Enhancing Your Strength Training Session: Key Components You Might Be Missing
As the importance of strength training for overall health and fitness becomes more widely recognized, it's crucial to understand its numerous benefits beyond just muscle-building. Regular strength training not only enhances muscle mass but also boosts strength, bone density, joint flexibility, metabolism, and overall resilience. It can also lower the risk of injuries and cardiovascular issues, improve posture, and enhance physical performance across different age groups and fitness levels.
Whether you're new to exercise or an experienced athlete, incorporating strength training into your fitness regimen can significantly improve your well-being. Our personalized and group strength training programs are designed based on exercise science principles and delivered with supportive coaching methods to help you achieve your fitness goals effectively. For those seeking a tailored approach, one-on-one personal training is ideal, while our Lift sessions provide a community-focused general strength training experience.
It's essential to distinguish between resistance training and strength training. Resistance training involves using external resistance like dumbbells and barbells. Strength training is an applied method of resistance training. Resistance training can create multiple different outcomes like Endurance (Cross Train), Power (Athlete) and Muscular Strength (Lift). Many individuals assume they are engaging in strength training simply by lifting weights, but true strength training requires a structured approach for optimal health outcomes.
Based on the method applied to resistance training we can stimulate multiple different muscle adaptations. Adaptations include power, hypertrophy (muscle building), strength, endurance and conditioning. These adaptations do not live in separate buckets, there is crossover between all adaptations. During a training session, you will tap into different buckets within a singular lift. For example, if you’re working on a trap bar deadlift with a power based tempo (2:1:X1), you will build power, strength and tap into hypertrophy as well. However, some methods place a bigger focus on a singular bucket like strength training.
A strength training program must include two elements to ensure we are hitting the “strength training bucket” and unlocking all the incredible mental and physical benefits. Two critical components often overlooked in effective strength training are intensity and rest periods. Neglecting these key factors can hinder progress, leading to disappointment and uncertainty about how to advance towards greater strength and resilience.
INTENSITY
The first major component to strength training is intensity. Muscles need an effective stimulus to grow and strengthen. We need to be challenging our muscles to adapt to a stimulus that is slightly above our current capacity. If we continue to lift within our current comfort zone, there is no stimulus for our muscles to adapt to. Just like each year of school, the content gets more challenging in pursuit of creating smarter students. In the gym, we must pursue greater strength, to create stronger muscles.
This can be done through a variety of methods, but the simplest way to know if you’re lifting with the right intensity is the 2x2 rule that we use in Jolt training methods. The 2x2 rule simply means that you cannot complete two more reps then prescribed.
For example, if you’re asked to do 6 reps, then choose a weight where you would fail (in form) if you had to do 8 reps. This keeps us just shy of pushing to failure. It is still really tough to get six reps completed.
Most of our members understand the 2x2 rule, but lack the awareness of their true capacity to apply it. From beginners to seasoned gym veterans, most people underestimate their true capacity. Often, we believe we are lifting and keeping only “two reps in the tank”, until the coach comes over to push us to our true potential. Many times, our trainers can see the lack of intensity and will challenge our members to test their “2x2 capacity” by doing as many reps as possible. Typically, we see that when members challenge that capacity they realize they could complete more reps than they had initially believed!
A consistent lack of intensity can prevent effective results. Signs that you have been underestimating your capacity and missing out on appropriate intensity include lack of results, using the same dumbbells for every movement, never challenging yourself to go to failure to learn your true capacity, not feeling like you need a rest period in between sets, adding exercises between sets that are not prescribed by the trainer, thinking more exercises is better, and always chasing “the burn”.
When you train at Jolt Fitness in personal training or group sessions, a trainer will help you approach your training with the appropriate intensity, right amount of exercises, and corresponding rest periods for great health outcomes for your individual body and capacity.
REST PERIODS
The second most common forgotten element of strength training is rest periods, which goes hand in hand with intensity. When intensity increases, so do rest periods. It’s important to note that when we are referring to intensity in strength training we’re referring to total weight lifted. Studies show that at minimum of two minutes rest is needed between sets to elicit strength training responses in the body. If we are running sets back to back, adding in additional exercises between sets (most commonly cardio or core) then we are taking away from our ability to produce max intensity during the main lift and subjecting ourselves to work below our capacity level which does not produce a strength training stimulus and response. Often times, people believe that an effective training session is determined by the amount of sweat, burning and breathlessness achieved. They find it hard to believe that they should be resting during a training session when they only have an hour in the gym. Although the burn and sweat can be important for other training outcomes (like cardiovasucular health and muscular endurance) they do not equate to effective strength building. If a two minute rest period in a your strength focused session feels too long or not needed then there’s a good chance your intensity was not high enough during the working set.
BUILDING AN OPTIMAL TRAINING SCHEDULE:
In conclusion, achieving optimal health benefits through strength training requires a balanced focus of intensity and rest periods. As the weight lifted increases, it's essential to adjust rest periods accordingly to sustain lifting heavier weights across multiple sets and stimulate the body's adaptation process. Without the right intensity, progress may plateau, while inadequate rest periods can lead to an emphasis on endurance rather than strength development.
Those who identify with the following statements may need to consider more strength training or more appropriately applied rest and intensity:
You have been resistance training consistently with minimal results
You always feel burnt out and exhausted when leaving the gym
You gain weight by “looking at pizza” or feel like you have a slow metabolism
Your muscles feel flat or deflated shortly after a workout
You live a high stress and fast paced lifestyle
You sleep less than 7 hours per night
You’re often in pain or feel tight
You lack the ability and confidence to complete your everyday tasks
You suffer from Polycystic Ovary Syndrome or other hormonal conditions
Your program is mostly made up of combo exercises like reverse lunge+bicep curl, has minimal rest between movements, and runs as a circuit
Strength training plays a pivotal role in promoting overall health and resilience. For most members of the Jolt Fam, we recommend incorporating strength training 2-3 times a week to enhance quality of life and resiliency. Consider strength training the foundation of your house, it should come first to create a solid base. It's important to note that muscular endurance, power, mobility, athleticism, and cardiovascular health are equally significant aspects of fitness that should be layered onto strength training. At Jolt, we offer a diverse range of training methods to ensure a functional approach to achieving optimal health outcomes. Once you've established a foundation with two weekly strength training sessions, consider integrating additional sessions like Crosstrain, Kickboxing, Yoga, Athlete, and more to further enhance your fitness journey. Claim two weeks of unlimited group sessions here.
If you're uncertain about where to begin, seeking guidance on the most suitable training types, or needing assistance in elevating your workout intensity, personalized training sessions may be the ideal starting point. Our personalized training sessions involve regular fitness assessments covering muscular endurance, power, strength, mobility, and cardiovascular health. We tailor an individualized program based on your assessment results, ensuring a balanced training regimen across various categories. Through systematic adjustments in intensity and rest periods over a progressive timeline, we work towards achieving optimal fitness outcomes. Register for personal training sessions here.
