I have been weightlifting for years and over the years I have seen multiple injuries in the gym. What's worse is when I am talking to a client, that is working with me, and they are getting great results but are sidelined immediately because of an injury. I have talked to multiple clients that have torn a Pec or destroyed a shoulder when they were finally getting some good results. So I am going to squash a few rumors and let you guys know how to effectively workout in the gym without hurting yourself.
Reps
So there has been much debate about what is the best rep range to build muscle. Powerlifters say go heavy or go home. Bodybuilders say go for time under tension. The simplest way to figure out is based on a number of factors: Goals, Type of Lift and Age.
Goals
Now this is the rep range a lot of trainers agree on as far as what rep ranges do what:
1-3 reps Central Nervous System (CNS) Strength and Power
4-6 reps CNS Strength; Some Hypertrophy
8-12 reps Hypertrophy; Some Strength
12-15 reps Hypertrophy, Little Strength
15+ reps Endurance
So based on these rep ranges it tells you some valuable info. However, a lot of different athletes look at it differently.
Power Lifters: Rep Range 1-5
Bodybuilder: 8-15
These are 2 examples of the same info being used differently based on the goals of the person.
Then why is it when you go to gyms all over the world you will see people that are not powerlifters trying to do one rep maxes? Or doing really low reps when they are just trying to get bigger or build more muscle? One word...
Ego
When you are @ the gym you will see guys trying to impress each other with their 1RM on bench when they haven't properly warmed up yet.
And when you have guys being competitive with each other, lots of testosterone from supplements, or other illegal means, and very low warm up sessions...it spells disaster.
Ripped pec, torn bicep, back seizing up, rotator cuff tear, etc...
Add a weight belt being used when it shouldn't be and it gets worse...
Spinal Compression or Herniated Disc (which can take you out of the gym for years)
So why do this to yourself? The first thing you need to figure out what is your goal. If it is to look good, then you don't have to kill yourself with powerlifting workouts. For muscle building it is all about time under tension and isolating the muscle, not the CNS.
A study in 2009 conducted by Kumar et al. (Journal of Applied
Physiology) measured the fluctuations in muscle protein synthesis after
weight training. They found that the anabolic response (muscle building)
increased by:
30% after training with weights that were 20% of 1RM*
40% after training with weights that were 40% of 1RM
100% after training with weights that were 60% of 1RM
130% after training with weights that were 75% of 1RM
100% after training with weights that were 90% of 1RM
(
1RM – One repetition maximum, is the maximum amount of weight a person is able to lift for a single repetition*)
This information shows, that muscle growth occurs
when training with a weight that is around 75% of your 1RM. 90% of 1RM targets your CNS and not your muscles.
So how many reps is 75% of your 1 RM?...10 Reps
So, training anywhere between
8 – 12 reps to failure is the perfect rep range for muscle growth.
When I workout the lowest reps I will do is 10, because I like the 130% protein synthesis after working out. My goal is to build muscle. Unless you are doing a powerlifting competition, you should be doing the hypertrophy rep ranges.
Type of Lift
The next thing that needs to be addressed is rep ranges for different types of lifts. Far to many times I see guys doing 5 reps for a bicep curl. With that kind of heavy rep your body is going to tap into other muscles to move the heavy weight and away from the muscle you are trying to workout. So here are some good rules for the rep ranges based on different exercises:
Power Compounds Exercises
Bench Press/Squat/Deadlift/Barbell Row/T-Bar Row/Barbell Military Press/etc...
These movements work the best with 8-12 reps. You want to go heavy so that they can really overload the muscle fibers but not lower than 8 reps because that would target the CNS more.
Compound Isolation Exercises
Dumbbell Press/Cable Rows/Dumbbell Military Press/Pull Ups/Dips/Barbell Curls/Etc..
These movements work the best with 10-15 reps. You want to focus more on the movement and putting the muscle under tension since you can't go as heavy because of a lot of balancing the weight while doing the movements.
Isolation Exercises
Leg Curls/Dumbbell Flys/Stiff-Legged Deadlifts/Calve Raises/Tricep Kick Back/1-Arm Row/Etc..
These movements work the best with 10-20 reps. You want to really focus on squeezing the muscle and on the muscle mind connection and the pump. Going meticulously slow works really well. The calves for example respond more with high slow reps that are concentrated.
These examples are more for the bodybuilder and weightlifter instead of the powerlifter. These are just examples, there are way more types of exercises that put the muscle under a lot of tension that doesn't use a lot of weight or reps. For example:
Slow Reps
Start Stop Reps
Rest Pause
There are multiple rep ranges for muscle tension, it is just about what works for you. You won't be able to go heavy for a long time without hurting yourself. So switch it up, don't do less than 8 reps, eat enough, get your rest days in and have a deloading week every 4 weeks (a week of lighter weight to allow your body to relax)
Age
This is an important one. You can't workout like you did when you were older. Your recovery is slower and straining muscles and/or tearing them comes more common place. Even when taking supplements you can get hurt (when I was doing the XT I almost ripped my pec because my muscles were recovered but my connective tissue was not). So make sure you get your rest. Here are the rules for weightlifting based on age:
18-34
Pretty much go nuts. Rep ranges are your oyster. You can do everything and anything under the sun... if you don't go super crazy and allow for proper warm ups.
