The development of a resistance training program depends on matching individual needs of an athlete with demands of the sport.

A sport must be analyzed by its biomechanical movements (e.g., isometric or dynamic; concentric or eccentric) that have to be reflected in the resistance training program. If a range of motion is not trained, then the tissues become more susceptible to injury owing to a lack of adaptation.

The metabolic profile of a sport can range from a cross-country runner to a wrestler. What is the basic metabolism that predominates? Most sports played at high school or collegiate levels have high adenosine triphosphate–phosphocreatinine (ATP–PC) and glycolysis involvement supported by a basic aerobic endurance component.

Understanding the injury profile of a sport is important to strengthen tissues and movements of the affected joint.

Testing is needed for informed decisions regarding needs of an exercise prescription.

The specificity of training is related to the recruitment of muscle tissues reflected in the “size principle.” Considering the need for greater force and power demands, more motor units must be recruited. Recruitment of motor units always occurs in an orderly manner from lower-threshold motor units composed of Type I slow twitch muscle fibers to higher-threshold motor units (i.e., Type II muscle fibers, fast twitch).

The amount of force or power needed determines how much of the muscle is activated and thus trained in a given exercise. Heavier resistances in a program ensure that all muscles have been trained.

It is important to use resistances and velocities across the entire force–velocity spectrum (i.e., light to heavy, reflecting high to low velocities). Training for maximal power should be performed with no deceleration except for gravity in the exercises performed (e.g., Olympic-type lifts).

Ultimately, the specificity of training is related to the physiologic systems that are used to support the motor unit recruitment demands of an exercise.

Exercise choice involves the type of weight-training equipment and type of muscle action that will be used in a workout.

Exercises are classified as structural (i.e., involving multiple joints) or body part (i.e., involving an isolated joint).

Structural exercises include whole-body lifts that require coordinated actions of muscle groups and joint movements (e.g., closed kinetic chain exercises). Most primary or core exercises are structural (e.g., squats or power cleans). These should be included in the training program of every athlete.

Body-part exercises attempt to isolate a particular muscle group or joint (e.g., bicep curl). Most assistance exercises can also be classified as body-part or single-joint exercises.

Larger muscle group exercises should be performed first to allow higher resistances to be lifted.

New or complex exercises should be performed first in a workout to allow development of better exercise techniques owing to less fatigue.

When creating a circuit weight-training workout, one has to decide whether the order and choices are going from arm to or arm or leg to leg exercises or arm to leg exercises or upper- to lower-body exercises.

The fitness level of an athlete and exercise tolerance are important considerations while designing a workout or training program.

The number of sets in a workout is part of a volume calculation (e.g., sets × rep × resistance = total kgs) and is related to the training goals of a program (e.g., low or high workout volume for different workouts or training cycles).

Three to six sets are used to achieve optimal adaptations. Not every exercise in the workout must have the same number of sets.

To date, no single-set system has been shown to be superior to multiple-set programs and should only be used to reduce the volume of a workout or training cycle.

Training for muscular power is accomplished with more sets and fewer repetitions (e.g., six sets of three repetitions each) to optimize the power output of each set.

During needs analysis, the practitioner will evaluate the athlete and decide the primary goal of the resistance training program; this training goal will be used to determine specific loads, rest, and repetition arrangements.

The length of rest periods between sets and exercises is crucial for all exercise prescriptions.

Rest periods determine how much of the ATP–PC energy source is recovered.

Lactate is a buffer and not responsible for the acid–base disruption or fatigue and does not play any role in muscle soreness; in fact, lactate is essentially just a good marker of metabolic demands. Nausea and dizziness caused by excessive physiologic stress should not be equated with a “good workout.”

Short rest periods can lead to greater psychological anxiety and fatigue and higher metabolic demands (e.g., high lactate production, pH decreases, and H ⁺ increases). As a result, certified strength and conditioning specialists (CSCS) may have to gradually expose athletes to such workouts and use no more than 2 per week.

Rest periods of <1 minute is classified as being very short; 1.5–2 minutes as short to moderate; 3–5 minutes as long; and >5 minutes as very long rest periods. As the resistance gets heavier, longer rest periods are needed.

Popular extreme commercial programs have a tendency to repeat too many of such short rest periods per week, and this can promote overreaching/overtraining.

The amount of resistance used for each specific exercise is the most important variable (i.e., size principle).

Resistance is a major stimulus related to changes in measures of strength, power, and local muscular endurance.

The amount of resistance must be selected for each exercise in a given resistance training program.

A repetition maximum training zone (RM zone), allows only a specified number of repetitions to be performed targeting a 3-repetition range (i.e., zone) for loading. Changes can be made for each set in a workout. If an RM zone is 3–5 RM, and the athlete can only perform 2, the resistance is lowered; similarly, if s/he can perform 6, the resistance is increased to stay within the zone. It is a way to set a resistance load for an exercise.

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  Six or fewer very-heavy RM resistances appear to have the greatest effect on strength, which contributes to the force component of a power equation. In addition, it recruits the maximum number of motor units and thus stimulates hypertrophy of the entire motor unit array of a muscle.

  
  
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  Resistances in the 8–10 RM range contribute to both strength and hypertrophy.

