Chapter 2:
All Your Lifting Questions... Answered
THE KNOW-HOW YOU NEED TO BUILD THE BODY YOU WANT
Learn enough about fitness, and you’ll probably decide that the answer to just about every workout question should start with the same two words: It depends. After all, every person and situation is unique, and there’s more than one way to achieve most goals. That’s why this chapter provides you with basic principles and general guidelines, not unbreakable commandments. I’ve simply tackled the questions I’m asked most frequently and given you my take based on what I’ve learned over the years. Think of it as the Cliffs Notes for my version of Training 101. The best part: I only use the word caveat once.
“How Many Repetitions Should I Do?”
When it comes to your workout, this is always the first question you should ask. Why? Because it forces you to decide what your main goal is. For instance, do you want lose fat faster or build more muscle? The answer will determine the number of reps you do. Just make your choice, then use the guidelines that follow to find the rep range you need.
You Want to Lose Fat Fast
This one’s easy: All the top trainers I know have found that doing 8 to 15 repetitions works the best for fat loss. And perhaps it’s no wonder, since research shows that performing sets in that same range stimulates the greatest increase in fat-burning hormones, compared with doing a greater or fewer number of repetitions. Of course, 8 to 15 reps is a fairly broad recommendation. So you’ll need to break it down further. A good approach: Use three smaller rep ranges to vary your workouts, while staying between 8 and 15 repetitions. Examples:
12 TO 15 REPS
10 TO 12 REPS
8 TO 10 REPS
All of these rep ranges are effective for burning fat. So choose one—12 to 15 reps is a great place to start, especially for beginners—and then switch to another every 2 to 4 weeks.
You Want to Build More Muscle
There’s a popular gym notion that doing 8 to 12 reps is the best way to build muscle. However, the origin of this recommendation might surprise you: It’s from an English surgeon and competitive bodybuilder named Ian MacQueen, MD, who published a scientific paper in which he recommended a moderately high number of reps for muscle growth. The year? 1954. Now, this approach most certainly works. But we’ve learned a lot about muscle science in the past half-century. And it makes more sense that using a variety of repetition ranges—low, medium, and high—will lead to even better muscle growth. (To understand why, see “There’s No Such Thing as a Bad Rep”.) For the best results, you can switch up your rep ranges every 2 to 4 weeks, or even every workout.
I like this 3-day-a-week, total-body scheme from strength coach Alwyn Cosgrove, CSCS, a longtime fitness advisor to Men’s Health:
MONDAY: 5 REPS
WEDNESDAY: 15 REPS
FRIDAY: 10 REPS
This simple approach is supported by 21st-century science. Case in point: Arizona State University researchers discovered that people who alternated their rep ranges in each of three weekly training sessions—a technique called undulating periodization—gained twice as much strength as those who did the same number of reps every workout.
“How Much Weight Should I Use?”
This question pops up a lot in my e-mail. I used to reply, “How should I know? I can’t tell how strong you are over the Internet!” But I’ve come up with a much better answer: Choose the heaviest weight that allows you to complete all of the prescribed repetitions. That is, the lower the number of repetitions, the heavier the weight you should use. And vice versa. For instance, if you can lift a weight 15 times, it’s not going to do your muscles much good to lift it only 5 times. And if you select a weight that’s difficult to lift 5 times, there’s no way you can pump out 15 repetitions.
So how do you figure out the right amount? Trial and error. You just have to make an educated guess and experiment. This is second nature for experienced lifters, but if you’re new to training, don’t stress over it; you’ll catch on fast. The key is to get in there and start lifting. If you choose a weight that’s too heavy or too light, just adjust it accordingly in your next set.
Of course, you’ll realize pretty quickly if you’re using a weight that’s too heavy for your rep range. After all, you won’t be able to complete all the reps. But gauging if a weight is too light is a little trickier. One simple way: Note the point at which you start to struggle.
Let’s say you’re doing 10 repetitions. If all 10 seem easy, then the weight you’re using is too light. However, if you start to struggle on your 10th rep, you’ve chosen the correct poundage. What does “start to struggle” mean? It’s when the speed at which you lift the weight slows significantly. Although you can push on for another rep or two, the struggle indicates that your muscles have just about had it. This is also the point when most people start to “cheat” by changing their body posture to help them lift the weight.
