Latest news with #strengthtraining
Irish Times
10 hours ago
- Health
- Irish Times
How hard do you have to work to build muscle?
You're sweaty and sore, and just hoisting your gym bag on to your shoulder makes you groan. The workout was exhausting, but was it effective? Many trainers and athletes have long believed that lifting to failure – the moment when you can't complete another repetition of an exercise – is the best way to build muscle. But recent research has challenged that idea, suggesting that training at a slightly lower intensity can produce similar results. 'The question I ask people is: 'Are we getting better or are we getting tired?'' said David Frost, an associate professor in the kinesiology department at the University of Toronto. If you're new to lifting, it can be tough to know how hard your workout should feel. Learning what failure feels like – and understanding when you should push that far – can help you build a sustainable strength-training routine and allow you to safely progress as you get stronger. READ MORE Training to failure? There are two types of failure in strength training. 'Technical failure' is when you can't do another repetition with proper form and control, so you may have to rely on other muscles and joints to lift the weight. 'Muscular failure' happens when your muscles are so fatigued that you can't lift the weight at all. Although you can build muscle mass by training to failure, some experts say the risks may outweigh the benefits. 'If you push yourself to failure and damage your muscles to a very extreme degree in a single workout, that's going to impair what you can do the next day and the next day,' Frost said. Pushing yourself to lift with poor form can also increase your risk of injury. [ Should you push through exercise pain? Opens in new window ] What matters more is that you're working hard each time you step into the gym. Challenging your muscles creates microdamage in the tissue, which is what makes them change. When you rest, that tissue repairs, grows and gets stronger. 'You don't need to necessarily be pushing to failure, but a high level of effort is required over time,' said Brad Schoenfeld, a professor in the exercise science programme at Lehman College in New York who studies how different methods of resistance training affect muscle growth. How much to lift? When you're starting out with strength training, perform new exercises with just your body weight first so you can learn proper form, said Elizabeth Davies, a strength coach in Kent, in England, who works primarily with women who are relatively new to lifting. Once you're ready to add weight, start by picking up a weight that feels light to you. Focus on moving with good form rather than trying to do as many repetitions as possible. You can use what's known as the reps-in-reserve, or RIR, scale to find out how much weight you can handle for a full set. When you perform an exercise, estimate how many more times you could lift the weight – your RIR – before feeling maxed out. You want to choose a weight where at the end of your set, you feel like you have a few repetitions left in the tank. The RIR method lets you adjust your workouts for how you feel – which can vary based on everything from sleep and diet to hormonal changes and stress – rather than sticking to a set amount of weight. Working to build muscle As a new lifter, your muscle tissue will generally adapt quickly to training, so you can stop when you feel like you have five or six RIR and still see progress, Davies said. As you get stronger, research suggests that stopping two or three repetitions before failure can be ideal for maximising muscle growth. Once you're able to complete the same number of repetitions in a given set for two or three weeks in a row, add a bit more weight and see how that changes your sense of effort, Frost suggested. When you're familiar with an exercise and can practice it consistently with good form, it can be worthwhile to occasionally train to failure to refine your sense of how hard you need to work. After all, 'if you don't train to failure, you don't know how far away from failure you are', Dr Schoenfeld said. When your body is pushed beyond its limits, it will also try to adapt to meet that challenge more easily next time, he said. [ Fitness: Is it better to eat before or after exercising? Opens in new window ] If you really enjoy the feeling of hitting your maximum effort, failure can have an occasional place in your workouts. Davies gives her clients that opportunity on single-joint moves such as bicep curls that won't leave them too exhausted and hinder their progress, she said. The key to getting the most out of strength training is stacking up hard work over time, Frost said. On most days, that means aiming to push yourself a little bit more than you did the day before. – This article originally appeared in The New York Times
Telegraph
19 hours ago
- Health
- Telegraph
The best exercises to do if you want a good night's sleep
