Hamstrings: antagonist at the bottom position and synergist in extension
• Erectors synergist and stabilizer which keeps spine stiff and in neutral (extension)
• Abdominals and Obliques: stabilizers that prevent hyperextension
• Upper back and lats helps erectors
• Calves plantar-flexes the ankle joint as you extend upward.

Types of Muscular Contraction:

• Isotonic - Muscle changes length; Movement on a joint
• Concentric - Causes muscle to shorten
• Eccentric - Causes muscle to lengthen
• Isometric - No change in muscle length; Contraction causes stability (contracts but does not shorten, no movement)
• Isokinetic - Similar to isotonic; Speed is measured using dynamometer

Muscle Fiber Hypertrophy

• The enlargement of muscle fibers which consequently leads to increased ability to exert force.
• Fast twitch fibers have a greater potential for hypertrophy
• Is apparent after 6-8 weeks
• All rep ranges produce hypertrophy

Rep-Based Goal Setting:

• Strength
• High load, low repetition
• Primarily targets type 2 muscle fibers (power)
• Don't expect as much anatomical adaptation compared to hypertrophy-specific training
• Hypertrophy
• Moderate load, moderate repetitions
• Load should be heavy enough for contraction failure
• Inability of muscle fibers to shorten and lengthen under control
• Rest intervals will be moderate to low since full recovery is not needed

UNDERSTANDING REPS AND SETS

• Power: 1-3 reps, 3-5 sets, 2-5 rest
• Strength: 3-6 reps, 3-5 sets, 2-5 rest
• Hypertrophy: 6-12 reps, 3-6 sets, 30-90s rest
• Muscular Endurance: > 12 reps, 2-3 sets, <30s rest

Sets Considerations

• For Beginners
• 6 months or less experience in lifting
• 1 to 2 sets
• Increase sets after 1-2 months of consistent training
• For Intermediate
• Up to 2 years of regular training
• Sets can go for more than 3
• Advanced
• More than 2 years of regular training

Weight Training Safety

How to reduce risks

• Warming Up
• Breathe Properly
• Others

Warming up

• Increases body temperature
• Increase muscle temperature
• Increases core temperature
• Increases Neural Function
• Disruption of transient connective tissue
• Non-Temperature related benefits
• Increased blood flow to muscles
• Increased baseline oxygen consumption
• Post activation potentiation

WARM-UP PROGRESSION:

• General Warm-up
• Specific Warm-up
• Potentiating Set
• Working Set
  • Start with 1 and 2
  • For compound exercises - 3 and 4
  • For compound exercises of the same muscle group, repeat 3 and 4
  • For compound exercises of a different muscle group, repeat 2 to 4
  • For isolation exercises, repeat 2, skip 3, they go straight to 4

Breathing

• Relaxed, normal breathing during exercise is safe and should be practiced as well as,
• Holding your breath creates intrathoracic pressure-pressure in the chest cavity-that prevents blood from going to the working muscles
• VALSALVA maneuver is the technique used when lifting very heavy weights, but should be practiced and coached properly
• In most cases, EXHALING through the sticking point will help
• Sticking point: moment of contraction from the most stretched position (the most difficult part of the lift).

Other Weight Lifting Factors

• Always practice using proper form when lifting and don't increase when you are not ready
• Stand clear of moving equipment
• Right of way: If a person is carrying weight from one place to another, steer clear of that person
• Right of space: If the person is using an area for a working set, make sure to steer clear of that area when the set is going on

Free Weights Safety

• Be cautious in moving weights around
• Hold heavy plates w/ two hands close to body
• Move barbells sideways
• Always use collars
• Be careful in racking and picking up weights
• With dumbbells, lower to chest before sitting up
• Don't drop weights unless they are bumper plates and in emergency situations

Machine Safety

• Customize to fit your frame
• Seat height
• Backrest position
• Grip position
• Select the appropriate weight.
• Watch your hands and fingers.
• Use the machine for what it is for.

Spotting

• A spotter is someone who is designated to help take the weight from the lifter when necessary.
• When the lifter is
• Trying an exercise for the first time
• Trying a heavy weight for the first time.
• Trying more reps for the first time.
• Make sure to brief the spotter of the following
• The number of reps you will attempt
• Whether you need help lifting the bar or dumb bells at the start.
• When you can't lift the weight any longer, let the spotter know
• Pay close attention to the lifter and be ready to take over the weight when
• The weight has stopped moving and it is apparent that the lifter can not continue the exercise
• The weight travels in the wrong direction
• The lifter yells “spot!”, or “help!”
• Spotting DON'Ts
• DON'T think that the lifter can complete the lift. Always be ready and alert to take the weight when it is necessary.
• DON'T offer help too soon.
• DON'T obstruct the lifter's path. Be close, but not to the point of discomfort.
• Exercises that usually need a spotter:
• Barbell Back Squat
• Barbell Bench Press
• Dumbbell Pressing Variations

Explore common misconceptions about weight training, debunking myths related to its effectiveness, impact on cardiovascular health, and suitability for different demographics. Understand the facts about resistance exercise and its benefits.