Your fitness goals dictate your type of training. There are certain terminologies associated with each type of training. You will hear those a lot at the gym, or even run through them as you're reading your favorite fitness magazine. Therefore, it is important to familiarize yourself with “The Methods” involved in training so you can approach your goals the right way. Here’s a list the list:
The Methods
Lifting: With many names such as weight training, resistance training, and pumping iron, lifting is the method for increasing muscular strength, size, and endurance.
Circuit Training: Usually involves a set of exercises that are done in an ordered manner. The exercises are a combination of strength and cardio training to blast the maximum amount of calories. Circuits are done more than once (3-5 times) depending on the intensity.
Interval Training: A training regime that involves mixed bursts of light and intense activity. This training method is well known for maximizing fat-burning potential while boosting metabolism and cardiovascular fitness.
Compound Movements: They are exercises that involve multiple muscles, promoting stability and maximum calorie burn. Some of the classics include squats, deadlifts, and bench press.
Isolation Movements: The opposite of compound movements. Those exercises target a single muscle instead of multiple ones. A classic favorite is bicep curls.
Drop Sets: Used as a strength training technique, the weight used is reduced mid-set and the exercise is continued until exhaustion. Great for building strength, very taxing on the body (use in moderation).
Supersets: Intensify any workout with this approach; two exercises are performed back-to-back with no, or minimal, rest in between. The result is more work in a minimal amount of time.
Split: No it’s not the fudgy-nutty-heavenly-banana-ice-cream. It’s a type of routine that involves dividing muscle groups into different training days, like this split routine. This is beneficial as each body part will have a sufficient time to recover and rebuild.
Failure: The exercise is repeated until exhaustion; until the muscle cannot handle the weight used anymore. While it is beneficial in terms of muscular strength, size, and endurance, using this method can potentially cause some nasty injuries. Be careful.
Forced Reps: Almost as fun as they sound. These are extra repetitions at the end of a set that require the help of a spotter. Why do that? Well, a great potential for greater muscle mass and strength gains.
Negatives: Nope, it’s not something bad, just a type of movement. It is also referred to as an eccentric contraction; lowering the weight slowly under tension to the start position. Why do that? Well, negative reps apply more stress on the muscle over a longer period of time. Therefore, more strength incurred.
Progression: It’s a method of tracking things at the gym. This includes tracking weights, repetitions, number of sets, rest time, etc. Tracking progression is a great way to gauge improvements and pinpoint weaknesses.
Plateau: The human body has a natural ability to adapt to stresses, more specifically, those from exercise. If the same exercise routine is performed regularly, the progress at the gym will eventually come to a halt, and that is called a plateau. Changing exercises and levels of intensity can aid in overcoming plateau’s.
Plyometrics: A set of movements designed to increase speed and explosiveness while strengthening joint and muscles. These movements include things like broad jumps, vertical jumps, explosive skipping, explosive pushups, etc.
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