C H A P T E R

18C H A P T E R

Resistance Training

Thomas R. Baechle, Roger W. Earle, and Dan Wathen

Chapter Outline

Step 1: Needs analysis

Step 7: Rest periods

Step 2: Exercise selectionStep 3: Training frequencyStep 4: Exercise orderStep 5: Training load and repetitionsStep 6: Volume

Step 1: The strength and conditioning

professional’s initial task is to perform a needs analysis, a two-stage process that includes an evaluation of the requirements and characteristics of the sport and an assessment of the athlete.

Evaluation of the Sport

Movement analysis (body and limb movement patterns and muscular involvement)

Injury analysis (common joint and muscle injury sites and causative factors)

Physiological analysis (strength, power, hypertrophy, and muscular endurance priorities)

Assessment of the Athlete

Training status including evaluation of injuries and training background (exercise history)- Type of training program- Length of recent regular participation in previous

training programs- Level of intensity involved in previous training

programs- Degree of exercise technique experience

Physical testing and evaluationPrimary resistance training goal

Step 2: To make an informed exercise

selection the strength and conditioning professional must understand the types of resistance training exercises, the movement analysis of the sport, the athlete’s exercise technique experience, and the available equipment and training time.

Exercise Type

Core and assistance exercises- Core exercises recruit one or more large muscle

areas, involve two or more primary joints, and receive priority when selecting exercise because of the direct application to the sport.

- Assistance exercises usually recruit smaller muscle areas, involve only one primary joint, and are considered less important to improving sport performance.

Structural and power exercises- A structural exercise involves muscular stabilization of posture while performing the lifting movement.- A power exercise is a structural exercise that is

performed very quickly or explosively.

Movement Analysis of the Sport

Sport-specific exercise: The more similar the training activity is to the actual sport movement, the greater the likelihood that there will be a positive transfer to that sport.

Muscle balance: Exercises selected for the specific demands of the sport should maintain a balance of muscular strength across joints and between opposing muscle groups.

Other Factors in Exercise Selection

Exercise technique experience: The athlete should be able to perform the exercise with proper technique.

Availability of training time per session: If time for a training session is limited, exercises that are more time efficient may need to be given priority over others.

Availability of resistance training equipment: A lack of certain equipment may necessitate selecting exercises that are not as sport specific.

Step 3: When determining training

frequency, the strength and conditioning professional should consider the athlete’s training status, sport season, projected exercise loads, types of exercises, and other concurrent training or activities.

Training Status

General guideline for a beginning athlete is to schedule training sessions so there is at least one rest or recovery day between sessions that stress the same muscle groups.

More highly resistance-trained athletes can augment their training by using a split routine in which different muscle groups are trained on different days.

Other Factors in Training Frequency

Sport season: Practicing the sport skill during the in-season necessitates a decrease in the time spent in the weight room.

Other training: If the athlete’s program already includes aerobic or anaerobic training, sport skill practice, or any combination of these components, the frequency of resistance training may need to be reduced.

Training load and exercise type: Athletes who train with maximum or near-maximum loads require more recovery time prior to the next training session.

Step 4: Exercise order refers to a sequence

of resistance exercises performed during one training session. Exercises are usually arranged so that an athlete’s maximal force capabilities are available (from a sufficient rest or recovery period) to complete a set with proper exercise technique.

Four Methods of Ordering Resistance Exercises

Power, other core, then assistance exercises- Multi-joint exercises and then single-joint exercises or

large muscle areas and then small muscle areas- Preexhaustion (fatiguing a large muscle group as a

result of a single-joint exercise being performed prior to a multi-joint exercise that involves the same muscle)

Supersets (two exercises that stress two opposing muscles or muscle areas) and compound sets (sequentially performing two different exercises for the same muscle group)

Upper- and lower-body exercises (alternated) “Push” and “pull” exercises (alternated)

Step 5: Load, most simplistically referred to

as the amount of weight assigned to an exercise set, is often described as the most critical aspect of a resistance training program. Repetitions, the number of times an exercise can be performed, is inversely related to the load lifted; the heavier the load, the fewer the number of repetitions that can be performed.

Relationship Between Load and Repetitions

a one-repetition maximum (1RM), the greatest amount of weight that can be lifted with proper technique for only one repetition, or

a repetition maximum (RM), the most weight lifted for a specified number of repetitions.

Load is described as either a certain percentage of

1RM and Multiple-RM Testing Options

Determine the athlete’s actual 1RM (directly tested).

Determine the athlete’s multiple-RM based on the number of repetitions planned for that exercise (the goal repetitions).

Determine the athlete’s estimated 1RM from a multiple-RM test.

Summary of Testing and Assigning Training Loads and Repetitions

See Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning Second Edition for tables and figures.

RM Continuum

Repetition ranges for power are not consistent with the % 1RM-repetition relationship. (See p. 412 in text.)

Variation of the Training Load

Heavy day loads are designed to be full repetition maximums, the greatest resistance that can be successfully lifted for the goal number of repetitions.The loads for the other training days are intentionally reduced to provide recovery after the heavy day, while still maintaining sufficient training frequency and volume.

Progression of the Training Load

Timing load increases: If the athlete can perform two or more repetitions over her assigned repetition goal in the last set in two consecutive workouts for a certain exercise, weight should be added to that exercise for the next training session.

Quantity of load increases: Variations in training status, volume loads, and exercises influence the appropriate load increases; to contend with this variability, relative load increases of 2.5-10% can be used.

Step 6: Volume describes the total amount of

weight lifted in a training session, and a set is a group of repetitions sequentially performed before the athlete stops to rest. Volume is calculated by multiplying the number of sets by the number of repetitions times the weight lifted per repetition.

Multiple Versus Single Sets

Single-set training may be appropriate for untrained individuals or during the first several months of training, but higher volumes are necessary to promote further gains in strength.

An athlete who performs multiple sets from the initiation of his resistance training program will increase muscular strength faster than from single-set training.

The musculoskeletal system will adapt to the stimulus of one set to failure and require the added stimulus of multiple sets to bring about continued strength gains.

Table 18.11 Volume Assignments Based on the Training Goal

Training goal Goal Setsrepetitions

Strength 6 2-6

Power: single-effort event 1-2 3-5

Power: multiple-effort event 3-5 3-5

Hypertrophy 6-12 3-6

Muscular endurance 12 2-3

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Step 7: The length of the rest period between

sets and exercises is highly dependent on the goal of training, the relative load lifted, and the athlete’s training status (if the athlete is not in good physical condition, rest periods initially may need to be longer than typically assigned).

Table 18.12 Rest Period Length Assignments Based on the Training Goal

Training goal Rest period length

Strength 2-5 min

Power: single-effort event 2-5 min

Power: multiple-effort event 2-5 min

Hypertrophy 30 s-1.5 min

Muscular endurance 30 s<_