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Training Focus and the Formula for Intensity

Taken from Variables for Weight Lifting and Exercise © 2003 Anthony Sell - All Rights Reserved

There are several reasons for wanting to train with weights or resistance exercises. These may include wanting to get stronger, wanting to develop endurance, wanting to improve the tone and shape of your body, wanting to lose weight, wanting to gain weight.

Each of these reasons constitute a training focus that will call for its own rules for evaluation progress and designing workouts. It is important to understand that regardless of these rules, the manner of evaluating the Intensity of the program is the same:

Intensity =
Work
Time
Increasing the Work
(same amount of time) = More Intensity
Increasing the Time
(same amount of work) = More Intensity

 

Time =

Days per Week, Hours per Day, Cadence of each Repetition, Amount of Rest between Exercises, Amount of rest between Sets, Amount of Rest between Workouts. (Also: Amount of time between Meals)
 

 

 
Work =
 Amount of Resistance Used, Number of Exercises per Muscle Group, Number of Sets per Exercise, Number of Repetitions per Set, Range of Motion.

For a strength training focus, you will use more weight, fewer repetitions, more sets, greater periods of rest between sets and between workouts. It is important to stretch after such workouts, as the muscles will likely tighten. The cadence will also change, each repetition will be faster, a quick contraction, and each set will consist of fewer repetitions. It will also be important to perform the"exhaustion" repetitions only after accomplishing the maximum target weight for the exercises.

Before this weight, sets should be short and gradual, allowing the body to stay warmed up and to acclimate to the increases in weight. The body will not lift a heavy weight as easily if it is not gradually introduced tot he amount of stress expected of it. Conversely, too much graduation will exhaust the muscle before it can perform the target weight Experimentation will tell you what is best for you.

An endurance training focus calls for lifting slightly lower weight, greater number of exercises and sets, and less rest between sets and workouts. The cadence for this focus will require slower repetitions, particularly concentrating on the eccentric portion of the exercise (see below), with less time between sets and exercises.

In order to promote weight loss and greater definition of each muscle, lower weight, and faster overall cadence will be required, but a slower repetition cadence; allowing for the aerobic qualities to have an effect. This would be combined with a low calorie, low fat diet to promote a lower percentage of body fat.

Amount of Weight or Resistance Used

There is a direct relationship between the amount of weight lifted and the number of repetitions that can be accomplished. The harder your body has to lift one repetition, the fewer repetitions you will be able to perform. Now this work can be caused by the amount of weight, or the amount of time taken to complete the repetition.

In order to ensure that you are not working below your potential, it is crucial to find the exact range of weight that best suits your goals. Initially, before you begin a program, it is wise to find and record the maximum amount of weight that you can lift for one repetition, for each major exercise. This will allow you to calculate percentages of that weight which will be determined by your training focus.

For a strength and size training focus, you will want to be lifting at between 70% and 80% of your One Repetition Maximum Weight (1 RM). This will then require greater recovery time, both between sets and exercises, as well as between workouts. The number of repetitions will also be fewer with this type of training focus.

For an endurance training focus, the target range will be between 60% and 75% of your IRM. This will also require a large number of exercises and sets.

For a definition training focus, the target range will be between 40% and 60% of your IRM. Another way of evaluating this type of focus would be to find your twelve repetition weight, and start from there, as you will most likely be doing twelve to fifteen repetitions per set in this training focus.

Number of Exercises per Muscle Group

It is crucial, for real progress, to repeatedly push the target muscle group to the point of exhaustion. One of the best strategies to reach this point is to use several exercises per muscle group to insure that you have fatigued every angle of that particular muscle group. Depending on the muscle group in question, it may take as few as two or as many as six exercises to thoroughly reach exhaustion.

Number of Sets per Exercise

The number of sets that is accomplished per exercise will determine how thoroughly the muscle tissue is broken apart, which in turn will spur the muscle building process. Doing a single set per exercise will require a greater intensity (via greater resistance or a slower cadence) to get similar results as four sets of the same exercise.

Other Variables

Other variables for altering the intensity of a workout routine include: