Training Goals

With resistance training there are a number of training goals people set out to achieve. Throughout the course you will learn information about them and choose which one(s) you would like to work towards. To begin let’s look at some of the common training goals.

NOTE: With all training goals it is essential that you follow these common safety principles:

-Be sure to breathe OUT during the hard part of the movement (example-bench press-breath out when pressing up) and inhale during the easier part of the movement (example- bench press- when lowering the weight)

-Always start with a light weight when trying to find how much to use. From here try a full set to see how you feel towards the end of it, and if it is too easy then increase the amount of weight you use. Starting to heavy could result in an injury and prevent you from training

-The last few reps in your set should be challenging to the point where you ALMOST lose proper form. Never sacrifice your form to lift the weight as this would allow the muscle(s) being trained to relax and place other parts of your body a risk for injury (think of the swaying body when someone tries to do dumbbell curls)

-Always put the weights back when you are finished with them so other people can use if needed

___________________________________________________________

1. Muscular Endurance: This is a great goal to set when you want to increase the endurance levels of your muscles (how long you can use them before they fatigue) as is needed in certain athletic/sporting events and everyday life. As well, many people train in this area when they want to “tone up” and focus on resistance training without putting on too much muscle mass.

To train at this level you would focus on using fairly light weight and performing a higher amount of reps (when compared to the other goals). Whatever the number of reps you end up completing be sure that the last few a challenging enough to almost compromise your form (but do not sacrifice your form to complete the set-this means the muscle is too tired when you do this)

Reps/set = approximately 13-20 # of sets/exercise = 1-3 % 1RM = approx 60-70%

____________________________________________________________

2. Muscular Hypertrophy: This is the training area that people use when they want to add on some muscle mass or “bulk up“, or focus on general fitness levels. As working in this range requires more weight to break the muscle down, the number of reps/set decreases, but the weight used increases. As with all the training goals, the last few reps in each set should be challenging, and when you can no longer perform the exercise with correct form it is time to finish the set.

Reps/set = approximately 8-12 # of sets/exercise = 1-3

% 1 RM = approx 70-80%

____________________________________________________________

3. Muscular Hypertrophy/Strength: This goal is getting more challenging as you will increase the weight and decrease the amount of reps/set. This allows the muscle to be used more intensely which could lead to a mixture of training results including adding size while increasing the strength of the muscle(s).

Reps/set = 6-8 # of sets/exercise = 1-3         

% 1 RM = approx 80-85%

____________________________________________________________

4. Muscular Strength: This training area will focus on the overall strength of your muscle(s) and will stress the muscles out more than the previous two training goals. As a result of the higher weight used, the amount of reps/set is less and it is VERY important to use correct form in all movements as the heavy weights could easily cause injury if used inappropriately.

Reps/set = 3-5 # of sets/exercise = to begin 1-2

% 1 RM = approx 85-95%