Weight Training Methods - Coursework Example

Weight Training Methods Weight Training Methods Physical workouts are necessary for all the living things to stay fit in this world. It is impossiblefor a living thing to take food and sleep and still able to stay fit for a long time. In fact it is better to feed our body with adequate food so that we can stay fit. But, it is difficult for us to eat food based on our body requirements alone. The excessive food taken by us will be precipitated in the form of fat and other unwanted items in our body. If we fail to burn out this unwanted items from our body, our health conditions could be seriously affected. In short, physical exercises are necessary for all the living things to burn out the unwanted items from the body. Physical workouts have another function also; strengthening of our body. In order to strengthen our body, strength training methods are used. Many people have the belief that strength training means bodybuilding, weightlifting, power lifting etc. But strength training is not a sports, it is a mean to stay fit always. Resistance training and weight training are some of the popular means of strength training. These training methods use gravity or elastic/hydraulic resistance to oppose muscle contraction. Super setting, Forced reps, Pyramid systems and Periodization are some of the popular weight training methods used to stay fit. This paper compares and contrasts the above training methods. Super setting Supersetting is an advanced training method in which you do two exercises, one after the other, with no rest in between. The exercises can be for the same muscle group or two different muscle groups, depending on your goals. The idea is to do one exercise and, instead of resting and doing another set, doing a different exercise and alternating those exercises for your desired number of sets (Waehner, 2010) Some of the major advantages of supersetting are; time saving, intensity increase, overloading of muscles, make things interesting, incorporating more variety into the physical workout sessions etc. As explained earlier, exercises are done one after another in supersetting which helps the person to avoid the lengthy resting times in between exercises and hence substantial amount of time can be saved. For example, while doing the supersetting exercise of Pre-Exhaustion Supersets, a person performs an isolation move which targets a particular muscle group and a compound movement which targets multiple muscle groups. In other words, it is not necessary for the person to perform the isolation move first and take rest before going for the compound movement while performing Pre-Exhaustion Supersets. Moreover, Pre-Exhaustion Supersets results can add intensity and muscle overloads to the workout as it is performing multiple tasks at the same time. Supersetting can be done in a few different ways. You can do antagonist supersetting, which is the pairing of two opposite muscle groups such as biceps and triceps, chest and back, and quads and hamstrings.This is quite effective for getting one muscle loose while its antagonist contracts. When the biceps are contracted, the triceps are relaxed. This can allow for more weight to be used or additional reps to be performed. You can also do agonist supersetting which is the pairing of two exercises for the same muscle (Workout of the Week, 2010). Another major characteristic of supersetting is the possibility of giving rest to one muscle while the other muscle is at work. While doing two exercises which target opposing muscle groups, one muscle gets rest while the opposite muscle works. The above mechanism helps a person to prevent overworking of one muscle even when he/she continues his physical workouts. In other words, while performing supersetting, no muscles get overworked or underworked even when a person continues his work out without any interruption. Forced reps Forced reps are the repetition of a kind exercise with the help of someone who assist the person in bearing part of the load. In other words, forced reps require two persons; a trainer and a spotter. When the muscles are fatigued beyond its normal capacity during conducting a forced rep, the training partner can assist the person in lifting the weight a few more times by carrying some of the force. Forced reps are the most popular, yet the most abused weight training method. The abuse comes when the trainer relies on the spotter for assistance during most of the set. The most obvious example is the bench press. Spotters should also provide only just enough help to keep the weight moving. They should not take the weight away from the trainer (Intensity Techniques – Part 1, 2010) Forced reps are used as a mean to increase the level of intensity during a workout with the help of another person. Some of the major forced reps are bench press, incline bench press, Military and dumbbell presses, pull down exercises etc. For dumbbell presses have your spotter put their hands under your elbows to help you get some extra reps. Pulldown exercises for the upper back are also easy for a spotter to help you by pushing down on the pulldown bar. You can even have a spotter help you get some more reps when you do pull-ups. Just have them put their hands on your waist and lift a bit to help you up (Weight Training Advice, 2010). Pyramid