It's getting close to New Year's resolution time again. This means you may find yourself back at the gym. So we wanted to share some tips to help you find the ideal repetition to weight combination for your workouts.
Using the tips in this email you'll be able to safely achieve greater gains in your workouts.
Here's how to get started!
First determine your goals. Weight training helps you in three ways.
- Endurance
- Strength
- Power
Once you know which of the above you're trying to accomplish, you'll know how to tailor the rep/weight combo to your goals.
Let's take a look at each
1. Endurance = High reps/low weight
When you train for endurance, you're looking to train the muscle for activities such as a bike race, a marathon or to lose weight.
In this situation you'd want to complete higher rep counts. This in turn necessitates using a lower weight. Ideally you'd like to accomplish 12 to 20 reps when looking to build endurance.
2. Strength = Moderate reps/weight
Training for strength is all about building muscle, putting on size or mass. Think bigger arms, chest and bodybuilding.
In this case you'd want to focus on a higher weight and fewer reps. You're looking to accomplish between 8 to 12 reps.
3. Power = Low reps/Heavy weight
Do you want to jump higher? Sprint faster? Swing a golf club quicker? Then you'll want to build your power or explosiveness.
This means using the maximum weight in a fast or explosive manner for 1 to 5 reps.
How to find the right weight
The above rep guidelines allow you to know where to begin. Once you reach a specific rep you'll want to feel like you can't do any more. So if you're trying for 10-12 reps, around rep 8 you should be feeling you can only do 1 or 2 more.
That's the gauge. You don't want to stop at 15, when you could do a 100. You want to stop because you feel like you can't do anymore. The last reps should be difficult. You should feel fatigued.
What if you're just getting started?
If you're a novice to weight training it's best to build a base by starting with the the endurance combo of high reps/low weight. Early in your training don't go over 20 reps.
This allows you to avoid overuse injuries. Such as tendonitis.
If you use too much weight, you can end up with a strained or torn muscle.
So remember: Determine your goal, choose the appropriate reps and then experiment until you find the correct weight.
Using the guidelines above you'll be on your way to safely achieving greater gains in your workouts. Now if only you had a system to stick to your New Year's Resolution.
To your health,
Jon, Pete and Michelle
If you have any questions please feel free to give us a call at the office (212) 317-8303.
