Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ still prefer th e traditional three sets of 10 repetitions. , If sing le-re petitio n stre ng th is th e goa l, th en few er reps with greater resista nce is co ns ide red m ore effect ive. Body builder s and power lift er s often use less th an 10 repetiti ons, A pop u lar ! ~ Brad Lackey's (,Q rcha p :Etraining program ip By Dean Miller and Len Weed T h is and fu ture installmen ts au excerp ted fro m Champi onship T ra in ing, featuring B rad La ck ey, by Brad's p ersonal trainer, Dean M iller, an d L en lI'eed . A ll firs t person com ments are by Dean M iller. Be awa re that many areas of spo rts m ed icin e, training, and nutrition do not offer black -and-w hite an sw ers. T rain in g is as much an art for m as it is a science . I n many ways, preparing an ath lete is simi lar to tuning a racing engine. It 's part study, pa rt experiment, p art dreami ng u p new approaches, pa rt t ryin g differen t combinations. I I's p u tting past results an d presen t ideas tog eth er, searching for something that works better. Research often suggests answers but co ncl us ive ev idence may be lacking. And continuing researc h sometimes questions or in validates principles and approa ches previous ly accepted. Differing views, w here applicable, will be mentioned along with indications of new research tha t may change prevailing v iews. Progressive resistance t raining _ P ro gr essive resistance is reco gnized as th e best wa y to stre ng th train . Th e prin ci pi es o f progressiv e resistance trainin g a lso app ly to improving both muscular en d u ra n ce and stam in a. Many attribute the basi c formu la tion of modern stren g th training co n cepts to .Dr. -Tho rnas DeLorme who, a long with A. L. Watkins, published tr a in ing re commendations in 1951: Th ese g u id elines stressed th e im portance o f usin g varying loads, repetiti ons. a nd sets. They also d ifferen tiated between strength a n d end urance ~t ra i n i n g, em p hasizin g th e va lue o f low resistance. high repetit ion train in g for muscula r end urance a nd hi gh resis ta nce, low rep eti tion tra ining fo r stre ngth . . T h ree seis orto repe tit ions were recommended - th e fir st set a t 50 p ercent o f m aximum resistance, th e second set a t 75 perce nt, a nd th e thi rd set at 100 perce nt (tem porary fai lure a t 10 repeti tio ns) . Progression P ro gressivel y incre as ing th e work load (resista nce o r repetiti ons) from o ne workou t' to the next increa ses stressi ng o f muscles which have grown stronger froin previous stress ings. Intensity 18 Ex ercising to momentary muscu la r fa ilure, a point at which a no ther repeti tion is imposs ible with out rest, .. pl aces th e greatest stress o n a muscl e group. Th is st im u la tion o f a greater n u m ber o f muscl e fibers - foll ow ed by res t - ge nera tes grea ter muscl e growth . Intensity is increased by upping resistance (add ing weight). Duration For wei ght trainin g , dura tion refer s to th e number o f repetitions (assu m ing a steady exe rcise speed) . Duration and inten sity a re in versely proportional. Increasing int ensity (ad d ing resistan ce) reduces the number of repetitions (or th e time int erval ) possible. Approximately 10 repetitions flu ctuating within a rangeof eig h t to 12 - a re recommended for ge ne ra l stre ngth training , (I ncreasing repetiti ons beyond 12 sh ifts th e tr aining em p has is tow ard muscular end urance ra ther th an stre n g th.) H ere's how the eigh t- to- Iz a p p ro a ch wo r ks: ( I ) Beg in wi th a resistance th at crea tes temporary fa ilure a t 12 repet iti ons. (T h is will usually be 50 to 80 per cent o f the o ne- rep m ax im um .) (2) In cr ease resistance about five per cent a t th e next workout. Temporary failure will proba bly occur befo re rea ch in g 12 repeti tions. (3) Use th e sa me resistance for sueceeding wo r ko u ts unt il tempo rary fail u re is again reached a t 12 repetitions. (4) In crease resistance a nother five percent a t th e next workou t. This approach to strength training is gener ally th ought to reduce th e risk of injury. Lifting h eavi er resistances for less than 10 repetitions pl aces a grea ter stra in o n th e bod y. The eight-to- Iz a p p roch u suall y per mits quick er reco very and bett er resu lts in less time. Nautilus re commends just o ne set o f eigh t-to- 12 repetitions 10 tem pordr), fail ure. Th ey feel that addi tional sets du rin g th e same wo rk o u t offer n o additional growth stim u lus. H ow ever, many strength train ers 48 to 72 seconds . It is generally accepted tha t a naerobic metabolic p roc esses are taxed best by intensive continuous ex ertion over a period of 30 to 70 seconds.) For motocross applications, however, we found the steady threeco u nt speed more a p p lica ble. a p p roach is three to five