Guidelines for a training program
The first emphasis that is very important to recognize is that not every program is suitable for everyone. Each person will have a different goal for himself, and the body type he wants to achieve will be different. For athletes, the way the body looks is less important because there is more need for improved performance. But on the other hand, people who want to be healthier and look aesthetic at the gym are a great choice. We know that not everyone knows these things about working out. So that is what we created the Guidelines for a training program.
How experienced are you?
A beginner’s training program is not suitable for a training program of people who have been training for several years. The reason for this is clear in my opinion, but I will explain anyway.
New trainees in the gym are usually not technically ready for resistance training. Their body will not withstand a load of an experienced trainee. For two reasons: First, the body will be physically injured from a load that is too high. Therefore will not get results. Secondly, a poor technique that will cause injuries and degrade the quality of each exercise.
For beginner trainees, we would recommend starting slowly. Building proper technique, and starting with simple exercises (not with machines). And building a basic strength with which you can do more complicated exercises in the future. For trainees who already have experience in the gym, this is a whole different story. Our recommendation would be not to stick to the simple exercises. Try to add a bit more complex exercises. And they should know if they want to bulk or not.
what is your goal?
Whoever wants to know the difference between toning or mass is more then invited to enter bulking or toning. Briefly, the difference is that bulking is building muscle mass, which means gaining weight. Which causes also an increase in the percentage of fat. While toning, the goal is trying to lower the body fat while toning muscles and maintaining the muscle mass (combined with diet).
Athletes who are not in weight-dependent sports (sports where there are weight categories) do not have to pay too much attention to body weight accuracy, so there is no need to refer to mass or toning, for the reason That the goal of the athlete is to improve his results, and the building blucks periods in athletes will not be mass or toning, but basic force, maximum force, endurance force, ballistic force and explosive force.
The reason why you see in each program a certain number of sets and a certain number of repetitions
is in order to direct the muscle to that goal you are aiming for (toning, mass, muscle strength or muscle endurance and so on) and this is the main reason why not every program is suitable for everyone. A good plan is a long-term plan that takes into account most seasonss of the year. A good training program varies slightly. Depending on what happens to the same trainee during the year (injury, break, change of annual plan, and so on).
For starters, it is recommended to start with a number of sets that are not particularly high, 2 sets for a small muscle and 3 sets for larger muscles and about 8 reps in each set.
Why the number of repetitions varies and what is the common mistake of many exercisers?
The number of repetitions varies for the simple reason that the number of repetitions, will determine the goal for that muscle (muscle fibers), the more repetitions, the more muscle endurance (red fiber) and lower the repetitions. There will be more involvement of muscular strength (white or red fiber).
So what is the mistake of most trainees?
The mistake we see in almost every gym, is that most exercisers do several different repetitions with the same weight, what does that mean? They do for example 8 reps and stop even though they could easily go 15 reps. When we set a certain number of repetitions, the goal is to reach that number of repetitions. When you reach the last repetition of the same set, there will be a certain difficulty in performing the repetition.
If you manage to do 15 reps with a weight of 15 pounds in a particular exercise, there is no reason for you to do 8 reps with a weight of 15 pounds. You will need to add weight to reach 8 reps (say 20 pounds) and then the goal for that workout would be achieved.
What most trainees who go to the gym for health and aesthetics do, is in winter do a period of bulking, and before summer toning, so in winter you go up in muscularly and also go up in body fat, and your clothes are hiding the body, and towards the summer they start toning, so in summer they could show more skin.
For competitive athletes, the periods of the year should be divided into several periods depending on the type of sport they play.
If you are looking to improve your Cardio, click here. But not before you read all you need to know about endurance. If you have any questions, you are more than welcome to contact us on our WhatsApp or our Instagram.
