教員コラムBlog

  1. home
  2. 教員コラム / Blog
  3. 詳細 / Detail

Principles of Weight Training

2020.02.04
  • John Syquia
  • Hobbies_LeisureActivities|Sports
  • 2020
A holiday tradition that is not so common in Japan is making a New Year’s resolution. The Cambridge dictionary defines a New Year’s resolution as “a promise that you make to yourself to start doing something good or stop doing something bad on the first day of the year.” Some of the most common resolutions concern health, and many people decide to get in shape by joining a gym. In January many gyms and health clubs will be filled with new members, but by Valentine’s Day most of them will have quit. Why? There are a variety of reasons why someone might quit; ranging from the time required to the expense, but many people will quit because they are dismayed with the results of their hard work. These people might go to the gym three times a week for one month only to see a little muscle growth, or a slightly smaller waistline. The likely reason why these people are disappointed in their results is because they do not understand some basic principles of weight training. To build muscle it is important to understand four principles of weight training: hypertrophy, progressive overload, calories in versus calories out, and the importance of compound exercises.

The first important concept to understand is hypertrophy which is defined as increase in bulk, through the thickening of muscle fibers. A common misconception is that muscles are made in the gym. In reality however, weight training damages the muscles, creating micro-tears in the tissue. These micro-tears heal themselves when one sleeps, creating a bigger and stronger muscle.

Progressive overload was originally defined by DeLorme and Watkins (1948) as “the need for greater demands to be placed on the body during successive workouts over time if improvement is to be achieved.” In other words, it is necessary to work a bit harder than last time every time one goes to the gym. To achieve progressive overload, variables that can be manipulated include: weight, volume (number of repetitions or sets), rest time, speed, and frequency.

In order to build muscle, the body requires adequate nutrition, which is commonly referred to as “calories in versus calories out.” This means that if one burns more calories than they eat they will lose weight. If one burns less calories than they eat then they will gain weight. Therefore, in order to build muscle it is necessary to take in more calories than the body requires for maintenance.

Finally, an important principle that beginners should know is the difference between compound and isolation movements. Compound movements are exercises which use several body parts at once such as squats, barbell rows, bench press, etc. Isolation movements are those which exercise only one or two body parts at once such as arm curls. For building overall strength and mass, compound movements have been shown to be superior.

This is a brief introduction to some key concepts in weight training. For more information, check out some books or videos on YouTube. You do not need to have all the answers before you begin training. Just go to the gym and start working out!


Photo Credit: Victor Freitas@pexels.com

戻る / go back

Related posts