Science-Based Training Doesn't Need to Be Complicated
The rise in social media popularity and the reward of controversial hot takes and outlandish claims have, unfortunately, created a demand for people to reinvent the wheel. By doing so, fitness influencers can get more views and have more people invest in their products or programmes. As a result, these ideologies trickle down into commercial gyms and into beginner training programmes. Unfortunately, this can cause people to overcomplicate their training programmes and not focus on better-understood and known training variables. Resistance training has been researched for well over a century, with a gradual shift from strength assessments in the late 1890s to investigations of physiological responses and adaptations in the 1970s (Source). Thus, resistance training is one of the most well-researched areas in all of exercise science. Once you grasp the general concepts, it becomes relatively simple. Therefore, this blog will cover the fundamentals of science-based training, the basic equipment you require, and some training principles that showcase that science-based training doesn't need to be complicated.
Science-Based Training Starts with the Fundamentals
Science-based training refers to using evidence to guide your training decisions. Typically, as Sport Scientists, we use our knowledge of physiological systems and responses to optimise our programmes.
Mechanisms of strength
Strength increases are mitigated by increases in muscle hypertrophy (size) and neurological adaptations (Source). The requirement to produce high amounts of force likely drives these neural adaptations. This encourages the central nervous system to recruit more fast-twitch muscle fibres. Muscle growth is understood to be governed by mechanical tension (the external load and tension placed on the muscle), micro-tears (caused by the tension) and metabolic stress in the muscle. These mechanisms of strength highlight that lifting heavy loads is a significant driver of adaptations. Additionally, the role of metabolic stress requires multiple repetitions and sets to cause a buildup of lactic acid. Collectively with these systems in mind, current guidelines suggest that beginners should be lifting loads ≥ 70%, intermediates should lift ≥ 80%, and advanced lifters should lift ≥ 85% of their one-repetition maximum, all of which should be lifted for ~6 reps across 3-4 sets (Source).
Progressive Overload
When lifting heavy loads, your body will adapt accordingly. However, if you do not alter your training variables, you will no longer progress. Therefore, progressive overload is an essential training principle to drive physiological adaptation and optimise your training (Source). You can accomplish progressive overload in multiple ways:
- Increasing loads lifted
- increasing repetitions
- Increasing sets
- Decreasing the speed at which you complete the movements
- Decreasing the rest periods
Typically, increasing the load lifted is the most common approach. Increasing the load subsequently increases the mechanical tension on the muscle and the drive from the brain to the muscle. This encourages musculature and neural adaptations that lead to increases in strength. Furthermore, if you do not have greater loads available, you can increase the repetitions. Increasing your reps, especially training until failure, will significantly heighten metabolic stress and maximise muscle recruitment to drive adaptations.
Specificity & Consistency
Specificity refers to replicating specific movements or targeting specific muscle groups to reach a specific training goal. For instance, if your goal is to improve sprint speed, you may want to include weighted jump squats to enhance force production through triple extension (ankle, knee, & hip), which is essential for sprint performance. In fact, research has shown that strength gains can often be task-specific (Source). Therefore, you may want to consider the type of exercises you prioritise based on your training goals. Furthermore, consistency plays a crucial role in adaptation. In most cases, impatience is the main reason people are inconsistent. If you follow a basic programme, conforming to the principles outlined in this blog and stay consistent, you will achieve your goals.
You Don't Need Fancy Equipment to Get Great Results
With these fundamentals in place, you may be starting to see that you dont need tonnes of fancy equipment or overly complicated exercises to complete a science-based training programme. Some simple equipment can be more than enough, for instance:
These types of equipment are proficient for you to complete whole-body training. Importantly, you can complete compound movements, engaging a wide range of musculature. Therefore, you are placing mechanical tension and inducing metabolic stress across a range of muscles. Both of which are mechanisms of hypertrophy and strength. This is exactly why research suggests prioritising multi-joint movements that target larger muscle groups (Source).
The dumbbells and barbells will provide sufficient variety to perform a range of upper- and lower-body exercises. The adjustable bench opens up the possibility of performing upper-body compound exercises, such as bench press (horizontal pushing), seated shoulder press (vertical pushing) and bent-over rows (horizontal pulling). By adding a squat/power rack into your home gym, you can perform heavy-load squats and start increasing the weight on your bench press to maximise strength adaptations. Furthermore, by including a power rack that also incorporates a pull-up bar, for example, the Exersci® Half Power Rack, you can complete the last compound lift available (vertical pulling).
Focus on Intensity, Recovery and Progression
Funnily enough, training hard while incorporating sufficient rest is often the hardest thing to get right when starting science-based lifting. For the body to adapt, sufficient stress must be placed on the musculature and nervous system. As previously discussed, you should be placing loads >70% of your one-repetition maximum, depending on training level, to induce strength adaptations. If muscular hypertrophy is your main goal, then it is reccomended that you lift a weight where you fail within 8-12 repetitions. When you can perform 14 reps, you should increase the load to progressively overload and induce continuous adaptations (Source). Because training aims to place high levels of mechanical tension on the muscles and induce micro-tears, you need sufficient rest to avoid chronic fatigue and potential injury.
Research shows that just 3 sets of heavy squats can induce neuromuscular fatigue that persists for 3 days (Source). This study showed that fatigue impaired strength, power and neural function. Importantly, some literature even shows that despite some performance metrics making a recovery 2-3 days following high-intensity exercise, movement patterns alter to maintain performance (Source). This raises a serious concern, as it likely significantly increases the likelihood of injury. This highlights the importance of prioritising recovery. However, this is sometimes tricky as you are unable to provide 3 days' rest in between sessions if you want to hit 3-4 sessions per week. What you are able to do is perform a split, focusing on different body parts. For example, 1) legs, 2) back & arms, 3) chest and shoulders. This will allow enough recovery to each body part to optimise your rest and reduce injury risk.
Conclusion
Resistance training is one of, if not the most researched area of exercise science. While we continue to explore new ways to optimise training programmes to enhance quality of life, athletic performance and general health, encouraging a science-based lifting approach, it is now common for misinterpretations to overcomplicate your training routine. Science-based lifting does not need to be complicated. To summarise, you should prioritise compound lifts to recruit a wide range of musculature, you should lift relatively heavy (>70% 1RM - progressively overloading throughout the programme) for multiple reps (6-12) consistently (2-4 times per week), and ensure you have sufficient rest. By doing so, you are essentially conforming to the most researched and reccomended science-based guidelines and will see improvements in muscle size, strength and function. The good news is; is that you can achieve this with simple and versatile equipment, which we offer at Exersci!
Ready to build a simple, effective training setup? Explore Exersci's range of gym flooring, power racks, benches, and strength equipment designed to help you apply proven training principles and achieve long-term results.
