Definitions & Concepts
Read this article, to understand bodybuilding terms you will hear in the gym and in this course.
Effective
Anabolic Training
by Sean Quade
Reps, Sets, Failure and Splits:
A Rep is simply lifting a weight and then
lowering it back down. The goal of the bodybuilder is to use the
heaviest possible weight to handle 6-12 reps while keeping good
form - This guideline makes sure that every last muscle fiber is
worked. The first 1/2 of a rep is just as important as the last
1/2, so make sure you lower the weight just as slow as you lift
it, and remember to constantly be keeping tension and contracting
the muscle.
A Set is just that, a set of repetitions
performed in a row. The ideal rep range is to pick a weight that
allows you to go to muscular failure in 10-12 reps your first
set. You will notice that the more sets you do, the less weight
you can handle, usually 2 reps less, so your rep scheme would
look something like this:
I am a firm believer in going to complete
muscular failure every set and holding it there as long as you
can. Going to failure is absolutely necessary for maximum
stimulation in my opinion. The last set is where the bulk of
damage comes from so it is important to apply maximum intensity
and completely destroy your muscles.
A Split is simply how many days it takes you to
train your entire body, and what body parts you train each of
those days. Some people recover better than others, but the
perfect split for me, personally is training Monday to Friday and
taking the weekend off for rest. I train my back muscles on
Monday, legs on Tuesday, chest on Wednesday, arms on Thursday,
shoulders and traps on Friday, and throwing in abdominal twice a
week. Again, this is efficient and works for me, and may not be
to your preference. You must find out what works for you.
The Pump, Workout Time and
Progressive Resistance:
One of the greatest sensations in bodybuilding, and a resourceful
tool is something known as the "pump". When you lift
weights, blood flows through your muscles, but there is no equal
force flowing it out, so as a result you puff up with blood and
your muscles appear much larger and fuller. This effect is
usually felt after 4-5 sets. The pump is also used as a great
tool. Just as I mentioned above, how your muscle gets pumped with
blood, this ensures that the nutrients you eat will remain in the
particular muscle you trained because there is no equal force
pumping blood out of the muscle. The pump is a great feeling and
makes you appear much larger than normal and boosts your
confidence greatly.
Workouts should last no more than an hour, your body will most
likely enter catabolism and start to break down muscle tissue to
be used for energy, depending on your pre-workout meal. You
should find that if you don't socialize when you go to the gym
that 45 minute training sessions are sufficient work, depending
on your split.
The human body is downright amazing and can adapt to many things,
one of these things being the resistance of weight. Several days
after a workout, your muscles will recover (provided that you
have a good nutrition and recovery plan in place), grow back
bigger and stronger. So do you use the same weight again? Hell
no! Add 2 1/2 or 5lbs to the bar and with maximum effort you
should be able to perform the same rep scheme as the previous
workout, this is progressive resistance. I add 2 1/2lbs every
workout session but that's what my body can handle. You need to
find out what works for you. If you can add 5lbs and still keep
the same rep scheme than good for you, you will be lifting very
heavy poundage's in no time.
Intensity and the Weider
Principles, Plateaus, Machines vs. Free weights:
Intensity is defined as the amount of effort you
put into lifting a weight and bringing it past the point of
failure effectively to stimulate as much muscle damage as
possible. Some principles you can use to raise the level of
intensity in your workouts are:
Strip Setting - This method involves going to muscular
failure with one weight, and than picking up a weight 5 or 10lbs
lighter.
Effective Range of Motion - Keeping the reps just out of
full contraction and extension to make sure the stress doesn't
shift from the muscle to the joint.
Decreasing Rest Between Sets - self-explanatory.
Super Setting - Performing two sets of an exercise in a
row with little or no rest.
Pre Exhaustion - Performing an isolation exercise to
fatigue a specific muscle before performing a compound movement
that involves that same muscle.
Forced Reps - Having a training partner assist you with
lifting a weight after muscular failure.
The list goes on, you can even try to create your own if you
like. These little workout intensity boosters make sure you
stimulate all available muscle fiber.
If you use the same training pattern and/or amount of weight over
and over again, eventually your muscles will stop responding to
your training. This is commonly known as a "plateau".
This is when you need to send a different message to the muscle.
You must confuse the muscle and allow it to start growing again
by doing something different. Maybe a different intensity
principle, or just doing your entire split backwards, are
examples of variations that can help you break through a plateau
and achieve new growth.
The old machine vs. freeweight debate - Free weights
(dumbbells and barbells, weights that aren't connected to a track
or locked in a position) should be used whenever possible. You
will get your best gains from free weights because machines help
you support the weight. When using free weights, your body has to
support and stabilize all the weight and this results in more
muscle growth. I should point out, that sometimes machines are
necessary, because you can't get full development of some body
parts without them.