This piece offers a few tips and suggestions for Lifetime Athletes who are taking their resistance training seriously. This is a synopsis of a recent podcast episode and I’ve included that option below, but I’m listing out a series of pointers just in case you prefer to read as opposed to listen. You can also access The Lifetime Athlete Podcast on all the major podcasting platforms if you have one you like best.
We shall begin our discussion by exploring one of the slogans we often use in The Lifetime Athlete App and across our platform. Take the Athletic Avenue into Wellness! I bet you’ve heard me say that before and I’m certain that, because you’re here, we’re all on the same page. Nonetheless, allow me to elucidate the concept.
Wellness is one of those words which has multiple interpretations and it seems to elicit blank stares when uttered. In years past when I was doing a lot of workplace wellness consulting, I’d often mention wellness and then I’d be both amazed and amused when the word had minimal registration. Folks would often gaze into space with blank and unengaged expressions. All this despite my frequent injections of jokes, audiovisuals, and killer dance moves.
We’ve always thought of wellness as being a more comprehensive version of health, or healthiness. You know, like possessing outstanding well-being across physical, mental, emotional, and other areas. High function and participation in life. Great enjoyment and satisfaction. Contribution to the greater good of mankind. Stuff like that.
The major thought that comes to mind is “How do we get there?” To fantastic wellness, that is. You can eat right. You can be active. You can do a little exercise. You can foster positive relationships, be kind, serve others and society, and so much more. But our premise at TLA is that you can’t reach the pinnacle of wellness unless you embrace the evolutionarily-consistent athletic nature of the human beast. To be comprehensively capable in terms of strength, speed, power, agility, and endurance. To play and compete. To rise to challenges and conquer them. To let these properties not trickle, but pour into everything you do and we’re not just talking sports and fitness here. That’s Taking the Athletic Avenue into Wellness. Doubters will doubt and haters will hate but we, as winners…will win. Onward.
Lifting for Life is a foundational principle for Lifetime Athletes. Resistance training for strength and hypertrophy is of critical importance for apex functionality and athletic longevity. Our Training Tribe programming, housed in The Lifetime Athlete App and exclusively available to subscribed members, utilizes an Annual Training Plan that is block-periodized. We have a specific block of emphasis for each of the 5 Capacities of Human Performance. There’s a block for Speed, Strength (and hypertrophy), Power, Agility, and Endurance. February to April is our Strength and Hypertrophy Block. We use resistance training all year long. We Lift for LIFE! We never don’t do it (grammar intended). But we really emphasize it during this 3-month period.
STRENGTH
When strength (max force production capacity) is your main goal, intensity is the key consideration. This equates to weight/resistance and effort (such as RPE) approaching maximum. However, for Lifetime Athletes, this can certainly be your max for 4-6 reps vs. an absolute 1RM. The key is to utilize numerous progressive sets to ramp up to your best effort.
Employ ample and often expanding rest periods. In other words, when you’re trying to go big, wait until you’re ready to produce a high quality output. And by expanding rest periods we mean that your breaks between sets can and perhaps should become lengthier as your workout progresses and you’re into your heaviest lifts.
Major compound movements (squats, lunges, deadlifts, presses, rows, etc.) should be the focus but often only 1-2 exercises in any given workout will yield the best results. Pick your (not poison) but pleasure by frequently going after either a favorite movement or a known weakness, or both.
Be aware of the high CNS demand required to conjure these major efforts and space out the big days appropriately for your body and schedule. Fatigue is to be expected but most of it needs to be gone before you should hit it hard again.
HYPERTROPHY
If hypertrophy (muscle growth) is the primary objective, total workout volume is the most important factor.
Frequently in our content, we’ve reviewed mechanical tension, mm fiber microtrauma, and metabolic stress. These are the physiologic requirements for hypertrophy. Mechanical tension, or time under tension, relates to volume as in total amount of work done. This is your sets and reps. Fiber microtrauma is cell damage, most often associated with eccentric contractions. We need that to be present but actually very slight for mature trainees. And the metabolic stress of a challenging, sweaty workout is also valuable.
At least several sets in a workout must approach failure, but Reps in Reserve or RIR 3-2-1 have been shown to be almost equally effective with much less recovery demand.
Progressive overload (regularly doing just a little more) is also key. Adding weight, more reps, more sets…keeping the body stimulated to adapt. The double progression method is classic and we use it often. Increase weight until you max out the rep range. Then add weight and return to the beginning of the rep range. Rest periods during hypertrophy training can be shorter than during a pure strength focus.
Watch out for soreness. Lifetime Athletes can accept and tolerate a little, just not a lot. Adjust your workout frequency and volume accordingly.
Fortunately, there’s quite a bit of crossover between these two types of training. Strength training will also stimulate muscle growth. Hypertrophy training will make you stronger. That’s why we utilize a “blended balance” among these parameters during our Strength and Hypertrophy Block, as well as throughout the year.
In the podcast, we also talked about warming up strategically, how to utilize secondary and tertiary capacities in the Accessory section of your workout, personalizing your exercise selection, monitoring recovery, and protein considerations. A lot of that information is probably a review for Lifetime Athletes, but it’s good to check in on these things once in a while.
If you are jamming along with your longevity-based resistance training and it’s going great, these tips can serve as reminders to keep you on your best course. But if you don’t feel like you’ve quite got all this mojo dialed in, you might just be interested in subscribing to the Lifetime Athlete App and using our Training Tribe programming to optimize your results. That’s Taking the Athletic Avenue into Wellness and it’s what we do every day.