  
  
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  Twenty or more RM resistances improve local muscular endurance measures (e.g., repetitions at 75% of 1 RM).

  
  
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  This RM zone continuum makes it possible to develop a specific feature of muscular performance to varying degrees over a range of RM resistances.

  
  
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  The RM zone cues loading and should not be done to failure as a target end point because this can cause increased compression on joints and fosters overreaching.

Another standard method of determining resistance for specific exercises is to use percentages of 1 RM (e.g., calculating 70% or 85% of 1 RM tested to determine the training load). This method requires regular testing of maximal strength in various lifts used in the training program or prediction of 1 RM by using an equation (e.g., Epley Eq. 1 Repetition Maximum Prediction = 0.033 (reps) × [repetition weight] + [repetition weight]; used for major muscle group exercises).

The relationship between possible RM and percentages of 1 RM varies with the amount of muscle mass needed to perform an exercise (e.g., leg presses require more muscle mass than do knee extensions).

When athletes use machine resistances with 80% of 1 RM (previously thought to be primarily for strength-related prescriptions), the number of repetitions that can be performed is >10, particularly for large muscle group exercises such as leg presses.

Percentages were developed for free-weight exercises and do not translate very well to machine exercises, particularly as the muscle mass used increases.

The frequency of training can range 1–6 days per week and is related to the required volume of work or recovery time.

Elite athletes may require periodized training frequencies of 4–5 days to achieve gains over short periods of time.

Athletes may train twice daily with 4–6 hours of rest between workouts to reduce volume within a single workout so that the quality (intensity) of workout can be maintained at the highest level.

Training frequencies of more than twice a week typically involve different training programs and do not repeat the same program during each workout.

A minimal frequency of two sessions per week for a given exercise is needed for any improvement.

Certain types of variation (i.e., periodization) must be employed when consecutive training days are used.

Progression in frequency depends on the phase of the training cycle, fitness of the athlete, goals of the program, training history, exercise selection, training volume, intensity, recovery ability, and nutrition.

Excessive soreness indicates a lack of recovery, and subsequent workouts must be adjusted to reduce this stress.

Training with heavy loads increases the required recovery time before subsequent exercise sessions.

The same general principles apply to the training of women and men. By understanding specific gender differences (e.g., weaker upper body in women), the required elements can be added to a training program. The maximal mean total body strength of an average woman is 63.5% of that of an average man; moreover, the isometric upper body strength of an average woman is 55.8% of that of an average man, and the isometric lower body strength of an average woman is 71.9% of that of an average man.

Some initial evidence indicates that strength gains in women may plateau after 3–5 months of training. This plateau may be more pronounced in the upper body, where the absolute muscle mass is less than that in men. Thus, emphasis on development of upper lean body mass in women may be warranted for sports wherein upper body strength is a limiting factor of performance.

In certain cases, women may need much more maximal strength to optimize power development.

Body somatotype can have a dramatic influence on muscle strength and size gains, which is reflective of the number of muscle fibers in various muscles. Target goals should be set by accounting for not only muscle but also the importance of strengthening other tissues such as connective tissues as well as training other physiologic systems and their organ structures (e.g., cardiovascular and endocrine systems).

In classic program time frames, most sport coaches consider training as comprising three basic time frames: off-season, pre-season, and in-season. Certified strength and conditioning specialists (e.g., NSCA-CSCS) view such older forms of training delineations to be defied by a periodized training schedule. It consists of a macrocycle (the annual cycle or training phase), a mesocycle (3–6 month phases), and a microcycle (1 day to 4 weeks). Each of these depend on the periodization model used, which is based on the need for quality training and the required rest and recovery times in order to mitigate any overreaching or overtraining syndromes.

Sport and practices can induce physical and mental trauma that can be problematic to optimal training. For targeted goals in a strength and conditioning program, this can contribute to the development of nonfunctional overreaching, and in extreme cases, overtraining, which can last for over a year and can permanently diminish a competitive career.

Quality of training is vital for effective use of time and variation in the training stimulus (e.g., resistance used or volume of workouts) along with rest days allow effective adaptations and resilience. It is important to educate coaches regarding the value of rest days in improving performance.

The principle of variation relates to changes in characteristics of a training program to match the changing program goals as well as to provide a changing target for the body’s adaptation. For experienced lifters, it is prudent to design resistance training program cycles that vary as often as every 2–4 weeks (linear microcycles).

New terminology: overreaching—an intentional hard training phase to push an athlete’s performance for a short period of time, followed by a remarkable reduction in stress, which produces an increase rebound (super compensation)

Nonfunctional overreaching—mistakes are made in training that diminish an athlete’s performance, but the exact cause is not known and recovery is possible in days or weeks only if rest is allowed

Overtraining—is less common than previously claimed and most of the time is due to non-functional overreaching that can be caused by mistakes in exercise prescription and/or a medical issue causing excessive stress (maladaptive state); performance remains decreased for a few weeks to a few months

Certain variables do meet a genetic maximum for development, and not all plateaus in training are a sign of overreaching or overtraining because there is a limit to training progress; this underscores the importance of realistic training goals and targets for improvements.