Remember, the goal is to complete all the repetitions in each set with perfect form while challenging your muscles to work as hard as they can. Using the start-to-struggle approach will help you do this. Go hard, and when you start to struggle, you’ve completed the set. This is also a great strategy to use when you’re directed to do as many repetitions as possible on body-weight exercises such as pushups, chinups, and hip raises. (You’ll find this instruction in many of the workouts in Chapter 13.)
“How Many Sets of an Exercise Should I Do?”
A good rule of thumb: Do as many sets as you need to complete at least 25 repetitions for a muscle group. So if you’re planning to do five reps of an exercise, you’d do five sets of that movement. If you’re doing 15 reps, you’d only need to do two sets. The more reps of an exercise you do, the fewer sets you need to perform. And vice versa. This helps keep your muscles under tension for an appropriate amount of time no matter what rep range you’re using.
If you’re in good-enough shape, you can certainly do more than 25 reps per muscle group, but cap your output at 50. For example, a common bodybuilding recommendation is to do three sets of 10 of three or four different exercises for one muscle group. That’s as many as 120 total reps for the working muscles. Trouble is, if you can perform even close to 100 reps for any muscle group, you’re not working hard enough. Think of it this way: The harder you train, the less time you’ll be able to sustain that level of effort. For example, many people can run for an hour if they jog slowly, but you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who could do high-intensity sprints—without a major decrease in performance—for that period of time. And once performance starts to decline, you’ve achieved most of the benefits you can for that muscle group. So why waste your time?
“How Long Should My Workout Last?”
Only as long as it needs to, of course. The best way to gauge this is by the total number of sets you do. I first learned this years ago from famed Australian strength coach Ian King, and I find it still holds true today. The advice: Do 12 to 25 sets per workout. That is, when you add up the sets you perform for every exercise, the total should fall within this range (not including your warmup). So if you’re using lengthy rest periods, your workout will take longer; and if you’re using shorter rest periods, you’ll finish faster. Beginners will probably find that 12 sets are plenty, while experienced lifters may be able to handle the upper end of the range. This total-set rule isn’t set in stone, of course, but it works very well for building muscle and losing fat. For most people, doing more work than this in a single workout results in rapidly diminishing returns on their time investment. It also increases the time your muscles need to recover between your bouts of exercise. If you ignore this important factor, you can wind up overstressing your body, which slows your results.
“How Long Should I Rest between Sets?”
Probably not long enough to chit-chat at the water fountain. You see, the amount of rest between sets is a crucial but often overlooked factor in most workouts. To understand why, you’ll need a quick lesson in exercise science: The lower your reps—and heavier the weights—the longer you need to rest between sets; the higher your repetitions—and lighter the weights—the shorter your rest. Why? When you lift heavy weights, you’re recruiting fast-twitch muscle fibers, the fibers that generate the most force but also fatigue the fastest and take the longest to recover. So giving them ample time to rest helps ensure you train them fully each set. When you use lighter weights and do more reps, you’re mainly hitting your slow-twitch muscle fibers. These are not only more resistant to fatigue than fast-twitch fibers but they recover much more quickly, too. The upshot is that, even after a challenging high-rep set, they’re ready for a repeat performance in a short period of time.
What does this mean in regard to your stopwatch? I use these basic guidelines:
1 TO 3 REPS: REST FOR 3 TO 5 MINUTES
4 TO 7 REPS: REST FOR 2 TO 3 MINUTES
8 TO 12 REPS: REST FOR 1 TO 2 MINUTES
13 REPS OR MORE: REST FOR 1 MINUTE
But here’s the real secret: These numbers simply describe the amount of time you rest before working a muscle group again. That is, if you think strategically, you can work other muscle groups instead of waiting around while the clock ticks. The two methods I like best for this are alternating sets and circuits. They slash minutes from your workout time, without sacrificing results. That’s because one muscle group rests while the other works. Here’s a description of each, but you’ll find them used frequently in Chapter 13.
Alternating sets: Do one set of an exercise, rest, then do a set of an exercise that works the opposite muscle group. (You can also pair an upper-body exercise with a lower-body exercise.) Rest again, and repeat until you’ve completed the prescribed number of sets. For instance, if you do six reps of the bench press, you might rest for just 1 minute, instead of 2 minutes. Then you’d do a dumbbell row, and rest for 1 minute. Including the time it takes you to complete the dumbbell row, you’ve now rested for more than 2 minutes before repeating the bench press. The bottom line: Your rest periods can easily be cut in half.
