3 Pillars of an Effective Resistance Training Program
Building muscle takes patience, commitment, and consistency. Even if you are regularly following a resistance training program 3-4x a week, it can still take MONTHS to build muscle. If you are working with a Personal Trainer to increase your strength, most likely they are having you follow a progressive overload approach.
What is progressive overload? Great question! Progressive overload is the gradual change in your training program that will force your body to adapt to the new demands being placed on it. For example, if you do random workouts from time to time or follow the same workout routine and never increase the weight or reps, your body will eventually adjust to the demands placed on it and you will likely plateau in your muscle building. However, if you gradually increase the weight and/or reps in a consistently followed resistance training program, your body will be forced to adjust to the new stress placed on it, thus sparking the growth of muscle to meet the demand.
Training that Focuses on Stabilization, Strength, and Power
The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), the organization that I received my certification in Personal Training through, created the Optimum Performance Training (OPT) model, which I leverage regularly when designing resistance training programs for my clients.
If you are new to resistance training, embarking on a training program with Carroll Fitness would focus on Stabilization, Strength, and Power – the three main pillars of the OPT model. Depending on the clients’ goals and capabilities, we may focus on just one or two of the pillars or cycle through all three.
Stabilization. During our first session, you can expect me to walk you through an “assessment workout” where my main goal is to see how your body moves. Based on that first session, I will develop a Stabilization program that addresses muscle imbalances (tight muscles, muscles overpowering others, etc), flexibility, balance, core strength, and more.
Strength. Once we have developed a strong foundation from your Stabilization training, we will advance to muscle endurance, strength, and hypertrophy (increase in muscle mass). We will largely focus on traditional pull/press, squat/hinge, and unilateral/bilateral exercises that target the entire body. Depending on your strength goals, the program will likely cycle through iterations of endurance (12-20 reps) to max power (1-5 reps at 85-100% of max lift capacity).
Power. Finally, the Power phase focuses on pairing maximal strength with explosiveness. Examples would be pairing traditional squats with squat jumps or bench press with ball slams. This is a fun, proven method to improve sports performance for all athletes and clients.
Following a progressive overload approach incorporating the three phases of the OPT model is a proven method for improving strength, endurance, and power. Interested in learning more? Feel free to contact me!
