RESEARCH UPDATE
APRIL
2003
Steve Daisey MPT, CSCS
1. Study
Addresses the Puzzling Questions of Weightlifting
A recent
analysis of strength training research over the past 30 years
provides answers to questions that often adorn the covers of
health and fitness magazines. How much is the optimal training
load/amount to best elicit the largest strength gains? Researchers
analyzed over 140 studies to come up with the following:
How much
weight should one use to get the best strengthening benefit?
- People who are new to weight training: use a weight that
is 60% of your one-repetition maximum (the most weight you
are able to lift once for each exercise). This is equivalent
to a weight that fatigues you around 15-17 reps.
- People
who have been weight training regularly (3 times per week
for 3-6 months): should use a weight that is 80% of their
one-rep max. This is the equivalent of a weight that fatigues
you at about 6 to 8 reps.
How many
days per week will yield the optimum strength training benefit?
- Untrained individuals: 3 days per week
- Trained individuals: 2 days per week
How many
sets should be performed to get the maximum strength benefit?
Four sets per muscle group (not per exercise) elicited the biggest
strength gains in both untrained and trained individuals. Muscle
groups could be defined as chest, back, arms, shoulders, thighs,
calves, abdominals, lower back.
Rhea
MR, Alvar BA, Burkett LN, Ball SD. A Meta-Analysis to Determine
the Dose Response for Strength Development. Med. Sci. Sports
Exerc 2003, 35(3), 456-464.
2.
A Better Way to Perform a Squat for Older Populations
A recent
study examined two methods for performing a squat exercise.
This study found that when older adults (ages 70-85) performed
the squat with a chair behind them, recruitment of the muscles
surrounding the hips was much greater. Without a chair behind
them, excessive bending of the knees occurred.
In other
words, they exhibited better form.
Pain in
the knees often limits a person from performing squats. In the
absence of injury, one possible reason is that overuse of the
quadriceps muscle and decreased recruitment of the hip extensors
(gluteal muscles and hamstrings) leads to increased knee-bend
and therefore stress on the knees. The old saying "bend at the
knees, not at the waist" is definitely not the best advice you
could be given. Better advice would be "bend at the hips, not
at the knees or lower back."
Future research
should look at whether or not performing a squat in the correct
manner leads to improvements in standing up from a chair in
this population and if it reduces knee pain when squatting.
Flanagan
S, Salem GJ, Wang MY, Sanker SE, Greendale GA: Squatting Exercises
in Older Adults: Kinematic and Kinetic Comparisons. Med Sci
Sports Exerc 2003 Apr;35(4):635-643.