Circuits: Do three or more (could be four, five, or even 10) exercises in succession without resting between sets. The most common approach here is to alternate between upper- and lower-body exercises. As an example, you might do the following exercises, one after another: squat, bench press, hip raise, dumbbell row, and so on. This way, your upper body rests while your lower body works. You can also add rest in between each set as well.
Ready to try these techniques? Use this chart to guide you.
| PAIR THIS... | WITH THAT... |
| QUADRICEPS | GLUTES & HAMSTRINGS |
| CHEST | UPPER BACK |
| SHOULDERS | LATS |
| BICEPS | TRICEPS |
| UPPER BODY | LOWER BODY |
| UPPER BODY | CORE |
| LOWER BODY | CORE |
“How Many Days a Week Should I Lift?”
At least 2. This number has been shown to provide many of the health benefits attributed to resistance training. So consider that the minimum. Ideally, though, you’ll want to hit the weights 3 or 4 days a week, with either total-body workouts or an “upper-lower split” approach. I’ll explain each.
Total-body workouts are just what they sound like. You work your entire body each workout. Then you rest a day, and repeat. There’s a scientific rationale for this. In multiple studies, researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch, in Galveston, have reported that muscle protein synthesis—a marker of muscle repair—is elevated for up to 48 hours after resistance training. So if you work out on Monday at 7 p.m., your body is in muscle-growth mode until Wednesday at 7 p.m. After 48 hours, though, the biological stimulus for your body to build new muscle returns to normal. That means it’s time for another workout.
Turns out, this 48-hour period is also similar to the length of time your metabolism is elevated after you lift weights. As a result, total-body training is highly effective whether you’re trying to build muscle or lose fat. In fact, I’m convinced it’s the single best mode of exercise for burning blubber. That’s because the more muscle you work, the more calories you burn—both during and after your workout.
The other strategy that works well is an upper-lower split. This is mainly used for adding muscle size and strength, and for improving sports performance. In this method, you work your upper body and lower body on separate days. The reason: It allows you to train the muscle groups of both halves harder than you could in a total-body routine. However, it also means that you need to give your muscles a little extra time to fully recover. For instance, you might do a 4-day-a-week plan in which you complete a lower-body workout on Monday, an upper-body workout on Tuesday, and then rest for a day or two before repeating (on Thursday and Friday perhaps). That would give you 2 to 3 full days of rest between each type of workout. Or you could alternate between lower-body and upper-body workouts every other day, 3 days a week.
Keep in mind, there’s no reason to use a split routine if you’re gaining muscle and strength with total-body training. But if you reach a point when you can’t fit all of the sets you want to do into a total-body workout, it’s likely time to make the switch. Or you may simply want to experiment with different methods, to determine what works best for your muscles and for your lifestyle. You’ll find there are plenty of workouts in this book to keep you busy.
“How Many Exercises Should I Do Per Muscle Group?”
One. It’s an approach that’s simple and effective. You actually obtain most of the benefits of weight lifting from the first exercise you do, when your muscles are fresh. For instance, let’s say you complete three sets of each of the dumbbell bench press, the incline dumbbell bench press, and the dumbbell fly. By the time you reach the last exercise, the amount of weight you can handle is far lower than had you done that movement first. See for yourself by trying the routine in reverse order: You’ll find that for the dumbbell bench press, you’ll be able to lift far less than when you do it first—and have to use a weight you’d normally consider too light. So the benefit to your muscles will have diminished. That’s why, most of the time, sticking with one exercise per muscle group makes the most sense, especially if you have a limited amount of time to work out.
Now it’s okay to break the one-exercise rule if there’s a good reason to do so. For example, if a muscle group has been lagging, you may want to work it a little harder for a 4-week period by doubling the total number of sets you do for that area. This is called prioritizing a muscle group. So instead of doing all of your sets with one exercise, you might use two or three different exercises, as in the example of the dumbbell bench press, incline dumbbell bench press, and dumbbell fly. (See “Build the Perfect Chest” in Chapter 4 for a ready-made plan.) While you won’t be able to use as much weight in the second two exercises as would if you had done them when your muscles were fresh, you will increase the total amount of work the muscle group has to perform. This can help you break through plateaus and spark new muscle growth.
One caveat: If you try this method and find you’re getting weaker, the workload is too high for you. Dial it back so that your muscles can better recover between workouts. What’s more, prioritizing one muscle group may mean you have to cut back a little on other muscle groups. That’s because the total-set-per-workout recommendation still applies. (See “How Long Should My Workout Last?”.)
