Program Design for Resistance Training

Principles of Anaerobic Exercise Prescription

• Resistance training program design entails seven fundamental variables:

  • Needs analysis

  • Exercise selection

  • Training frequency

  • Exercise order

  • Training load and repetitions

  • Volume

  • Rest periods

Step 1: Needs Analysis

• Needs analysis is a two-stage process comprising an evaluation of the sport's requirements and an assessment of the athlete.

• Evaluation of the Sport:

  • Movement Analysis: An examination of body and limb movement patterns and the specific muscles involved in the sport.

  • Physiological Analysis: Determining the priority levels of strength, power, hypertrophy, and muscular endurance.

  • Injury Analysis: Identifying common sites for joint and muscle injuries and the factors that contribute to them.

• Assessment of the Athlete:

  • Training Status: Includes investigating the type of training program previously used, the length of recent regular participation (training age), the intensity levels of previous programs, and the degree of exercise technique experience.

  • Classification of Resistance Training Status (Table 17.1):

    • Beginner (Untrained): Current program is "not training" or "just began"; training age is $< 2\,\text{months}$; frequency is $\le 1-2$ sessions per week; training stress is none or low; technique experience is none or minimal.

    • Intermediate (Moderately trained): Currently training; training age is $2-6\,\text{months}$; frequency is $2-3$ sessions per week; training stress is medium; technique experience is basic.

    • Advanced (Well trained): Currently training; training age is $\ge 1\,\text{year}$; frequency is $\ge 3-4$ sessions per week; training stress is high; technique experience is high.

  • Physical Testing and Evaluation:

    • Proficiency tests should relate directly to the athlete's sport movements.

    • Results are compared with normative or descriptive data to identify strengths and weaknesses.

  • Primary Resistance Training Goal: Typically focuses on improving strength, power, hypertrophy, or muscular endurance. Only one training outcome should be concentrated on per season.

• Training Priorities by Sport Season (Table 17.2):

  • Off-season: Low sport practice; High resistance training (RT). Goal: Hypertrophy and muscular endurance initially, then strength and power.

  • Preseason: Medium sport practice; Medium RT. Goal: Sport and movement specific (strength, power, or muscular endurance).

  • In-season: High sport practice; Low RT. Goal: Maintenance of preseason goals.

  • Postseason (Active Rest): Variable sport practice; Variable RT. Goal: Not specific; may include non-sport activities.

Step 2: Exercise Selection

• Selection requires understanding movement and muscular requirements, technique experience, equipment availability, and training time.

• Exercise Types:

  • Core Exercises: Recruit one or more large muscle areas, involve two or more primary joints (multijoint), and have high priority due to direct application to the sport.

  • Assistance Exercises: Recruit smaller muscle areas, involve only one primary joint (single-joint), and are considered less critical for sport performance.

  • Structural Exercises: Core exercises that emphasize loading the spine directly or indirectly.

  • Power Exercises: Structural exercises performed very quickly or explosively.

• Movement Analysis of the Sport:

  • Training Specificity (SAID Principle): Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands. The more similar the training is to sport movement, the better the transfer of performance.

  • Specific Movement-Exercise Correlations (Table 17.3):

    • Ball Dribbling/Passing: Close-grip bench press, dumbbell bench press, triceps pushdown, reverse curl, hammer curl.

    • Ball Kicking: Unilateral hip adduction/abduction, single-leg squat, forward step lunge, knee extension, leg raise.

    • Freestyle Swimming: Pull-up, lateral shoulder raise, forward step lunge, upright row, barbell pullover, single-leg squat.

    • Vertical Jumping: Snatch, power clean, push jerk, back squat, front squat, standing calf raise.

    • Racket Stroke: Flat dumbbell fly, lunge, bent-over lateral raise, wrist curl/extension.

    • Rowing: Power clean, clean/snatch pull, bent-over row, seated row, angled/horizontal leg press, deadlift, stiff-legged deadlift, good morning.

    • Sprinting/Running: Snatch, clean, front squat, forward step lunge, step-up, knee extension/curl, toe raise (dorsiflexion).

    • Throwing/Pitching: Lunge, single-leg squat, barbell pullover, overhead triceps extension, shoulder internal/external rotation.

• Muscle Balance: Programs must account for the Agonist (active muscle causing movement) and the Antagonist (passive muscle on the opposite side).

• Recovery Exercises: Specialized exercises that do not involve high muscular or nervous system stress; they promote movement and restoration.

Step 3: Training Frequency

• Refers to the number of training sessions per week.

• Frequency Guidelines based on Status (Table 17.4):

  • Beginner: $2-3$ sessions per week.

  • Intermediate: $3-4$ sessions per week.

  • Advanced: $4-7$ sessions per week.

• Split Routines: Intermediate and advanced athletes can use routines where different muscle groups are trained on different days to allow for higher volume.