Sleep comes easily to me: in meetings, while filling out online forms, at the ballet, when anyone explains anything connected with personal finance. However, once in bed, a lot of this natural gift leaves me. You will often find me pointlessly lively between 3am and 4am, having woken up half-bonkers with worries about anything from roof repairs to our purpose on earth. One thing that has always helped is my sessions lifting weights in the gym. There is something uniquely exhausting about strength training and, at 61, I now do something taxing with my muscles at least three times a week. These are the nights when my wake-ups are less disturbing and finding the door that leads back to dreamland is easier. And now it seems that science is on my side. Newly published analysis carried out in Mahidol University, Bangkok, found that among older people (the over-60s) with insomnia, strength training – lifting, pushing and pulling – is superior to aerobic work as a means of improving slumber. One theory behind this is that tensing and relaxing our muscles may resemble a classic and very effective late-night sleep technique. Why is strength training so helpful for sleeplessness? Prof Kevin Morgan of the Loughborough University Clinical Sleep Research Unit has been working on sleep for decades. He says progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) – the scrunching and relaxing of muscle groups across the body, is much like the action we perform while resistance training. The technique involves clenching, holding and unclenching muscle groups. Recommended by the NHS, among others, the process can start at the feet, move up to the calves and culminate at the head, for example, leaving us loose and open to sleep. It was developed in the US at the start of last century and is now common practice as a remedy for insomnia. Prof Morgan speculates that weight training may mimic the effect of PMR (each exertion is a brief hold, tense and release) and suggests that if you wanted to maximise this, it may be worth working the larger muscle groups. Once this is completed, he says, 'bigger muscles may be more relaxed than they otherwise would be'. Why timing is so important If you want to maximise the power of your resistance training as a sleep aid, it's worth thinking carefully about timing your sessions in a regular slot every day. Because exercise is such a powerful body-clock leader, picking a time and sticking to it is more important than when you do it. Sleep scientists have discovered that muscles contain their own circadian clocks and that exercise, along with light and food, is one of the ways our bodies orient themselves in time. Prof Morgan says, if you want better sleep, 'do exercise at a regular time and that will provide your circadian rhythm (your internal alarm clock) with a timing cue, so when you're lying in bed your body now knows it's night-time.' A study carried out by Dalian University, China, found movement can be a truly effective way of establishing healthy sleep patterns. 'Exercise can regulate the body's internal rhythms to a certain extent, making it possible to become a non-drug intervention for preventing and treating circadian rhythm disorders.'
CNET
3 days ago
- Health
- CNET
How to Shed Those Pounds by Lifting Weights: Strength Training Workout Tips
Losing weight takes time, consistency, a little determination, and a willingness to build better habits moving forward. While there is plenty of workout advice out there, a lot of it tends to focus on cardio, which isn't the right fit for everyone. Instead of a high-impact workout that can aggravate your joints, consider adding some strength training to your routine. Strength training boosts your metabolism, helps you burn more calories during workouts and increases muscle mass, which means you're burning fat even after you leave the gym. I spoke with fitness pros to break down how lifting weights supports fat loss and what you can do to make your workouts more effective. Looking for more fitness tips? Check out how many calories you need to burn to lose weight, simple ways to shed body fat at home and how to achieve that elusive balance of losing weight while gaining lean muscle. Strength training can help you burn more versus strength training There's a constant back-and-forth argument about which is more efficient in reaching your ideal physique: cardio or strength training. According to New York City-based personal trainer Oscar Colon IV, cardio is ideal for burning more calories during a workout session -- and it's key to keeping your heart strong -- but strength training affects your body differently. "Strength training has a two-pronged effect because you burn calories during the workout and during the recovery and restoration of muscle groups you worked," he says. As a result, you get more results for your effort. It's still a good idea to incorporate cardio and strength training into a well-balanced fitness plan, so you can reap all the benefits. How much you do of one or the other may also depend on your current goals. If you're training for your first marathon, cardio will be your main focus as you build endurance, whereas strength training will be a priority when you're trying to get stronger or build muscle. Putting on muscle helps you burn calories even at rest. Getty Images How muscles affect your ability to burn fat As mentioned, strength training can help you burn more calories during and after your workout. This is thanks to the lean muscle you gain as a result of strength training. If your goal is to lose weight, having more lean muscle can help the process. This also means that the more lean muscle you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate will be. Your resting metabolic rate, or RMR, refers to the total number of calories your body burns when it's at rest. Biologically speaking, resting metabolism aids your organ functions, neurological functions, breathing and blood circulation. Rachel MacPherson, an American Council of Exercise-certified personal trainer, performance specialist and Garage Gym Reviews expert, explains that muscle is metabolically active, meaning it burns calories even at rest. Although the effect