STRENGTH

TRAINING

ESSENTIALS

Table of Contents

Title Page

Strength Training Essentials

Chapter 1 | Introduction

Chapter 2 | Strength Training and Fitness

Chapter 3 | The Physiology and Biomechanics of Weight Training

Chapter 4 | Choosing Your Workout Schedule

Chapter 5  Single Joint Exercises

Chapter 6 | Multi‐joint exercises

Chapter 7 | Exercises for Better Posture

Chapter 8 | Exercises for Better Athletic Performance

Chris Wells and Pat O’Shea

TOTAL HEALTH PUBLICATIONS

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Copyright 2014 Total Health Publications

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

History of Weight Training

Reasons for Weight Training

Who can profit from strength training.

Proper Attire

Medical Clearance

Checklist for Workout Attire

Summary

Endnotes

Aspects of General Fitness.

Planning Your Weight-­‐Training Program.

Developing Strength.

CHECKLIST FOR TERMS COMMONLY USED

Developing Muscle Hypertrophy.

CHECKLIST FOR APPROXIMATING YOUR ONE REPETITION MAXIMUM

CHECKLIST FOR DEVELOPING MUSCLE HYPERTROPHY

Hormonal factors.

Developing Muscular Endurance.

Developing Power and Speed.

CHECKLIST FOR VARIOUS WEIGHT TRAINING OBJECTIVES

General Body Conditioning.

Plyometrics.

Developing Flexibility.

Developing Better Posture.

Becoming a More Effective Athlete.

Rehabilitating Muscles After Injury.

Body Contouring.

Body Measurements.

Body Weight.

Measuring Body Fat.

Muscle Balance.

Cardiovascular/cardiorespiratory  Endurance.

Summary

ENDNOTES

Muscles

Checklist for Understanding. Muscle Fiber Types

Checklist for Fueling Muscles—Refer to chart below

TYPE of FIBER

Lever Action.

Types of Muscular Contractions.

Types of Exercises

Types of Resistance

Checklist for Buying Home Exercise Equipment

Body Positions.

Joint actions.

Isolating A Muscle.

Doing a Coordinated Movement.

Proper Breathing.

Warm-Up

Checklist for Warm-Up

Soreness

Summary

ENDNOTES

Exercise order.

Workout for Strength.

Priority System.

Cyclic System

Pyramid System

Workout For Muscle Bulk.

Split Routines.

Super Sets.

Workout For General Body Conditioning.

Rest Between Sets.

Periodization

Recording Your Progress.

Split Routines

Super Sets

Cyclic Progression

Pyramid Workout

Reverse Pyramid

ENDNOTES

DETERMINING THE DESIRED OUTCOME.

SELECTING THE EXERCISES.

SELECTING THE EQUIPMENT.

ISOLATING THE JOINT ACTION.

Neck Exercises

Shoulders

Rotator Cuff.

Chest

Upper Back

Abdominals

Lower Back

Hip flexors

Knee Extensors (Leg Extension)

Hip (Thigh) Extensors

Knee Flexors (Leg Curls)

Ankle Plantar Flexion

Other Ankle Exercises

Arm (Elbow) Flexion

Arm (Elbow) Extension (Triceps Extension)

Wrist Flexion (Front of Forearms)

Wrist Extension (Back of Forearms)

Hip Abduction

Hip Adduction

Bench Press

20 Incline Bench Press

21. Overhead (Military, or Shoulder) Barbell Press

Squats (Leg Presses)

Lunges

Upright Rowing

Bent Rowing

Power Clean

Power Snatch

Dips.

OLYMPIC LIFTS

Pot Belly.

Round Shoulders.

Sagging Chest.

Forward Head.

Overall Posture.

The General Strength Program

The Specific Program.

Considerations for the Female Athlete.

Chapter 1

Introduction

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History of Weight Training Reasons for Weight Training Proper Attire

Checklist for Workout Attire Summary

History of Weight Training

For thousands of years people have lifted weights to gain strength. In ancient Greece there is evidence that a man named Eumastas lifted a rock weighing over half a ton. You may have heard of an ancient Greek named Milo who lifted a calf every day. As the calf grew into a cow, Milo grew stronger and stronger. He showed off his strength by carrying the four-year-old cow the full length of the Olympic stadium-over 200 yards. This story illustrates the principle of progressive resistance exercise in which the muscles are overloaded to make them adapt by becoming stronger.

The Greeks used dumbbell-like weights called halteres 1800 years ago, and weight training was popular with both men and women in ancient Rome. So, training with weights for strength and fitness is not a recent phenomenon. In fact weight-lifting competition has been in the modern Olympic Games since they were reborn in 1896. Feats of strength that have delighted onlookers included Louis Cyr’s lifting of 4,300 pounds from the floor in 1885 and, eight years later, noted strong woman Minervias lifting of a platform holding 23 men-a weight of 3,564 pounds.

Our modern scientific weight training got its start after World War II, when Dr. Thomas DeLorme verified empirically that progressive resistance exercise could aid recovery of strength in wounded arms and legs. His studies made weight training scientifically and educationally respectable, finally banishing the idea that it leads to muscle-boundness.

Reasons for Weight Training

Today people lift weights for a variety of reasons, which can be categorized as follows:

  To compete in two Olympic weight lifts—-the snatch and the clean and jerk (Olympic lifting),

  To compete in the squat, bench press, and the dead lift. (Power lifting),

  To contour the body to ideal proportions (bodybuilding), as for the Mr. America of Miss America type of competition or for beauty contests,

  To become more proficient in a sport by working on specific strength programs,

  To improve general fitness,

  To rehabilitate injured muscles,

  To prevent osteoporosis (soft bones),

  To complete a physical education program that requires strength training classes,

  To develop a better self concept by contouring a body which the media has determined to be closer to the ideal.

The average man or woman working with weights in a physical education class, a gym, or at home is generally working to gain some strength but s usually mainly concerned with looking and feeling better. No matter what one’s age strength training is a valuable type of exercise. It positively affects several body systems; including muscular, endocrine, skeletal, metabolic, immune, neural, and respiratory. (1)

Who can profit from strength training.

People of all ages can profit from strength training. Younger people can develop bodies which are more efficient and which are generally considered to be more desirable—whether it is muscle toning, reduced body fat or larger muscles. It can prevent problems, such as soft bones which plague older people, and it can reverse the process.

Psychologists and sociologists currently study the body and are recognizing the essential nature of one’s satisfaction with his or her body and one’s self esteem. Additionally, the well conditioned female’s body is quite similar to that of the well conditioned male. On the other hand, the average female body traditionally has been far less conditioned than the average male body. So it seems that the social situation, that is the acceptance of sport and exercise for women, has allowed a gender equality in the physical realm. (2)

Older people, particularly women, can often reverse the softer bones which come with age if calcium has been insufficient in the diet and weight bearing exercise has been lacking in their exercise programs. Strength training can greatly reduce the number of broken which are suffered by the elderly.

Between ages 25 and 50 there is a drop in the muscle fibers of 5 to 10% but it reduces even more, 25 to 30%, by age 80. (3)

People who run or play sports can reduce their chances of injury through effective strength training. Also, people who have been injured can rehabilitate their muscles much more quickly through effective strength training.

Proper Attire

A loose-fitting shirt reduces the amount of sweat left on the bench and also the amount of body oil that touches the upholstery on the benches. Body oil causes the upholstery to become brittle and to crack. In addition, it can make the body slip on the bench. It is commendable to carry a small towel to dry each bench after you have exercised on it.

Medical Clearance

Before beginning any exercise program one should get a medical clearance. For men a hernia check is