All About Resistance Training

  Alright, here’s the biggun. People ask me about this all the time, since I seem to mostly be known as a gym person at school (lol). This essay will explain all you need to form a good resistance training protocol. This is taken from all across the Internet over several years from trustworthy sources. All of these sources will be linked at the bottom, if you want to do any further reading. Let’s get right into it.

Weight training can come in many forms; when I say “weight training”, you probably think of going to a gym to lift weights. While that is one form of weight training, there are other ways to do it as well. Bodyweight, kettlebells, resistance bands, TRX bands, and other methods exist to do weight training, for those who may be unable to use a gym for location or physical disability reasons, or simply if going to a gym isn’t for you. These methods can be just as effective for beginners and experienced individuals alike. What I talk about here can be utilized across all forms of resistance training, so choose which one you like best! However, I’ll be discussing things primarily in the context of lifting weights.

So, why should one weight train? There are a lot of reasons why it’s good for you. Here’s the main ones:

1. Building Muscle Strength and Endurance: One of the primary goals of weight training is to increase muscle strength and endurance. Over time, weight training can significantly improve overall muscle strength, making daily tasks easier and reducing the risk of injuries.

2. Enhancing Bone Health: As the muscles contract during resistance exercises, they pull on the bones, stimulating bone-building cells. This process helps increase bone density, which is crucial for preventing osteoporosis and maintaining bone strength as we age.

3. Boosting Metabolism and Fat Loss: As you build muscle through weight training, your resting metabolic rate (RMR) increases. Muscle tissue is more metabolically active than fat tissue, meaning it burns more calories even when you are at rest.

4. Improving Body Composition: As you gain muscle and lose fat, your body becomes leaner and more toned. This can lead to a more aesthetically pleasing physique and improved self-esteem. Even if you don’t care about looking “ripped”, this is healthier for your body physiologically for many reasons.

5. Enhancing Joint Health and Flexibility: Contrary to popular belief, weight training, when performed correctly, can enhance joint health and flexibility. Strengthening the muscles around joints can provide better support and stability, reducing the risk of joint-related injuries. Moreover, weight training through a full range of motion can improve flexibility and overall mobility.

6. Enhancing Sports Performance: Whether you are an amateur or a professional athlete, incorporating weight training into your training regimen can improve strength, power, speed, and endurance, leading to better sports performance.

7. Mental Health Benefits: Regular weight training releases endorphins, the "feel-good" hormones, which can help combat stress, anxiety, and depression.

8. Preventing Chronic Diseases: Weight training is associated with a reduced risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension.

OK, so you want to start weight training, except it feels very intimidating and you don’t know where to start. That’s normal! It’ll take time to get comfortable. In general, when you’re creating a plan for yourself, you want it to be balanced, sustainable, and effective. Let’s discuss how to do that.

The first thing to consider is what your goals are, and how much time you can dedicate to this hobby. If your goal is to get stronger, you will want to focus on strength and power-based movements. If you want to build muscle, you’ll want to focus on getting enough volume throughout the week to induce muscle hypertrophy (growth). If you want to get “toned”, your goal is actually to lose fat and build muscle. This is a very realistic goal to obtain for new lifters. No matter your goal, training frequency is important for every adaptation you are seeking, and you should strive to work all joints through all ranges of motion throughout the week. Wait, what the heck does that mean? It means that you should move your body in all sorts of ways to make sure your entire body gets fit, not just one area. You want to be a balanced queen/king right? I hope so.

The different methods of exercise are about what adaptation you want. Hypertrophy (muscle growth) & anaerobic (without-oxygen) training give you the most physiological adaptations across the most categories, including in strength. In general, the driver of strength is intensity, but the driver of hypertrophy is volume. What do I mean by that? I mean, if you want to get stronger, you should move heavy stuff. If you want to get buff or “toned”, you should do a bunch of reps. We’ll see what “a bunch” is later.

So, let’s get into the bread and butter of resistance training. No matter your goal, you’ll want to aim to do progressive overload over time. This is the adaptation that happens as a byproduct of stress. In other words, you have to push the system, or you will plateau. How do we do this? It could be in the form of adding weights, adding repetitions, or increasing frequency in which you exercise this body part. So, say I did 3 sets of 10 bicep curls with 30 pound weights today. I exercise biceps twice a week as a part of my PPL split (will be explained later). So, next session I should aim for 11 reps per set, add some weight to the curl, or do more sets. Another way to progressively overload is to decrease the rest time between sets. So, I could only wait 45 seconds instead of 60 between sets, and that counts too. All of these are ways to improve your strength over time, and they are crucial to maintaining a good resistance program. It’s also very important to note here that the exercise itself does not determine the adaptation. if you perform the reps poorly, you won’t get the results you want. Having good form is key. Look up references on how to do movements if you’re confused, or ask someone! In theory, any exercise can produce any adaptation given the execution is performed properly.

