| Maximizing Strength Gains:
Study Offers Tips
So what’s the best training method
for maximizing muscle strength? Ask a hundred different trainers
and you’ll get a hundred different answers. Indeed, the advice
we get when it comes to strength training is no more clear-cut than
the new IRS tax code. Fortunately, we have researchers like Prof.
Mark Peterson at Arizona State University to help us sort it all
out.
Recently, Prof. Peterson carried out a comprehensive review of 37
strength-training studies performed on competitive athletes at the
collegiate or professional level in an effort to pinpoint the training
method that seems to produce the best gains in muscle strength.
After reviewing the data and crunching the numbers, Prof. Peterson
found that maximal strength gains are elicited among athletes who:
- Train at a mean intensity of 85 percent of one-repetition
maximum
- Train two days per week
- Train at a mean volume of eight sets per muscle group
What this means to you:
According to this research, if you want
to maximize gains in muscle strength, you should be training heavy,
training often and training with a high degree of volume. Along
these lines, a sample chest workout for someone with a maximum bench
of 265 pounds might look like this:
Monday
Barbell bench presses:
5 sets of 5 reps with 225 pounds
Incline presses: 3 sets of 8 reps with 205 pounds
Thursday
Dumbbell bench presses:
5 sets of 5 reps with 100-pound ’bells
Dumbbell flyes: 3 sets of 8 reps with 50-pound
’bells
Rest 1 minute between sets. Try to increase the weight a little
each week.
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