The seven principles of resistance training
When focusing on resistance training and general athletic performance, there are seven fundamental principles that guide improvement. When training, try to keep these principles in mind when looking to improve. Often people find that they hit a performance “plateau”; however, if you review your program, you will find that it is very likely that you are neglecting one or more of the following principles:
1. Overload principle
2. Progression principle
3. Specificity principle
Four. Variation principle
5. Principle of individuality
6. Principle of diminishing returns
7. Principle of reversibility
Overload principle
This is one of the fundamental basics of resistance training. It basically means that if you want to get stronger or grow the muscle, you have to work or “overload” the muscle. When you overload muscle, you are actually tearing muscle tissue on a microscopic level. When this happens, the body tries to overcompensate, anticipating that it must do it again. By doing so, more muscle tissue is deposited, which causes muscle growth.
Progression principle
Again, this is one of the basic principles of weight training. This means that as you get stronger, there is no point in continuing to lift the same weight – you must “progress” by lifting a heavier weight or doing more reps. If the progression is too great, the weight will be too heavy to lift, however, if there is little or no progression, there will be no improvement in performance.
Specificity principle
The concept of specificity is that if you want to improve your performance in a certain area, train in that area. In other words, train your way of playing! If you want to improve athletic performance in basketball, for example, there is no point running laps around an oval – do basketball-based athletics such as suicide runs, ball drills, etc. Resistance training is the same: If you want to improve your push-ups, do push-ups and exercises that mimic that movement.
Variation principle
Some people get confused because variation and specificity conflict with each other. In fact, this is absolutely not the case! The idea of the variation is that you mix up your training routine so that your body doesn’t adapt too efficiently to what you’re trying to achieve. Again, using the push-up as an example, you can vary your push-up workout by switching it to incline or decline push-ups, placing a slap in the middle, or moving your hand closer to turn it into a triceps curl. Alternatively, you can try a bench press – biomechanically it is almost identical.
Principle of individuality
The individuality principle covers the differences of people with the ‘X’ factor, and those athletic fans who seem to get stronger just by looking at the weights! More seriously, individuality recognizes that all people train at different rates. This individuality can be influenced by factors of age, sex, race, nutrition, genetic predisposition, and sleep. This is why it is important for people to follow their individual training routine rather than copying what others seem to be doing.
Principle of diminishing returns
The principle of diminishing returns means that as someone gets fitter or stronger, it takes more effort to keep getting fitter or stronger. A beginner who is morbidly obese will lose a significant amount of weight when they start out, but as they lose more and more weight, it becomes increasingly difficult to continue losing weight. The strength gains are the same. This is why world-class athletes train for hours on end every day to try and get a 1-2% improvement!
Reversibility principle
This is the “move or get lost” rule. It means that exercise must be continued to maintain strength and athletic foundations, or the results will be reversed. In general, the elderly are not as strong as when they were young, in part because they are not as active as when they were young. It has been estimated that an athlete on bed rest will lose approximately 10% of their cardiovascular performance. Per week! This is why many athletes will maintain their strength and fitness in the off-season – it is much easier to maintain fitness and strength than to lose it and try to regain it.
These are the seven principles of resistance training. Try to remember them and keep them in mind when writing your next training program!