Ok, now you know what progressive overload is. It’s time to pick out a type of exercise program. In the words of phD and sports coach Dr. Andy Galpin, “The first thing you should think about if you want to get stronger or add muscle is not the exercise choice, it is the application of the exercise”. There are many ways to grow a bicep, but there may be only a few that feel right to you. If you’re new to this, select exercises that are technically easier to handle, where risk is low and benefit is high. This means not being afraid to stick to the machines at first! They’re safe and effective. When you start, the most important thing is to learn to move correctly and give your body time to develop tissue tolerance. As you get stronger, you’ll get used to more load and can start to use dumbbells or barbells, if that’s what you want to do. Once you’re comfortable, try out the Big 4: Squat, Deadlift, Bench and Row. These are what’s called “compound” movements, which means that they work many muscles at once. They help you save time. Try them with light loads, then work heavier if you like them. Or stick to the machines. I can’t control you. You’re a force of chaos and I love that for you.

So, how often should you lift? It depends how much time you can dedicate. Not everyone has or is willing to dedicate 6-7 days a week to this stuff. Frankly, I’m in the mindset that everyone can dedicate at LEAST 3-4 days a week to exercise. You can set aside the time, I guarantee it. Even if it’s just 30 minutes 3-4 times a week, you’ll see changes if you do this right.

Let’s outline some example plans. Say you only want to dedicate 4 days a week. You could do an upper-lower split, where you work your upper body one day, then your lower body and vice versa. Then, you could walk on your off days, or do some dedicated cardio sessions. If you want to lift more often, you could do a 5 or six day split, following a Push-Pull-Legs format. This means that you’ll work your muscles one day (chest, shoulders and triceps), pull muscles (back and biceps), and legs (quads, hamstrings, calves, and glutes), then repeat. Here are some links to good hypertrophy program websites:

1. https://thefitness.wiki/

2. https://liftvault.com/program_goal/hypertrophy/

If you want to build strength primarily, follow the 3-5 rule. This is: pick 3-5 exercises, do 3-5 reps of 3-5 sets, take 3-5 minutes rest, and train 3-5 days per week. If you want to build muscle, do 10+ working sets per muscle group per week, and do anywhere from 5-30 reps per set. This will vary based on how heavy your weights are, and how hard you’re pushing on each set. This is the “a bunch” I was talking about before. You can do a high number of reps, as this will help with incurring muscle damage the most. That sounds bad, but this is your goal! You want to induce damage so your muscles build back bigger.

It’s very, very simple. Just pick a few exercises per muscle group and give it your all. That’s all it takes.

Ok, so you picked out some exercises that you like. This next part is very important: STICK TO IT. Please just try this plan for at least 6-8 weeks before you change it up. For you to see progress, you need to progressively overload effectively. Switching it up constantly will not get you any progress, trust me.

Then, over time, you’ll find what exercises you like. Once you get enough experience to know what works for you, create your own amalgamation of all the things you like! This is what makes lifting fun. For you to keep this up, it needs to be enjoyable. On each of my days, I have exercises I look forward to, and it should be the same for you.

Now, for some small tips. If you’re new to lifting, skip this section. I’ll drop them rapid-fire:

1. When you’re in the eccentric portion of the movement, feeling the muscle contract can help growth. This is called “mind-muscle connection”. This is great for pushing through sets and making progress.

2. Being sore doesn’t equal a good workout, but you can expect soreness in the first few weeks of a new program.

3. The “interference” effect with resistance training and cardio is way overblown. Doing cardio is great for building muscle, and it certainly doesn’t hinder it if you choose your cardio correctly. Running might make building leg muscles harder, but walking won’t. Elliptical is good for avoiding this as well, as it doesn’t cause impact. Try swimming, walking, and other forms of cardio in order to get the best of both worlds.

And EAT PROTEIN. Please eat enough protein to make progress. It does not matter how much you lift if you don’t eat enough protein; you will not gain muscle. The body requires protein for its anabolic processes. Find sources of protein you like, such as lean meats, beans, dairy, eggs and such. I am begging you. You don’t even have to track your calories or anything. If you eat some good protein 2-3 times a day, it will be majorly helpful for your gains. If I had a nickel for every person that I had this conversation with:

Friend: “I work out super good but I haven’t made any progress for an entire year.”

Me: “Do you try to eat protein?”

Friend: “Ughh but I don’t like meat!”

Me: “Do you eat dairy or beans, that kinda thing?”

Friend: “Eh, I don’t really. But I swear I’ve tried everything!”

Don’t talk about supplements if you don’t even eat protein. Please. I am weak. It’s not hard. And please sleep and drink lots of water. Your body is weeping.

On the topic of supplements, there are some that can be helpful. If you’re considering these, please get your diet, sleep, and routine in check first. Those are the 80-90% of the process that will cause progress. Now, if you want to get that extra 10-20%, here are some helpful supplements:

1. Creatine Monohydrate. This will draw more water into your muscles and help with your recovery. No, it doesn’t cause hair loss or other negative health problems. It is EXTENSIVELY studied and safe for all healthy folk. You can buy it in bulk on Amazon for cheap. It comes in powdered form. Try to take 5 grams a day. (Don’t worry about water retention early on- this is normal. Holding about 5 pounds of water weight is normal during the loading phase, and it will go away.)

