Chapter 4: The Requirements Of A Good Strength Training Program

The Requirements Of A Good Strength Training Program

In order to develop a good strength training workout program that is going to help you get the results that you’re after, there are some important points that you need to be considering.

There are many different variables to take into account when designing a workout and by making sure that each variable is in alignment with the goals you have set, you can make sure that you go on to see the success that you’re after.

Always keep in mind that the general guiding principle for any workout routine that must be in place above all else is that you need to have an overloading stimulus.

This basically means that when you go into the gym to perform a workout session, you want to be dishing out some type of stress on the body that it has not been able to handle before in the past.

By doing so, you will ensure that you create those tiny tears in the muscle tissues that then have to be rebuilt back up, stronger than they were before.

It’s this process of rebuilding that allows you to make continual improvements in your fitness and physique. So regardless of all else, this overloading stimulus must be present.

Now let’s look at the other factors to consider in workout program design.

Workout Split

The first thing to consider is the workout split that you will be using.  This refers to how you’re going to divide the body up and go about your workouts on a week to week basis.

There are three main types of workout protocols you can follow:

·         Full body workouts

·         Upper/lower workouts

·         Body part split workouts

For the busy executive, the full body workout tends to be the superior approach because not only does it have you working the muscle groups at the highest frequency level (three days per week), which does tend to bring about the greatest gains in performance, but it’s also going to require the lowest amount of time commitment.

Plus, since you’re working the entire body in each workout you do, these sessions are going to be incredibly intense meaning you get very good metabolic boosts from them.

Even for those who are not looking for a short-on-time workout program, the full body still earns top marks as being one of the best set-ups.

This workout program will have you working out on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday set up or a Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday set-up.  It’s a must that you take that day of rest in between workouts.

The upper/lower split workout can also be a good choice for those who want to specialize a little more on certain muscle groups and for those who want to spend more time in the gym.

Since you are only working out half the body with each workout you do, you can perform more overall exercises total for each muscle group. 

This workout set-up will have you using a set-up such as the following:

Monday – Upper Body

Tuesday – Lower Body

Wednesday – Off

Thursday – Upper Body 

Friday – Lower Body

Saturday & Sunday – Off

Finally, the last type of set-up is the body part split workout. We mentioned this split when referring to the bodybuilding variation of strength training and it’s most often used by those who are into this.

Generally speaking the body part split is not a good idea for most people and definitely not a good idea for the busy executive. It requires you to be in the gym five to six days per week and will also have you working the muscles at a very low frequency level (typically just once per week).

It’s only a smart move to use once you’ve built up the level of muscle you’re happy with and are strictly focused on refining and tweaking your physique. Since you can maintain muscle mass by working it just once per week, this split can work well in these situations. And, since you’re spending an entire workout focusing on just one or two muscle groups, you can do multiple exercises per group, helping bring about that higher level of refinement.

So all in all, the full body or upper/lower will be the way to go.

In the workout programs we’ll be giving you in this guide, we’ll be strictly using the full body approach, so that’s what you can look forward to.

Exercise Selection

Next we come to exercise selection.  We’ve already talked briefly about the difference between compound and isolation exercises, but let’s go over this a bit further.

Compound movements are going to be those that work multiple muscle groups at once, often involving two different joints.

For example, they would include exercises such as bench press, push-ups, squats, lunges, deadlifts, and rows.

These exercises are highly effective because they will allow you to target so many muscles all at once and they will also help save time in the gym dramatically. Furthermore, since you’ll be having more total muscle fibers working in each rep, you’ll be able to lift more weight, thus see faster strength gains as a result of it.

And finally, since they are so intense, this also means they’ll be better for boosting your metabolic rate higher compared to those that aren’t.

Basically, compound exercises are a win-win choice for the busy executive.

On the other hand we have isolation exercises. These are the movements that will zero in and focus on just a single muscle group, really targeting them to their maximum capability.

These exercises can be good for adding towards the end of your workout program to really finish off a particular muscle group, but should never be used at the start of a workout unless you’re using a very specific advanced protocol (such as a pre-fatigue set, for instance).

Isolation exercises won’t burn as many calories as you do them, won’t boost the metabolic rate as high, and won’t produce the strength gains that you could be seeing.

But, they will target a single muscle, help bring out more definition, and can be used to help correct muscular imbalances in the body.

So for those reasons, they can have a place in your workout program.

When structuring your workout, 70-80% of it should be compound movements with the remaining 20-30% coming from isolation exercises.

Reps, Sets, Rest

The next component to consider when developing your workout routine is the reps, sets, and rest that you’re using as you go about the protocol.

Reps refers to how many times you’re going to move a weight through a certain pattern of movement before stopping.

Then, the total number of reps you perform before stopping will equate out to one full set. 

The amount of weight you lift and the total number of reps you perform are going to be inversely related as the higher the rep range, the lighter the weight you’ll need to use.

Likewise, the higher the rep range, typically the lower the number of sets you have to perform since you’ll be doing more work per set.

A good range to be in is between 20-30 reps total per exercise, so depending on your rep range, this determines your total set number.

Here’s a guideline to follow:

2 sets of 12-15 reps

3 sets of 8-10 reps

4 sets of 6-8 reps

5 sets of 4-5 reps

As you can see, the lower you get in rep range, the heavier your weight should be and the more strength oriented that workout program will be.

Higher rep ranges, on the other hand are used more often to bring about metabolic effects from the workout, increasing the total number of calories that you burn on a day to day basis.

Furthermore, this rep range can help to enhance muscular endurance levels, meaning you’ll be able to exercise for longer without suffering from fatigue build-up.

Just keep in mind that you generally should never be going beyond the 15 rep range as doing so would require such a light weight that you’re really losing the key benefits of a strength training workout altogether.

Also note that in most cases, you’ll use a lower rep range when performing a compound movement since these exercises are more focused on strength development and a higher rep range when doing isolation exercises.

The amount of rest that you take between your sets should correspond to how much weight you’re lifting. You always want to be sure that you’re fully recovered, or as close to it as possible, before starting each next set so that you are able to sustain good form.

Nothing is more important throughout your workout than using good form as if you let this slip, not only will you not be getting the benefits that the exercise has to offer, but you’ll also be significantly increasing the chances that you become injured as well.

For sets that are done using the lower rep range with heavy weight, aim for rest periods of 1-3 minutes.  For sets that are done with a higher rep range and lighter weight, aim for rest periods of 15-60 seconds.

Keep in mind that the shorter the rest period you do take, the higher your heart rate will be throughout the session, so you’ll see slightly greater cardiovascular benefits and also note that you will create more of that metabolic response in the body as well.

So there you have the key components that you need to be considering as you go about getting your workout program into place.

If you take the time to make sure that you are structuring it properly according to what you hope to accomplish, you are going to see far superior results for your efforts.

Now let’s move forward and talk about how to go about creating the most time-effective workout possible.