Lowest Rep Range Per Exercise: 8
35-45
This is where you have to start thinking more about your connective tissues and not your muscles. Your muscles can recover more but sometimes not your tendons.
Lowest Rep Range Per Exercise: 10
45+
This is where you have to start really listening to your body more and what moves hurt you and what doesn't. You must make sure you are properly warmed up. Because not being warmed up and injuring yourself can take you out of the gym for a couple of months or longer.
Lowest Rep Range Per Exercise: 12
Warm Ups
Not a lot of gym-goers do proper warm ups. Guys are the biggest offender of this. Women typically stretch, where as men go straight to pushing up heavy ass weight. When you are first working out, you can get away with not warming up or only doing a few warm up sets. However, it will catch up to you. When you start pushing some real weight you need to start not only warming up you muscles but your CNS for the heavy weight it is about to handle.
The easiest way to prep your muscles is to pyramid up with your warm up. What works well is I start with 50% of my working set I am going to use and go up. This is 50% of my working weight not my 1 rep max. I pyramid up until I hit 90% of my working set.
50% of working set, 4 sets of 5
60% of working set, 3 sets of 5
70% of working set, 2 sets of 5
80% of working set, 2 sets of 5
90% of working set, 1 sets of 5
I usually take 30secs between each set because it should be fairly easy since it is lighter weight. When you do it though you want to do it slow and controlled as if it is a heavy weight.
So for example, if you are going to do 4 sets of 275lbs for your working set of deadlifts, your warm up would look like the following:
135lbs, 4x5
165lbs, 3x5
195lbs, 2x5
220lbs, 2x5
245lbs, 1x5
At the end of this warm up you should have a ridiculous pump. Your muscles should be primed at this point but more importantly your CNS will be warmed up. I usually do this for the main compound lift of the day then do my working set. After that I just do the rest of my workout because my body should be primed for it. So you do the following warm ups for the following work out days:
Legs: Squat warm up
Back: Deadlift warm up
Chest: Bench Press/Dumbbell Press warm up
Shoulders: Barbell Military Press warm up
The chest has dumbbell press as an alternative because some people don't bench press anymore (which I will explain later)
Weight Belt and Lifting Straps
This is another topic that I have seen numerous offenders in the gym doing it wrong.
Lifting Straps
Some guys get so much shit for using lifting straps and not focusing on their grip. This again depends on your goal.
Powerlifter
No straps
Do over under grip for Deadlifts
Work on your grip with fat bars or heavy grips
Body Builders
Go as heavy as you can without straps
Add straps when your grip starts to fail
For Deadlifts do the overhand grip. Over under puts to much strain on your bicep and creates imbalances considering you are holding the weight differently in each hand.
Work on your grip with fat bars or heavy grips
Weight Belt
This is the most abused item in the weight room. I see guys wearing them when they shouldn't and others not wearing them when they should. If you wear it all the time your core strength suffers. If you don't wear it, when you should, one simple tweak can throw your back out easily. So here are the rules for weight belts.
Use them for 75% of your 1 rep max or above
Use them for only these main compound exercises: Deadlift/Squat/Barbell Military Press/Olympic Lifts
Do not use it for Bench Press, that is retarded
The Olympic Lifts have numerous exercises and if it is 75%+ of your one rep max then you should be wearing a welt belt. If you are using it for Dumbbell Military Press, you're doing it wrong. Lower the weight and strengthen your core first.
Injuries
If you are already injured or have injured yourself in the past then you need to be smart in the gym.
Back Injuries
Squats: No squats, do hip belt squats instead:
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/hip_belt_squats
Deadlifts:
Do rack pulls instead with lighter weights till you can strengthen the lower back. You might come to a realization that you might not be able to ever do heavy weight again though. If Rack Deadlifts hurt still then do body weight back extensions and work your way up to holding a 45lb plate white doing it:
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/ErectorSpinae/WtBackExtension.html
Chest Injuries
Bench Press: Do not bench press, Dumbbel Press instead
This is again why you go by your age on rep ranges because you don't want to permanetely hurt yourself.
Lifts to Stay Away From/Never Do
This last topic I know is going to be highly controversial. But there are some lifts that I will never do again because of the high ouchy potential.
Bench Press/Incline Bench Press/Decline Bench Press
This is one of the best mass builders but one of the most abused lifts out there. This is the one that I hear all the time about shoulders being destroyed or ripping pectoral muscles and needing surgery to fix them. The reason is because the bottom of the bench press puts your shoulders in a weird and dangerous position. With this lift it isn't a matter of if it is going to happen but WHEN. Either rotator cuff injury or pec tear. Unless you are a power lifter, you need to drop this exercise. Heavy dumbbell presses will build a more impressive chest since it is about keeping the muscle under tension.
Upright Rows
This is another one that always hurts people. It can be in a couple of years or take years before it does its damage. What sucks, because of genetics, some people are more prone to injury with this than others. The reason is because of the design of their shoulder bones. Some people have bones that pinch the rotator cuff more during this movement because of the way their shoulder is designed. You won't know until you either hurt yourself or get an MRI. I would like to do neither so I keep it out all together. There are safer shoulder exercises.
So follow the rules I mentioned to keep yourself injury free in the gym. Be careful and beast it in the gym.