is small, it's significant and does add up over time. "This also helps to counteract the decline of metabolism and muscle mass as you age, which can contribute to middle-age weight gain," she says. Strength training also has fat-burning benefits when you're fresh off a workout. "Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption is the process of your body regulating itself back to homeostasis after a strenuous workout," Colon explains. In other words, you're still burning calories as you recover, because your body stays warm for a while as it cools down. Studies have shown that beginners tend to put on muscle faster than those experienced with strength training. Getty Images How long it takes to put on muscle Now that you know that lean muscle is the key component in fat burning, you're probably wondering how long it takes to build muscle. This will vary from person to person, as genetics, hormones, gender, diet and other factors play a role in how much muscle you put on and how quickly. "If you consistently train three to four times a week for 30 minutes each session, you should realistically start to see results in three to four weeks," Colon says. MacPherson says you can put on muscle mass each week, and doing a 12- to 16-week hypertrophy training program is ideal for seeing a significant amount of muscle gain. "You can expect upwards of five to 10 pounds of muscle gain during this time," she says, adding, "As you become more advanced you will need to work harder for less gain but you will still see results." That's another interesting aspect of strength training: If you're a beginner, you tend to have an advantage over someone more experienced when building muscle. This is what some people refer to as "newbie gains," which refers to your body's muscle-building response to lifting weights because it's not used to this kind of stimulus. Research has shown that untrained individuals (those with minimal to no strength training experience) can put on muscle faster than someone who's already experienced with strength training. Generally speaking, men and women also have different results when building muscle mass. "Men can build muscle mass much easier and faster than women due to testosterone, while women can still build substantial amounts of muscle but will never look as large or full as men unless they use anabolic steroids," says MacPherson. "It's vital that women lift enough volume and weight while also eating enough to support muscle gain." This means letting go of the old-school mentality of dieting and shrinking yourself, otherwise it'll inhibit your ability to build muscle. Besides a well-regimented workout plan, a diet that supports muscle-building is key too. "In order to build muscle, you need to eat in a calorie surplus with plenty of protein," MacPherson says. She explains that eating in a surplus will lead you to gain some body fat, which is normal and necessary to gain muscle. "You can lose it afterward and it will be easier since your body has become better at burning calories due to increased muscle mass." Strength training has excellent health benefits. Getty Images Other benefits to lifting weights Besides helping you metabolize and get stronger, strength training has other benefits. Colon says it's also important for bone development and density. "Weight-bearing exercises put temporary stress on your bones, sending a message to bone-building cells to take action and rebuild bones stronger," he says. Another benefit tied to strength training is reducing your risk of injury by improving the strength, range of motion and mobility of your muscles, ligaments and tendons. "This can reinforce strength around major joints like your knees, hips and ankles to provide additional protection against injury," Colon says. Another plus is for your heart, because strength training is shown to help decrease blood pressure. You can also reduce the chances of type 2 diabetes, improve blood circulation and lower LDL (bad) cholesterol. Exercise has been shown to even have a positive effect on your mental health and resistance training has been found to ease anxiety as well. Bottom line It's helpful to know the unique effects strength training has on your body as you establish a consistent exercise routine. Not only will you naturally burn more fat by having more muscle but you'll maintain strength as you age and improve other functions of your life as well. If you don't have access to a gym, you can start your exercise regimen at home and still get the same results, as long as you have the proper equipment. Even if your goal isn't weight loss or body recomposition, strength training provides many benefits that make it worth adding to your lifestyle, and it'll only improve your well-being in the long run.
The Independent
4 days ago
- General
- The Independent
The lifestyle changes that can combat the effects of menopause
ITV 's Dr Zoe Williams, 45, is proactively preparing for menopause by building muscle and adjusting her diet, despite not yet experiencing symptoms. Dr Williams advises women to start preparing for menopause in their 30s to mitigate potential symptoms like mood changes, hot flushes, and sleep disturbance. She focuses on strength training to maintain muscle and bone density, which are affected by declining oestrogen levels during menopause. Dr Williams is emphasising the importance of a nutrient-dense diet, including calcium-rich foods, to manage menopause symptoms and protect heart health. She encourages women to make lifestyle changes and consider HRT to combat inflammation and maintain urogenital health.
