Strength Training Notes

This article is about strength training; specifically body-weight work, but other papers are also discussed.

Bibliography and Literature Review

• Resistance training for strength and muscle thickness: Effect of number of sets and muscle group trained

  Summary: in untrainedas in, zero prior experience with resistance training
  
  young men, there is no major difference between one set and three-set training protocols.

  Caveats: n=24, only college-age males–most likely from Brazil. Originally, n=30, but six students dropped out due to, ironically, doing more training than they were told to!

• Periodized Strength Training: A Critical Review

  Summary: “Periodizedmoving from high volume low weight to low volume high weight
  
  programs can result in greater strength (1 RMone rep maximum; how much an individual can lift one time with proper form after resting
  
  ) gains than nonperiodized multiset and single-set programs.”

  Caveats: this raises several questions. First, why are there so few studies on periodized exercise? And second, is 1RM an effective measure of strength for anything other than, well, one-rep max? I.e. is there any correlation with meaningful observables, e.g. lifespan or joint health?

• Effects Of Strength Training On Physical Function: Influence Of Power, Strength, And Body Composition

  Summary: Adults of both genders, aged 65 and up, n=50, doing strength training with pre-training numbers as an internal control before a ten-week program. Performance on tasks (such as walking quickly and climbing stairs) improved significantly.

  Caveats: a small study, only n=50. Also, the age range makes it inapplicable to me personally.

• The Importance of Muscular Strength: Training Considerations

  Summary: A later (2018) replication of Fleck’s Periodized Strength Training (1999), more targeted at athletes than the general case. Same general findings, but with higher statistical power.

  Caveats: targeted at athletes, and primarily considers periodized routines over the course of a year-long competition cycle.

Appendix A: Common Abbreviations and Terms

A few common abbreviations and terms, if you decide to read any of these papers:

• Periodization: a program that shifts from high reps low intensity to low reps high intensity.
• RT: resistance training.