Do this: Lower slowly, lift fast. Research shows that taking longer to lower the weight helps you build strength faster, and quickly lifting the weight activates the greatest number of muscle fibers. For most exercises, take 2 or 3 seconds to lower the weight, pause for a second in the “down” position, and then lift the weight as quickly as you can while maintaining control over it at all times. One big exception: If an exercise is to be performed explosively, perform the entire lift quickly, from start to finish.
Keep in mind that on some exercises, like the lat pulldown, it will seem like the lowering portion is the part of the lift in which your muscles are contracting. But realize that as you pull the bar down, the weight stack is actually rising.
The politically correct answer is yes. After all, a barbell might fall on your neck. This is no joke, because this very kind of accident happens every year. It kills people. But there’s a bigger lesson here: Don’t try to lift a weight that’s too heavy for you, especially if that weight is attached to a bar. For instance, like many people, I work out by myself at home. So a spotter isn’t an option. However, there’s zero chance that I’ll be pinned helplessly underneath a barbell. That’s because I do my heavy pressing with dumbbells, which I can just drop to the floor if needed.
I also use the start-to-struggle strategy with every exercise. (See “How Much Weight Should I Use?”.) If I choose a weight that’s too heavy for six reps, I’ll know it before I ever reach the point of complete failure and I’ll be able to simply end the set before trouble starts. How then, do I figure out my one-rep max? I don’t. It’s not really important to me. But if it is to you, my advice is simple: Anytime you test your limits, make sure you have a spotter.
You already have enough to get started: your body. In fact, check out “The Best Body-Weight Workouts” in Chapter 13 for a workout you can do today. But if you want to build your own home gym, here’s a rundown of everything worth having—from the essentials to the extras.
Dumbbells. If I could have only one training tool, the dumbbell would be my pick. It’s simple, versatile, and durable. If you have the space, any type of dumbbell will do. The least expensive kind is a basic cast-iron hex dumbbell. (At the time of this printing, 1 dollar a pound was a competitive price.) Shop around; you may be able to find a special on an entire set. If you’re strapped for space, consider buying a pair of PowerBlocks (www.powerblock.com). This all-in-one dumbbell set allows you to quickly change the weight you want to use, and it requires little storage room.
Bench. A basic flat bench is fairly inexpensive, but if you’re going to invest the money, consider an adjustable bench so that you can perform exercises on both an incline and a decline. (The Web site www.fitnessfactory.com has several options.) This can instantly give you dozens of more exercise variations.
Chinup bar. If you’re handy, you can create and install your own using a piece of 1-inch diameter pipe. Or purchase a pre-made joist-, wall-, or ceiling-mount chinup bar, like one of those at www.newyorkbarbells.com. You can also buy the kind that hangs on a door. I like a product called the Perfect Pullup (www.perfectpullup.com) because you can lower the bar’s height to perform inverted rows. This is a unique feature that really improves its usefulness. The downsides: You have to use screws to attach the bar to the inside of a doorframe; and at $100, it’s relatively expensive.
Swiss ball. This is also called a stability ball, a physio ball, and an exercise ball. (Why did I go with Swiss ball? Habit.) The Swiss ball is great for core exercises, but it also doubles as an inexpensive substitute for the bench. In fact, a set of dumbbells, a Swiss ball, and a chinup bar will give you a complete home gym. You can pick up a basic Swiss ball just about anywhere—including Target and Wal-Mart—but heavier-duty balls such as those from Sissel and Duraball are available at www.performbetter.com.
Barbell and weight plates. Two options here: a standard barbell or an Olympic barbell. A standard bar weighs 20 pounds and is less expensive, but the Olympic bar—which weighs about 45 pounds—is the kind you’ll find in most gyms. The Olympic bar is also heavier duty. My advice: If you already have a standard bar, your muscles won’t know the difference. But opt for a 7-foot Olympic barbell if you’re starting your home gym or upgrading. Shop around and you can find an Olympic barbell with a 300-pound Olympic weight set for $300.
Power rack. You absolutely need a power or squat rack if you want to do barbell squats. But a good rack can also vastly expand your home gym. That’s because you can buy one equipped with a chinup bar and high and low pulley systems for doing lat pulldowns, cable rows, and just about any other cable exercise. I recommend the EFS Multi High/Low Pulley Rack at www.elitefts.com.
Cable station. This gives you hundreds more exercise variations. The most economical—in terms of both money and space—is a cable pulley system that’s attached to a power rack. But if you have the space and the cash, the Free Motion EXT Dual Cable Cross is state of the art. The arms swivel into 108 different positions, allowing you to work every muscle from every conceivable angle. See for yourself at www.freemotionfitness.com.
