-Strength Training Article-

[rangerid]

I recently came across this article and I thought this site could use it. I take no credit in writing this, only copy and pasting.

Strength Training

If you're new to athletic training, there's a very good chance that you are not very strong. As a general rule of thumb, your final goals should be somewhere around the following ("BW" refers to your bodyweight poundage):

Bench Press: 1xBW
Squat: 1.5xBW
Deadlift: 2xBW

So, if you weigh 150 pounds, you should be benching 150, squatting 225, and deadlifting 300. If you're not doing that much, you can make huge athletic gains by doing nothing but strength training. In all likelihood, you could even be doing a 1.5x bench, 2x squat and 2.5x deadlift, and still have plenty of improvement to make by simply increasing your base strength levels. And now, a few basic guidelines…

Rule #1: Form first, weight second
Before you even think about going heavy on the weight, make sure your form is very good. Practice squats with no weight at first, then move to the bar, then slowly start adding weight. There's a certain amount of pride which must be thrown out the window for a while, but it will be worth it later. Using proper form allows you to really get the most intended benefit from an exercise, and minimizes the risk of injury. Check some other posts for information about proper form and safe lifting. The quickest way to injure yourself is to use more weight than you can control.

Rule #2: Keep it simple
You may have seen some lifters doing strange lifts and using bands or chains to tweak the motion of a basic lift. This is not necessary for beginners (by "beginner", I am referring to anyone who does not meet the standards set earlier in this post). You can and will continue to make solid progress by sticking to basic compound lifts such as the squat, deadlift, bench press and chinups.

Rule #3: Athletic training, not bodybuilding
The entire athletic community has been infected with the "Muscle Beach" approach to weight training. Bicep curls and skull crushers dominate the landscape of most gyms. Most gyms have a huge amount of machines which isolate one particular part of your body and one squat rack, sitting unused in the far back corner. That's fine if you only want to use one muscle at a time, but this is simply not the case for any kind of sporting activity. You need compound lifts which engage several muscles at a time and train your body to work as a single effective unit. You could literally hit every muscle on your body by doing the following: dips, pullups, and either the squat or deadlift. Period. Upper legs, lower legs, core muscles, every part of your arms, back and chest. Also, there's no need to lift until you can't move. The goal is to stimulate your muscles into growth, not completely destroy them. Recovery for this approach requires to much time and does not make it an effective training approach for power training.


So, what do you need to do to get stronger?

Exercise Selection
As previously mentioned, focus on compound free-weight exercises over isolation or machine motions. Those confine you to a very limited range of motion (ROM) and don't improve your overall athleticism very much. So, what should you be doing?

Vital:
These are top-tier exercises which give you fantastic "bang for the buck" value. They should form the core of your workouts and should be the focus of each individual lifting session. You could do nothing but these exercises and reach the strength standards very quickly.

Lower Body Push: squat (full or parallel depth), front squat, split squat

Lower Body Pull: deadlift, good mornings, romanian deadlift

Upper Body Push: bench press, dips, pushups

Upper Body Pull: pullups/chinups, barbell row, seated cable row

Olympic Lifts: Power Clean, Power Snatch, Push Press, etc. Use only with proper form, start very light. Read other threads and articles before using these in your training. Very useful, but very dangerous if done with bad form.



Secondary:
These exercises aren't as useful, and may be considered as optional supplementary work. They do have value for your training.

Calf and shin work

Direct core work: weighted crunches, saxon side bends, isometric core work, etc.

Shoulder work: military press, lateral raises, shrugs, etc.



No:
These exercises will not help you become a better athlete. Usually, it's because it's an isolation exercise which involves a very specific movement you would never actually use. For example, bicep curls. In actual life, almost any contraction of the bicep is also accompanied by shoulder abduction (for example, pulling something towards you). Unless you are injured, there are much better alternatives.

Bicep Curls

Tricep Press-Downs

Skull Crushers

Leg Extensions

Chest Flys

Leg Abductor

Leg Adductor



Setup
How many sets of how many reps, how much weight, how often?

First, volume. A set/rep scheme should be tailored to address the specific quality you are seeking. "1RM" refers to your one-rep max.

Strength: 1-5 reps of 4-7 sets at 80-100% 1RM. 2-6 minutes rest.
Power: 1-4 reps of 3-5 sets at 70-90% 1RM. 2-6 minutes rest.
Hypertrophy: 8-15 reps of 4-8 sets at 60-80% 1RM. 2-5 minutes rest.
Endurance: 25-60 reps of 2-4 sets at 40-60% 1RM. 1-2 minutes rest.

Strength: Very high loading, few reps. More sets to encourage development.
Power: Slightly less loading, fewer reps. Each rep is to be done at maximum effort with nearly full recovery between sets.
Hypertrophy: Less loading, much more volume.
Endurance: Don't even bother, this has no benefit to power training. Too many reps at such a low intensity.

[redsoxfan15]

Originally Posted by rangerid

I recently came across this article and I thought this site could use it. I take no credit in writing this, only copy and pasting.

the artical tells the truth.

[youngtricker]

Good post.
Where is it from?
And I'm sure many here already knew a lot of this information, but it's good to review now and then.

[a.j.ing]

thats pretty helpful, once im 14 i can get a membership 2 a gym, then im gonna test my bench, squat and deadlift. then over the next year im gonna try t get em to 2x bench, 2.5x squat and 2.5 to 3x deadlift
btw, what are u saying in ur name bout pistol squats and one arm pushups?

[ryano3]

Originally Posted by a.j.ing

thats pretty helpful, once im 14 i can get a membership 2 a gym, then im gonna test my bench, squat and deadlift. then over the next year im gonna try t get em to 2x bench, 2.5x squat and 2.5 to 3x deadlift
btw, what are u saying in ur name bout pistol squats and one arm pushups?

u done weihgts b4???if u have done weihts at a young age like 14(with such high standards they say)u coud get injured depending on how consditioned u r.im staying away from dat stuff till im older.upper body weihgts and lower body plyos is gud enough 4 me.

[rangerid]

i am 14 and i am pretty fit and i know how to train.

I got a friend who weight trains 7 days a week cuz he doesnt know the main point:

YOU DONT GET STRONGER WHEN YOU LIFT WEIGHT, YOU GET STRONGER WHEN YOU ARE RESTING.

if you do the oppposite and weight train 7 days a week you will burn out and lose gains. train smart...and hard at same time