sets o f two to six repetitions. A n ot e a bo u t exerc is ing with heav y resistances: Don 't force yo u r br eath o r hold it , Breathe normall y. Man y a u thori ties sug ges t inhaling o n th e lift, ex ha li n g o n th e lower in g . Some wei ght lift er s prefer to tak e a d eep br eath and then exhal e as th ey beg in th e lift . Either approach is preferable to holding the br eath . An exerciser who closes the upper portion of his resp ir atory tra ct whil e sim u lta neous ly contracting th e chest a nd abdomen muscles for an intense effo rt ca n ex perience a sudd en surge in blood pressure known as the Valsalva ph enomenon . The heart's stroke volume decreases temporarily during the ten sing , then the blood surges into th e heart , causing a sudden pressure increase. In rare situations this pressure ca n ca use a heart a u ac k o r stro ke. (Gen erally in older o r sed entary indi vidual s or those with a defect in th e heart or a blood vessel.) Positivelnegative work Lifting a resistanc s r~fmed to as positiv work ; lowering a resistance is negative work. The lxXIy resist the lo weri n g of more weight than it can raise. Two limbs can lower a re sistanJ=e Iballhey can ' I lift unassisted. And one lim b can lower more than ha lf (about 70 percent ) of a weight lifted by both limbs. Gin . ~ Frequency Freq uen cy o f exe rcise sho u ld be determ ined by th e a mou nt of rest n eed ed to allow mu scl e recovery a n d grow th . The m ore intense th e exe rcise, th e g rea ter th e res t necessary. Stressed mu scl e ne eds time to replenish glycogen, to repai r minor damage, a nd to grow. Rest does not necessarily m ean avoidance of exercise. A lig h t workout may be sui table. A program of a lternating hard and easy workouts has proven successful fo r ma ny a th le tes. H a rd da ys stress the body. Easy da ys a llow recovery w hi le th e a thlete lea rns so meth ing new o r polish ed skills. G en erall y. a rest per iod o f 48 h ou rs is recommended a fter a hard workout. Three da ys o f rest, 72 hours, is m ore su ita ble a fter ex trem ely stressfu l worko u ts. (Atrophy , muscle d egeneration, can begin as littl e as 96 hours after a strenuous workout. Three hard workouts a week is . popul ar with m an y a th letes. This allows two 48-hour rest periods and ~ one 72-hour rest period. An other popular a p p roach is limited stre n u o us workouts on co nsecuti ve days. The arms are worked one da y, th e legs a nd m idsection th e next. In th is way, th e various muscle groups ca n be stressed a n d rested 48 hours w h il e th e a th le te rem ains acti ve on a da ily basis. Th is a p proac h a llows more intensi ve tra ining th an lighter exercise o f a ll muscle grou ps each da y. Range of motion Stressin g muscles ov er the largest p ossible range - from full ex ten sio n to full co ntraction a n d ba ck to full extension - increases flex ibili ty a nd power as well as strength. In crea sing the range o f m otion a llows a greater exe rtion o f force by th e muscular leverage syste m. Exercise speed A sm oo th, steady speed throughout th e entire ra n ge of motion is prefera ble for stre n g th training . Quick repetitions, using initia l bu rsts, d o not provide as much stress. With Brad 's stre n g th training we use th e sa me speed. a slo w th reeco u nt, for both lifting a n d lowering . (Nauti lus recommends d oubling th e negative durat ion - a tw o-count lift fo ll owed by a four-count loweringto accent uate th e n egative work and allow eac h muscle group to be st ressed . Imt1i To . ~.ti tjons lower tHe stance a bit m ore with each succeeding repetition, return ing to the starting position each time. Idea ll y, th e exerciser shou ld rea ch temporary failure on the seventh repetition , unable to return to the starting pos itions. Frequen cy - three sets of seve n repetitions every other day. Overtraining A training overload - too much stress, not enoug h rest - cat'1'produce diminish ing results - a condiiien o fte n ref erred to as staleness. And a m ental o r em o tio na l overload (ca used by aggravation, frustration, anticipation , o r fear) ca n produce p h ysica l ten sion that diminishes performance. As training intensity increases, the body need s more time to recover and grow. Strenuou s workouts often produce minor damage to muscle tissue. This is normal a n d doesn't interfere with training or performance. However, continuous stren uo us exertion places the body in a position where it must rest not on ly to recover but to avoid further damage. The stro ng er an athlete becomes, th e more rest he needs between inten siv e workouts. This a llows t he inten sity o f suc ceedi ng workouts to in crease. Ov ertraining. th e. result of an imbalance between workout inten sities and rest periods, ca n produce a variety o f symptoms: h eadaches, appe- .' '- (Contin ued 10 page 21)

• Cover