• Frequency by Sport Season (Table 17.6):

  • Off-season: $4-6$ sessions per week.

  • Preseason: $3-4$ sessions per week.

  • In-season: $1-3$ sessions per week.

  • Postseason: $0-3$ sessions per week.

• Other Influences: Maximal load training requires more recovery. Total physical stress from other aerobic/anaerobic training, skill practice, and demanding occupations must be considered.

Step 4: Exercise Order

• Order of Implementation:

  • 1. Power exercises (e.g., snatch, hang clean, power clean, push jerk).

  • 2. Other non-power core exercises.

  • 3. Assistance exercises.

• Alternating Methods:

  • Upper and Lower Body: Allows for fuller recovery between exercises. If rest is minimal, it is called circuit training.

  • Push and Pull: Alternates pushing (bench press, shoulder press, triceps extension) with pulling (lat pulldown, bent-over row, biceps curl).

• Sets Comparison:

  • Supersets: Two sequential exercises stressing opposing muscles (agonist and antagonist).

  • Compound Sets: Two different exercises performed sequentially for the same muscle group.

Step 5: Training Load and Repetitions

• Mechanical Work: Quantified as $Mechanical\,Work = force \times displacement$.

• Volume-load: A practical measure of quantity: $Volume-load = weight\,units \times repetitions$.

• Load Definitions:

  • Load: The amount of weight assigned to a set; the most critical aspect of resistance training.

  • 1-Repetition Maximum (1RM): Maximum weight lifted with proper technique for exactly one rep.

  • Repetition Maximum (RM): Most weight lifted for a specific number of repetitions.

• %1RM-Repetition Relationship (Table 17.7):

  • $100\% \rightarrow 1\,\text{rep}$

  • $95\% \rightarrow 2\,\text{reps}$

  • $93\% \rightarrow 3\,\text{reps}$

  • $90\% \rightarrow 4\,\text{reps}$

  • $87\% \rightarrow 5\,\text{reps}$

  • $85\% \rightarrow 6\,\text{reps}$

  • $80\% \rightarrow 8\,\text{reps}$

  • $75\% \rightarrow 10\,\text{reps}$

  • $70\% \rightarrow 11\,\text{reps}$

  • $67\% \rightarrow 12\,\text{reps}$

  • $65\% \rightarrow 15\,\text{reps}$

• Testing Load:

  • 1RM testing is only for intermediate/advanced athletes and should use core exercises.

  • Accuracy of prediction equations for 1RM improves when based on $\le 10$ repetitions.

• Load Assignments Based on Training Goal (Table 17.9):

  • Strength: $\ge 85\%\,1RM$ for $\le 6$ reps.

  • Power (Single-effort): $80-90\%\,1RM$ for $1-2$ reps.

  • Power (Multiple-effort): $75-85\%\,1RM$ for $3-5$ reps.

  • Hypertrophy: $67-85\%\,1RM$ for $6-12$ reps.

  • Muscular Endurance: $\le 67\%\,1RM$ for $\ge 12$ reps.

• Progression and Load Increases (2-for-2 Rule):

  • If an athlete performs two or more reps over the goal in the last set of two consecutive workouts, weight should be added.

• Estimated Load Increases (Table 17.10):

  • Smaller/Weaker Athlete: Upper body: $2.5-5\,lb$ ($1-2\,kg$); Lower body: $5-10\,lb$ ($2-4\,kg$).

  • Larger/Stronger Athlete: Upper body: $5-10+\,lb$ ($2-4+\,kg$); Lower body: $10-15+\,lb$ ($4-7+\,kg$).

Step 6: Volume

• Terminology:

  • Volume: Total weight lifted in a session.

  • Set: A group of reps performed sequentially.

  • Repetition-volume: Total number of reps in a session.

  • Volume-load: $sets \times repetitions \times weight\,per\,rep$.

• Volume Assignments (Table 17.11):

  • Strength: $2-6$ sets of $\le 6$ reps.

  • Power (Single/Multi): $3-5$ sets of $1-2$ or $3-5$ reps respectively.

  • Hypertrophy: $3-6$ sets of $6-12$ reps.

  • Muscular Endurance: $2-3$ sets of $\ge 12$ reps.

• Volume Goals: Hypertrophy requires performing three or more exercises per muscle group. Power volume is lower than strength volume to preserve exercise quality.

Step 7: Rest Periods

• Rest Period Length (Table 17.12):

  • Strength: $2-5\,\text{minutes}$.

  • Power: $2-5\,\text{minutes}$.

  • Hypertrophy: $30\,\text{seconds}$ to $1.5\,\text{minutes}$.

  • Muscular Endurance: $\le 30\,\text{seconds}$.

• Rest length is influenced by training goal, relative load, and athlete status.