As we mentioned recently, when your muscles pull on your bones, they activate them and make them work. Your bones respond by renewing themselves and this is what maintains or improves your strength. As your muscles get stronger, they can pull harder and consequently your bones respond by getting stronger.
Vigorous movement of the body that translates into strenuous exercise, both cardiovascular endurance and strength, is responsible for activating skeletal muscle which, as we have learned, is an endocrine organ. Among the hormones that are activated by skeletal muscle are myosins, il-6, il-15, BDNF and more. All of them have very important functions for the health of your body.
But it's not just through vigorous or intense exercise that skeletal muscle is activated, your diet also plays an important role, and to make a long story short, protein is the macronutrient that allows you to maintain the health and optimal functioning of your muscles.
On the other hand, take into account that the accumulation of glucose is toxic to the body, but through strenuous movement it can be evacuated from the body and this is facilitated by consuming the right proportions of macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, fat and water).
What to consider When Structuring your Training Programme
- Your exercise programme should be structured on the basis of norms rather than goals. A mindset focused on the fact that results don't happen overnight but require a commitment to your wellbeing and consistency in the type of activity you choose to do. These are the keys to making exercise a sustainable part of your lifestyle.
- Your training programme, especially if you are a beginner, or recovering from a sedentary period, should include a neural adaptation. This means that you dedicate the first month to getting to know how to operate and proper technique when using machines, pulleys, free weights and the other tools at your disposal, as well as proper breathing, before incorporating weight or intensity into your exercises.
- Progressions should then begin, but this does not mean that you should lift more and more weight, but rather, I suggest cycles. This can also include variations in exercises or types of sport.
- This refers to the growth of muscles. This is not necessarily a huge growth of muscles, and that is not so easy to achieve anyway. It refers more to what we call in English "toning" or that the muscles look defined; it looks like they are a bit bigger, but in reality, it is that the muscle has evacuated the fat in certain deposits. So, we should not be frightened by the idea of hypertrophy.
- Furthermore, if your training comprises an aerobic or cardiovascular endurance aspect, a few phases of conscious stretching and this is accompanied by a balanced diet and proper rest, the only risk you run is that your muscles will become toned, rather than anything else.
Learn Here About the Different Possibilities that can Make up a Training Programme so that you can Choose the one that Suits Best Your Lifestyle and Needs.
Setting Standards Over Goals
It's easy to say you want to lose weight or build muscle, but we rarely consider the triggers that divert us from our goals. An example is to have the intention or say, "I want to strengthen my legs, but I can only train one day a week". This makes it difficult to get the results you want.
It makes more sense to make an attendance commitment and if you have to leave a little early or arrive a little late, at least you did attend. This also influences your training on a psychological level.
Neural Adaptation
Neural adaptations to training refer to changes in the nervous system that will allow you to better activate the prime movers in specific movements and better coordinate the activation of all relevant muscles, resulting in greater net force in the intended direction of movement.
For people who are starting or resuming exercise after a long period of inactivity, it is recommended that, if training 3 times a week, you perform exercises that involve all the muscles of the body and perform 1, 2 or 3 sets of 20 and 15 repetitions. This will allow you to learn the correct technique and allow your body to adapt to the movements and begin to handle weight. The neural adaptation may take about a month before you start training fully.
Training
After the neural adaptation period, you decide whether during those three training days per week you prefer to work the whole body each day or emphasize one muscle group. Both alternatives work and are valid.
Four groups of muscle-strengthening exercises can help build strong bones. These are lower back exercises such as deadlifts, push-ups, pull-ups, such as rowing, and squats that involve all the muscles in the legs. It is recommended to do at least one exercise from each group.
Progression Training
As you progress through the stages, the exercises will work the muscles harder, and these more strenuous exercises are known as "progressions".
The progression principle applies when you're trying to build strength, tone muscle and improve endurance, it's wise to progress through weight training to avoid plateauing.
But if you're happy to train a few times a week with little variation in weight, duration and muscles worked, it's OK not to follow the progression principle.
If you choose to apply the principle of progression, this is achieved by increasing weight load, duration, frequency and intensity and can be done in both strength and endurance training.
Interval Training
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is characterised by short, repeated sets of relatively intense exercise with intermittent periods of rest or low-intensity exercise.
Both HIIT and traditional strength training can improve upper and lower extremity explosive strength. The advantage of high-intensity interval training over traditional strength training is that, according to validated studies, it is an effective training protocol, which may require less time and produce a better evolution of average anaerobic power.
Active Rest
You do indeed need rest days between workouts, especially when you are doing progressions, as well as with intervals, or simply after demanding workouts.
When you start to enjoy the benefits of exercise and feel that your workouts are producing positive results, it often awakens the desire to test your body and sometimes push it to its limits and that's fine, but it's also important to balance this with adequate rest and sometimes activities that allow your body to recover without putting physical stress on your body that will not allow it to recover.
Less strenuous exercise such as yoga, light cycling or simply walking can complement the main workout. These light activities moderately raise the heart rate which translates into benefits such as activating blood flow and repairing small tears in the muscles.
However, active rest should not be at the expense of total rest. So, it is quite feasible that your body benefits from active recovery, but complete rest is paramount and irreplaceable.
When you Come from Another Sport or Want to add Weight Training to Your Main Sport or Practice
Strength training can enhance your quality and performance if you play another sport because it enhances muscle power, bone density, endurance and overall performance.
The important thing here is to define your purpose: strength training is a sport that can be practised as a complement to another discipline. In combat sports, it improves the strength and speed of the fighter to make him gain stability and power. By making the muscles more flexible, strength training helps to prevent possible injuries. In endurance sports, it provides sturdiness and strength.
On the other hand, a bodybuilder should not jog or run regularly, as this sport causes muscle wasting. If he runs, he should practice HIIT or high-intensity interval training, where he alternates intense physical exertion with rest. It all depends on the goal you have set for yourself and your priorities.
Some key Exercises to Incorporate into your Strength Routine
Remember that the exercises you perform can be with your body weight, bands, pulleys and eventually weights. Initially, it is safest to structure your programme with machines which provide postural support and then progress to free weights.
At a basic level, any weight training programme should include the following exercises in order to activate all muscle groups:
Squats
Alternating Lunges
Athletic press
Deadlifts
Chest press
Rowing with pulley
Shoulder press