Strength Training

by Rujuta Diwekar

Heavy weight training, on the other hand, is when you can lift only 3 to 5 reps with good form. Most of us beginners reach that point with as little as 2 or 5 pounds on the side laterals that train the middle deltoid (shoulder). So 5 pounds may seem ‘light’ but it has employed the anaerobic pathway for contracting the muscles involved and is therefore ‘heavy’ due to EPOC and other factors. This same 5 pounds on a lunge could allow you to do 20 reps and therefore qualify as light weight training as it has employed the aerobic pathway for the muscles involved.

Warm-up should be specific to the main workout Exercise should recruit maximum number of muscle fibres Duration of workout should never exceed 60 minutes

Perform a warm-up set of 12 to 15 reps before starting your training ii. Use 50% of the main workout weight iii. Rest for 30 seconds to 3 minutes before starting the main workout set

Involve maximum number of joints, as moving through more joints means recruitment of more muscle fibres versus moving through a single joint. v. Train larger muscle groups before the smaller muscle groups as they have a higher ability to employ muscle fibres.

Now, as we know, weight training uses the anaerobic system, more specifically the glycogen lactic acid system. The muscles contract and therefore perform exercises using their stored glycogen stores. Muscle glycogen is not just short in supply but takes a long time to replenish once its stores are exhausted.