Lifting weights is one of the best things you can do for your overall health and longevity. But once you’ve decided to pick up a weight, what’s next? How heavy should the weight be? How many reps and sets do you need to reach your goals? And how can you determine your goals in the first place?
“When someone comes in and says ‘I want to get stronger,’ I ask them to define what that means for them,” says Aldo Frixione, a personal trainer and co-owner of Toronto’s Fit Squad gym. “What do you want to get stronger at? Is it a lift at the gym? Or do you want to get stronger so when you’re carrying your groceries you can do it all in one shot?”
In resistance training – which, to be clear, does not always have to involve hoisting barbells overhead – different formulas of repetitions (the number of times you lift a weight), sets (the number of times you perform that cluster of repetitions), and rest (your break time between sets) will produce different results. Determining whether your goal is to be able to lift heavier things, increase the size of your muscles, or be able to train for longer before reaching exhaustion will make it easier to put together a plan for a successful workout.
The Myth of Toning
Let’s get this out of the way first: Your muscles cannot become firmer or softer, only bigger or smaller. Looking “toned” largely means having a low enough body fat percentage that your muscles are more visible.
The concept of toning exists primarily as a marketing technique. When promoting a workout or product towards men, the terminology will often focus on building strength and power. That same product will be advertised to women with the promise of making them leaner or more toned because women have been told that muscle mass or “bulk” is undesirable.
If your goal is to be able to lift heavy things with ease, train with high intensity and long rest periods.Supplied
But building muscle mass should be a core goal for overall health: Resistance training leads to greater bone density, improved balance and stability, and lower rates of morbidity. Just as you will not become immediately “bulky” from lifting heavy weights, you will not achieve “tone” by lifting light ones.
How to build strength
If your primary goal is to be able to lift heavy things (a barbell, your kids) with ease, go for this type of training, which improves the maximal force your muscles can produce, and increases the functional strength of your muscles. You’ll train with high intensity and long rest periods, focusing on compound lifts that challenge multiple muscle groups at once, such as deadlifts, squats, and overhead presses, using dumbbells, kettlebells, or barbells.
A typical strength training workout:
· 3 to 6 sets of 1 to 5 reps
· 2 to 5 minutes of rest between sets to recover
· Working at 80 to 100 per cent of your one-rep max weight
Evidence also suggests that the greatest benefits to bone health come from progressively increasing resistance over time and working with a load of around 80 to 85 per cent of your one-rep max.
How to build size
In hypertrophy training, “we’re looking to build the size of the muscle,” says Adrian Williams, a strength instructor with Peloton. With that in mind, you’ll do higher reps with shorter rest periods.”
Hypertrophy training involves both compound lifts and movements that focus on a single muscle group (like a bicep curl). You can also achieve hypertrophy using mostly machines (like the overhead press, leg press, and cable tower at your gym), making this type of training particularly beginner-friendly. “If you don’t have access to a trainer or coach, and you just have to sit on a machine and push or pull, there’s less likelihood of something going wrong in the process,” Frixione says.
A typical program for building muscle size:
· 8 to 12 repetitions for 3 to 6 sets
· 1 to 2 minutes of rest between sets
· Working at 60 to 85 per cent of your one-rep max
It’s worth noting that neither strength nor hypertrophy training exist in a vacuum: The former will also produce some gains in mass and the latter will still produce gains in strength.
If your goal is to improve your ability to work out for a longer period of time, you’ll want to train for muscular endurance.FreshSplash/Getty Images
How to build stamina
If your goal is to improve your ability to work out for a longer period of time, you’ll want to train for muscular endurance, which helps you continually exert force against a point of resistance (for example, the ground when running, a pedal when cycling, water when swimming) for longer before reaching fatigue. The greater your muscular endurance, the more easily you’ll recover during rest, too.
In endurance training, you’ll be doing a higher volume of reps, working closer to failure with less rest time in order to bring about high levels of metabolic stress and improve your stamina.
A typical stamina-building program:
· Doing 12 or more reps for 3 to 4 sets
· 30 seconds rest in between sets
· Working at about 60 to 75 per cent of your one-rep max
Getting Started
Hypertrophy training involves both compound lifts and movements that focus on a single muscle group.Peloton/Peloton
Working one-on-one with a qualified trainer who can watch how your body moves and make adjustments in real time can help ensure you’re working the correct muscles and avoiding injury. Small group training is great as well, as long as the ratio of client-to-trainer is four-to-one or fewer.
If neither of those options are available to you, using free or low-cost strength training platforms and apps like Peloton, Darebee, Ladder, and Muscle & Motion offer an accessible alternative. Just be sure to film yourself lifting, or lift near a mirror, to ensure you’re executing the movements properly.
Training with proper form from the start of your resistance training journey will help you stay injury-free and avoid building muscular imbalances. “When you learn bad movement patterns, they stay with you,” says Williams.
When choosing a starting weight, reach for something light first and work your way up based on your rate of perceived exertion (RPE). As a beginner, you’ll want the weight to feel like a seven out of ten in terms of difficulty. “If you’re doing an exercise and you can take a call or have a conversation with somebody, the weight is either too light or you’re not working hard enough,” says Frixione. “If I ask you a question and I can’t even hear your response, you’re probably going a little too hard,” he adds.
Williams agrees. “It’s better to start off lighter so your movement patterns are cleaner,” he says.
Remember to Rest
Regardless of the type of training, remember to schedule rest days; your muscles repair and grow during recovery, not during exercise.
At the start of any program, Williams suggests taking breaks as you need them, based on how you feel. It’s easy to feel like taking a pause is akin to a step back, but Williams notes that rest is “the secret to longevity.”
“It’s about being able to move well for the rest of your life,” he adds, “not just for a moment in time.”
