Lifting weights, cycling or any other activities that get you sweating are great ways to maintain a healthy and active body. But what do we need to do if we want to improve our fitness capacity and not just maintain it?
To progress, in whatever area, we need to know how the body makes gains in strength, endurance and hypertrophy (enlargement).
We improve through overload. We need to make our muscles work harder, or to their maximum, over time. For any effective progression, we need to increase the number of repetitions, increase the resistance/load, or both, as our muscles adapt.
Oftentimes we become quite comfortable reaching for the weights we always lift, or running the same distance we always run. Every time we do what we have done before, we succeed, and that makes us feel great. But we’ll never get any better.
To improve, we need to fail. It may seem counterintuitive, but it is the ultimate truth, and not just for fitness. We are highly adaptable, meaning our muscles are very good at adapting to the stress we put them under. If all we do is lift the same weight, day after day, that’s all we’ll be good at, and our progress will stagnate.
This is also true if all we do is the same activity, day after day. If we only lift heavy weights, we’ll only be good at lifting heavy weights. It is important to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Putting the body under some physical stress keeps you healthy.
The more load we put on our bones, the stronger they grow to accommodate our increases. The more muscle mass we have, the more efficient we become at burning fat. And those bigger and stronger muscles stabilize our joints, helping us stay injury free. But overload comes with a caveat; it is not open-ended. Gradually, even as we apply more resistance or repetitions, our bodies’ gains will slow and we will reach our genetic maximum.
Our heredity plays a key role in how much muscle we can develop. This is certainly worth mentioning for two reasons.
The first is to dispel the myth that women will look like bodybuilders if they lift heavy. Apparently, even when women look at heavy weights they bulk up. And it’s just not true.
Not only do we all have a genetic maximum on how much muscle we can create, but our testosterone levels, fitness regimen and diet play a significant role. Most of us just are not lifting heavy enough, or on a strict enough diet to create the bodybuilder physique, which takes years of dedication.
The second reason is to remind everyone not to give up, even if our progress begins to slow. Do not be disheartened, but be proud you are pushing your limits and approaching your body’s peak.
But what if you are following the overload principle, continuing to train heavier, longer and harder, but you’re not seeing the results you’d like? It may be time to seek some professional guidance to help you create a plan tailored to your goals.
Do not forget to include adequate active rest, lots of water and good quality foods to support your training.
Do what you can with what you have where you are, and always prioritize the positive.
How to make strength gains:
Lift two to four times per week with high resistance, one to three sets of eight to 12 repetitions at your near maximum resistance.
How to make endurance gains:
Train three to five times per week with low resistance, one to two sets of 12 to 15-plus repetitions at low to moderate resistance.
How to make cardiovascular gains:
Do longer and more intense sessions of cardio training for better endurance. Mix it up with high-intensity intervals, like 20 seconds of high knees and 10 seconds of rest, eight times through. Make sure you work to your maximum when doing high intensity interval training.
Melissa Sloos is a certified group fitness instructor, spin instructor and studio manager at Coast Fitness.
