My gym has been inundated with new members this week. It's the post-New Year's craze that drives people to the gym in an attempt to achieve the impossible but still main New Year's target of losing weight and getting in shape. Last night, I saw a new participant navigating her way around the jungle with strength training equipment. She changed machines, doing one set here, two sets there, five repetitions here, twenty repetitions there. It proved to be another casual attempt at an exercise, with no rhyme or explanation and no notebook and pencil in hand. What if there was a quick and easy way to assess a workout and determine just what should be included? The 5 Rs theory is what it's called.
The 5 Rs Principle will assist new exercisers in determining what goes into a successful workout. Each R focuses on a different aspect of an exercise routine, forcing the beginner to consider their routines as a whole.
AVAILABILITY OF MOTION
The power of a joint to pass through a predetermined sequence of motions is referred to as the range of motion. Each exercise should be done from a fully spread position to a fully contracting position in order for a novice to see results. For instance, I see a lot of newcomers (and people who have been in the gym long enough to know better) load up the EZ-curl bar for preacher curls and then do the eccentric part of the exercise by lowering the bar halfway down. This not only puts the bicep muscle at risk of injuries, but it also doesn't operate it as well as it should and reduces the exercise's results.
When it comes to joint health and movement, the word "freedom of motion" is often used. This is so in the gym as well. The muscles that protect your joints are big and thin. All of the muscles that protect the joints must be exercised in order to improve joint stability.
OBSTRUCTION
When you're first starting out with weightlifting, deciding how much weight to use can be difficult. Unfortunately, several personal trainers would advise women to lift smaller weights in order to "lean up" and avoid being heavy. Isn't this the greatest weight-lifting myth of all time? Lifting heavy weights should not make a woman bulky. Don't trust what someone tells you! Choose a weight that allows you to finish the exercise without losing proper structure, but is high enough that you won't be able to do another repeat after the required number of repetitions has been completed.
REPLICATIONS
Another important consideration for new exercisers is the number of repetitions to complete. Certain repetitions can, in fact, yield highly precise outcomes. Low repetitions (3-8) result in greater absolute stamina, whereas medium repetitions (10-20) result in anaerobic strength endurance and heavy repetitions (20-40) result in aerobic strength endurance.
Now, an optimal beginner regimen would most likely involve sets of medium repetitions to help the exerciser to learn how to do the exercise properly, with appropriate form and technique, as well as to play with muscle exhaustion at 12-15 repetitions. As she advances, she will try out new set/rep systems that are tailored to her specific goals.
It's worth noting that muscle failure must be overcome within the repetition ranges above in order to obtain the optimal outcomes by completing a given number of repetitions. Muscular failure means that no matter how hard you try, you won't be able to complete another repeat.
RELAXATION
In general, the body needs two to four minutes of rest between sets in order to prepare for another session at full power. Through a weight lifting workout, the muscle cells use adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and phosphocreatine (PC) to contract. Before the body is able to go again, it takes time to recycle these two substances.
You won't need to wait too long in sets unless you're trying to improve all-out full strength by doing low repetitions with a heavyweight. Most beginners will be operating in the medium repetition range, so they won't have to wait as long between sets. It's good to take one to two minutes.
REHABILITATION
Doing the same muscle groups day after day would not result in quicker or stronger outcomes. Hard training is necessary, but relaxation in between workouts is much more so. Beginners can perform the same muscle groups no more than twice a week, with at least 48 hours of rest in between. When an exerciser progresses, she will most likely reduce the frequency of her workouts to once in seven days or less.
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