More training wisdom - Triathlon Week

sfricks · 03-07-2006, 05:33 AM

Here's another article I picked up and would like to share...

Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine
March 5, 2006

Dear Dr. Mirkin: What’s the most efficient way for a beginning
weight lifter to become stronger?

A recent study from the University of Sydney in Australia
shows that you benefit either from increasing the number of sets
of repetitions or from training faster, but not both. Weight lifters
were divided into four groups: 1) one set fast 2) three sets fast, 3)
one set slow 3) three sets slow. A control group did no lifting. A
set was the heaviest weight that they could lift six to eight times
in a row. They trained three times a week for six weeks
(Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, September 2005).
The group that did one slow set increased strength by 25
percent. Three sets produced twice the increase in strength of
one set. Fast training resulted in a greater increase in strength
than slow training. There was a benefit of training with three
sets or fast speeds, but there was no additive benefit of training
with both. So unless you are an athlete who needs speed to
compete, you can follow a regimen that emphasizes increasing
weight, rather than moving faster.
If you want to become strong, check with your doctor to
make sure that you do not have a condition that will be
aggravated by heavy exercise. Then pick several different
exercises, such as a bench press, upright row, and so forth.
Start out with a weight that you can lift comfortably six to ten
times in a row. Do one set in each exercise, and repeat this
workout three times a week. As you become comfortable with
this workout, increase to three sets of 6 to 10 repetitions. When
you are comfortable with this workout, increase the weight that
you lift.