September Fitness Tip of the Month

Contributed by Brien A. McMurray, CSCS, M.A., Personal Trainer SPORT FIT Severna Park

When involved in a weight training program, to reach maximum benefits, an individual should train 3 times per week with a 48 hour period of rest in between each session. Research has found this to be the ideal method of weight training. Satisfactory results also can be made by training twice per week. Even training once per week on a regular basis can make positive results.

When designing your workout plan, it is very important that you change your workout program every 4, 5, or 6 weeks. No matter what type of resistance training one does, we all go through what is known as the General Adaption Syndrome. At the beginning of any type of weight training program, your body reacts, initially, by experiencing muscle soreness. Quite often, our strength actually decreases. After a few days or even a week, we go through “super compensation.” The body actually begins to adapt to the exercises and the individual begins to handle more weight and can perform more reps or repetitions. This period usually occurs between weeks 2-5. Right around week 4-6, the body plateaus and little to no improvement occurs.

At this point in the cycle, it is critical to change the program entirely. A new resistance program with a whole new set of exercises needs to be started. By setting up a new program, it will prevent plateauing and as a result steady progress will be made in improving overall strength.

When most adults train, they tend to perform exercises that were introduced to them when they were younger. Quite often the variety of exercises is limited. Over time, progress becomes limited and quite boring. In addition, adults can experience “overuse injuries.”

If you find that you have experienced any of these problems and you would like to see positive and steady improvement in your resistance program, consider hiring a Personal Trainer to reach your goals. A Personal Trainer will also make certain that you address all the critical areas of strength. Quite often, people neglect critical areas and over emphasize other areas. Common areas neglected are upper body pulling exercises, lower back strength, abdominal strength, and core strength.