The Independent
4 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
The one strength training exercise Canelo, Dubois and Usyk's training regimes all have in common
A boxer is not a bodybuilder. Sure, many of them flex their biceps post weigh-in and look pretty good doing it, but their impressive physiques are merely a byproduct of their training. Their main aim in the gym is improving performance, not aesthetics. As a fitness writer, a large part of my job is chatting with top coaches and taking a deep dive into the training regimes of elite athletes. Across every boxer I've written about, whether that's Canelo Álvarez, Daniel Dubois, Conor Benn or Johnny Fisher, one exercise has been ever-present: the landmine press. Catch all the latest boxing action on DAZN If you are unfamiliar, this exercise involves wedging one end of a barbell into the corner of a room (or another secure anchor point) then loading the other end up with plates and pressing it overhead with one arm from a standing position. Here is how to do it, and four reasons why I think it is boxing's best-kept strength and conditioning secret. How to do the landmine press Place one end of a barbell on the ground wedged into the corner of a room. You can also place it in the hole of a weight plate or use a custom-built landmine attachment. Load the other end of the barbell up with the weight plates you plan to lift. Assume a staggered stance with your left foot forward and hold the very end of the barbell in your right hand with your knuckles facing away from you and your hand level with your right shoulder. Brace your core then, rotating your body slightly, press the barbell overhead until your arm is fully extended. Control it back down to the starting position. There are a number of benefits arising from using the landmine press. Ability to develop multiple portions of the force-velocity curve The force-velocity curve describes the inverse relationship between the force a muscle can create and the speed at which it can move. In layman's terms: an athlete can move a light weight quickly, a heavy weight slowly, and a moderate-weight at a speed somewhere in between. Each of these actions develops slightly different attributes, and the landmine press can be applied to hit most of them. You can load it up with heavy weights and perform up to five repetitions to develop maximal strength in the working muscles; a set of five to 30 repetitions at a moderate weight and tempo can be used to build size; a landmine punch (explosively throwing the barbell away from you) can be implemented to develop power. The landmine punch is a favourite among boxers, and something I have seen in both Dubois and Canelo's training. However, all of these applications can find a place in a well-rounded workout programme. Unilateral development and shoulder health Unilateral exercises are those that target one side of the body at a time; think Bulgarian split squats or single-arm rows. Sport is inherently unilateral – a boxer throwing a punch with both hands simultaneously is as likely as a runner jumping forward with both feet – so it pays to train this way. The landmine press offers more specificity to the sport of boxing than a standard barbell or machine overhead press, having you drive one arm forward at a time. It also allows your shoulder and scapula to move more naturally, developing smaller stabilising muscles like those in the rotator cuff while reducing stress on the joint. These factors combine to create stronger shoulders which are far more resilient to injury – vital in a sport like boxing where huge demands are regularly placed on the joint. Unilateral exercises can also be used to develop balance, coordination and iron out muscular imbalances, as an added bonus. Operating in the transverse plane The body operates in three planes of motion: sagittal (up, down, forwards and backwards), frontal (side to side) and transverse (rotational). Most strength and conditioning exercises are heavily sagittal-dominant, whereas most sports require you to access a wide range of movements. The body also adheres to an informal 'use it or lose it' premise. By mostly training sagittal-oriented movements, the resultantly redundant muscles used in twisting or bending motions may weaken and tighten, leaving you stiff like a stereotypical bodybuilder rather than athletic like a boxer. To prevent this, training in all three planes of motion is key. When the landmine press is performed with a slight rotation of the torso towards the barbell – the execution I've observed in most boxers' training – it mimics the torque required in a punch. It also strengthens the requisite muscles, tendons and ligaments, increasing the athlete's tissue tolerance and capacity in this movement. The result is a more athletic, powerful and mobile fighter. Practicing power transfer and improving core strength Your core musculature, found around the trunk and hips, acts as a power transfer centre between your upper and lower body. In boxing, power is generated from the ground up, starting at the feet before transferring through the legs, into the core, then along your upper extremities. The more efficiently you can transfer power, the better this will translate to an effective punch. The landmine press is an excellent exercise for developing this. By supporting a weight overhead and completing a twisting motion, it can strengthen core muscles such as the rectus abdominis (six-pack muscles) and obliques (which run down either side of your torso). It also places you in a sport-specific split stance, giving you ground contact time to practice generating power through the floor, and developing the proprioception (awareness of the movement of your body) needed to do so. Watch the very best boxing with a DAZN subscription DAZN is the home of combat sports, broadcasting over 185 fights a year from the world's best promoters, including Matchroom, Queensberry, Golden Boy, Misfits, PFL, BKFC, GLORY and more. An Annual Saver subscription is a one-off cost of £119.99 / $224.99 (for 12 months access), that's just 64p / $1.21 per fight. There is also a Monthly Flex Pass option (cancel any time) at £24.99 / $29.99 per month.