EZ-curl bar. When you do curls, this angled bar is easier on your wrists than a straight bar. It’s also shorter than a barbell, making it easier to move to an open spot in the gym.
Kettlebells. These Russian imports—which look like bowling balls with handles—have been around for years but are just now taking hold in gyms and exercise routines across the United States. You can use them like dumbbells, but you’ll find that they make the same exercises more challenging. That’s because the weight is off-center, which forces your stabilizer muscles to work even harder. Check out the single-arm kettlebell swing, and feel free to substitute a kettlebell for almost any movement in this book that requires a dumbbell.
Medicine ball. Some equipment never goes out of style. Use medicine balls for core exercises, sports-specific training, and even as a way to make pushups harder (place each hand on a ball). For the most versatile version, buy a ball that bounces—such as a First Place Elite Medicine Ball—so that you can throw it against a wall, catch, and repeat. (Go to www.performbetter.com for a great selection.)
Valslides. These foam-topped plastic sliders transform hard floors and carpets into ice rinks, intensifying old standbys like lunges by decreasing your stability and keeping your muscles under tension for the entire movement. What’s more, Valslides are perhaps most useful for core exercises, because they provide an all-new way to work your abs, as you’ll see in Chapter 10. Find them at www.valslide.com.
TRX Suspension Trainer. This set of nylon straps allows you take your workout anywhere. You can lock these lightweight straps onto any elevated fixture—a pullup bar, door, or tree branch—and you’ll instantly be equipped to do hundreds of lower-body, upper-body, and core exercises that can be adjusted for any fitness level. (An accompanying DVD provides the complete instructions for different goals.) So it’s perfect for anyone who travels or wants to add an effective new training tool to their workout arsenal. The fitness industry is plagued with plenty of gimmicky products, but TRX fully delivers on its promises. Check it out at www.fitnessanywhere.com.
Blast straps. Just loop these straps over any sturdy bar—at the gym, in your house, or even at the park—adjust the strap length, and you can do suspended pushups, chinups, and inverted rows. Because the straps aren’t stabilized, they allow you to challenge your body in all three planes of movement: forward and backward, up and down, and side to side. This literally adds an all-new dimension to these exercises, helping to eliminate weak spots and correct muscle imbalances. Blast straps are available at www.elitefts.com.
Step or box. You can do stepups on a bench, but a box or step works better because you can adjust the height. A Reebok step or generic aerobic step with risers will do the trick, but I really like the box squat box at www.elitefts.com. It provides a stable, no-slip surface to lift from, and you can quickly raise and lower the height of this box for stepups, single-leg squats, box lunges, split squats, depth jumps, and elevated pushups.
Large bands. These are oversized rubber bands that allow you to perform assisted chinups without a special machine. (For details on how to do the band-assisted chinup, see Chapter 5.) The wider the bands, the more they’ll assist in the movement. Look for Superbands at www.ihpfit.com and flex bands at www.elitefts.com.
Mini bands. Also known as thera-bands (available at www.performbetter.com), these small elastic bands are especially useful for working your glutes and your inner thighs. You’ll find that they’re utilized throughout this book in exercises such as band walks, band hip abduction, and body-weight squats with knee press-out.
Bosu ball. Bosu stands for “both sides utilized.” This training tool allows you to make pushups and hip raises more difficult. You can find it at just about any fitness outlet, or order it online at any number of Internet fitness stores.
Sandbag. The sand shifts as you lift the bag, changing your center of gravity. This forces your core to work harder to keep you from falling over. You might say these bags are awkward, but in a way that’s great for your body. Plus, a sandbag is odd-sized compared to a barbell or dumbbell, so it more closely mimics the objects—such as a baby carrier, TV, or suitcase—that you have to pick up in real life. One problem: The sand leaks out of the bags you buy at Home Depot or Loew’s. But you can solve that problem with a Woody Bag (www.ironwoodyfitness.com), which houses the sand in a rugged PVC shell.
Airex Balance Pad. Doing lower-body exercises while standing on this soft foam pad forces the muscles that stabilize your ankle, knee, and hip joints to work harder. So that’s one use. But you’ll also see that, in this book, I’ve used the pad in other ways—for example, as a pad to press your knees against in the hip raise with knee squeeze (Chapter 9). You can pick one up at www.performbetter.com.