2. Protein powder can be a convenient way to get your protein in, if you care about exactly how much you’re getting. In general, aiming for 1 gram per pound of body weight is more than enough. Powders can help, as they are in fact a complete source, but they can be expensive. Some cheaper brands include Optimum Nutrition and Quest.

3. Pre Workouts are essentially caffeine powder that you add to water to wake you up and get you ready for a lift. They have other compounds in them that help with blood flow and focus, so I recommend researching these. A good brand is Gorilla Mind, but there are many out there.

Do not fall for fat burners, BCAAs, or other scam supplements. They probably don’t work. The ones that do are removed from the market for being dangerous to your health. Look up Hordenine as an example. Don’t play around with shit you don’t know the side effects of.

On a totally different note, think about why you’re doing this. It’s ok to want to do it for purely appearance reasons, but it may take more to keep yourself motivated. Once you start doing it for YOU, not specifically to look a certain way, it’ll be much more fulfilling. Trust me: I’ve been there. Doing it for aesthetics is fine, but that probably shouldn’t be your only motivating factor. The results you’ll see will be very, very slow. Maddeningly slow, once you get experienced. Once you embrace the mental benefits, it’ll become much more fun. That is what will keep bringing you back over the months and years.

Finally, don’t worry about what others think. It’s common to hear people say, “I just can’t get comfortable in the gym. Everybody is so serious, and I don’t know what to do. There are all these grunting muscular men, and I feel like they think I’m weak.” Don’t worry about the judgment of others! We all start somewhere. If anything, gym rats will see you and think “damn, good on them for taking the first step. They’re killing it.” If another person is mean to you, that’s because they’re insecure. Everyone’s on their own path, so try not to compare yourself to others. Do the best YOU can do, that’s all that matters.

Finally; over the last few years, I’ve found some great sources for resistance training. These people are experts in the field with a variety of qualifications. Check them out!

1. Andrew Huberman / Huberman Lab

2. Andy Galpin

3. Peter Attia

4. Jeff Nippard

5. LeanBeefPatty

6. MorePlatesMoreDates (Derek)

7. RP strength podcast / Mike Isratel

8. TNF fitness

9. Dr. Idz

10. Dr. Ben Rein

11. JPG coaching

12. Noel Deyzel

Also, there is a site called Examine.com that has great information. It has no ads and no monetary incentive. They just provide the info from reputable sources with no drawbacks.

Citations:

1. The most important and up-to-date scientific evidence to answer your Muscle Gain & Exercise questions. | Health categories | Examine

2. How To Build Muscle (Explained In 5 Levels)

3. The Smartest Way To Use Protein To Build Muscle (Science Explained)

4. 7 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Lifting

5. 5 Training Mistakes Everyone Makes When They Start Lifting

6. How to start going to the gym

7. Dr. Andy Galpin: Optimal Protocols to Build Strength & Grow Muscles | Huberman Lab Guest Series

8. Dr. Peter Attia: Exercise, Nutrition, Hormones for Vitality & Longevity | Huberman Lab Podcast #85

9. Gorilla Mind Energy Drink | Full Product Breakdown (This is great to understand why pre workouts are formulated the way they are)

10. How To Get Big Explained In 8.5 Minutes

11. Bunk Turkesterone, Lab Testing, Supply Chain & The Supplement Industry - Ft. The Guerrilla Chemist

12. Whey Protein and Efficiency - Examine

And in case you have any doubts about creatine…

1. Effects of Creatine and Caffeine Supplementation During Resistance Training on Body Composition, Strength, Endurance, Rating of Perceived Exertion and Fatigue in Trained Young Adults

2. The effect of HMB supplementation on body composition, fitness, hormonal and inflammatory mediators in elite adolescent volleyball players: a prospective randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study

3. The effects of beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB) and HMB/creatine supplementation on indices of health in highly trained athletes

4. Androgenetic alopecia in women

5. Acute creatine loading increases fat-free mass, but does not affect blood pressure, plasma creatinine, or CK activity in men and women

6. Long-term oral creatine supplementation does not impair renal function in healthy athletes

7. Effect of oral creatine supplementation on random urine creatinine, pH, and specific gravity measurements

8. In sickness and in health: the widespread application of creatine supplementation

9. Safety of creatine supplementation

10. Adverse effects of creatine supplementation: fact or fiction?

11. Creatine supplementation and cognitive performance in elderly individuals

12. Effects of creatine on mental fatigue and cerebral hemoglobin oxygenation

13. Effects of creatine supplementation on renal function: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial

14. Cr supplementation decreases tyrosine phosphorylation of the CreaT in skeletal muscle during sepsis

15. Beneficial effect of creatine supplementation in knee osteoarthritis

16. Creatine supplementation, sleep deprivation, cortisol, melatonin and behavior

17. Oral creatine monohydrate supplementation improves brain performance: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial

18. The effects of creatine ethyl ester supplementation combined with heavy resistance training on body composition, muscle performance, and serum and muscle creatine levels

19. Effect of creatine supplementation on body composition and performance: a meta-analysis

20. Creatine supplementation improves muscular performance in older women