systems Pyramid training is type of weight training which starts off at the base and work the way to the top just like the shape of a pyramid. This is one of the safest ways of training. The typical pyramid system work out can be explained with the help of the bench press example given below. Set 1 – 135 x 12 reps Set 2 – 150 x 10 reps Set 3 – 165 x 8 reps Set 4 – 180 x 6 reps Set 5 – 195 x 4 reps Set 6 – 210 x 2 reps The principle behind pyramid training is that warm up with a light set of workouts, do increasingly heavier sub-maximal effort lead-in sets up to a 100% set, and if that goes well, add five pounds and try to create a new 1-rep max(Why Does Pyramid Training Work?, 2010) Pyramid system is best suited to the beginners as it is difficult and risky for the beginners to start off with heavy workout sessions. Even the highly experienced weight lifters use pyramid systems at the time of training. In most of the weight lifting championship matches pyramid system in used as the lifter try to lift small weights initially and then go on to lift higher weights. The idea behind performing pyramid systems is that while pyramiding, the more weight can strengthen the muscles and the strengthening of the muscle will make the person capable of lifting even higher weights. As in the case of forced rep, pyramid system also requires a spotter to assist the person performing the weight lifting task. The major advantage of using pyramiding is that it provides a person a detailed system to give enough fatigue to the muscles. In order to see better results, the person should train deeper, but such intense training may sometimes sore the muscles up to certain extent which is quiet normal. Because of the concerns about the soaring of muscles, pyramid systems are witnessed suspiciously by many people. But, actually the pyramid systems are time-tested and proven method of safely building mass and strength. Periodization Periodization involves many variables including frequency (how ‘often’ you train), duration (how ‘long’ you train for one session), volume (how ‘much’ you train in a given week or cycle) and intensity (how ‘hard’ you train at any given time). There are four to five phases in a given annual training plan, with the variables changing within each phase (What Does Periodization Mean and How Does It Work?, 2005) (Please see the chart given in the appendix for more details) Periodization is an organized way of training which involves progressive cycling of various aspects of a training program during a specific period of time. It is performed in a structured manner based on the needs of the person and the capabilities of the persons. Our body has a tendency to maintain status quo. In other words, if we train less, the body will perform less, if we train more, our body will increase its capacity to perform more. So in order to improve the performance, a person should gradually increase the difficulty level of his training sessions which is the core of periodization. The advantages of periodization are; Maximal recovery developed, Maximal progress in each given area developed at time due to full attention being placed on one aspect at a time, Interest remains very high with frequently changing schedules and workouts, Motivation and retention to the program remain high as usually a large time period has been planned out to stick to, Risk of injury is reduced due to variations in loading parameters as opposed to training heavy at all times etc. The disadvantages of periodization are; While dedicating time to one aspect of training others may become drawn down and neglected, Time Consuming periods of high volume training, reflected alternatively with very hard periods of very intense difficult training, Risk of losing confidence and esteem when, and if, things do not go according to the yearly plan, causing disruptions and slowed progress, 100% dedication to training a must, Confidence in training theory required to assemble a sensible and efficient periodised routine etc (Periodisation Training Explained, 2006) References 1. Intensity Techniques - Part 1. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.fitstep.com/Advanced/Power/Intensity_tech1.htm 2. Periodisation Training Explained. (2006). Retrieved from http://www.bodyactive-online.co.uk/training/resistance/methods/periodisation/periodisationtraining.asp 3. Waehner, P. (2010). Quick Fix Workouts - Supersetting Challenge your body with supersets. Retrieved from http://exercise.about.com/cs/weightlifting/a/supersets.htm 4. Workout of the Week. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/wotw23.htm 5. Weight Training Advice. (2010). Retrieved from http://weighttrainingadvice.com/forcedreps.html 6. Why Does Pyramid Training Work? (2010). Retrieved from http://www.illpumpyouup.com/articles/why-does-pyramid-training-work.htm 7. What Does Periodization Mean and How Does It Work? (2005). Retrieved from http://www.trifuel.com/training/triathlon-training/what-does-periodization-mean-and-how-does-it-work Appendix Phase How long? Frequency Duration Intensity Volume Prep 4-8 weeks High Short-Medium Very little Low Base 12-24 weeks High Medium- High Moderate Moderate to High Build 4-8 weeks Moderate-High High Heavy Moderate Peak/Race 3-5 weeks Moderate Short Heavy Low (What Does Periodization Mean and How Does It Work?, 2005) Read More