01-29-2009, 11:34 AM
It's common to run into a real beginner, someone that really has effectively no experience exercising. Or it'll be something like 'I run on the treadmill a few times a week' or 'I take a spin class'.
Sometimes these folks will realize that maybe this approach isn't best, or that for whatever reason they need a little resistance exercise in the mix.
Now, I feel that strength training has a place in any exercise routine, no matter what the goal. However, the type and amount of strength training can be very dependent on goals. For most people asking this question, the goal is appearance. They want to look better.
Here's the question though: Do they want to be a bodybuilder, or do they just want to get in better shape*?
* By 'in better shape' I mean better able to handle daily tasks, not be a health risk, maybe get better at recreational sports/activities.
It's easy to just jump the gun and lay out a beginner 5x5 workout (which I do think is ideal for certain populations) regardless, but I think there's more to it. For someone that wants to really get strong, and by extension build a lot of muscle, the beginner-level 5x5 is one of the best ways to do that.
However there are issues to consider before laying that program down.
I. What movement issues do they have?
Almost everyone will have some kind of movement problems, and it can be worse in people that aren't routinely active. While movement testing is beyond the scope of this thread, I'd suggest that people should be able to do at least
* Bodyweight squat to an acceptable depth
* Bodyweight lunge on each leg
* Pushup
* Inverted (or supine) row
before jumping into the barbell exercise. Now, if you're not severely impaired, I think you can handle this kind of corrective/mobility work concurrently with heavier barbell work.
If you can't really do those without some kind of dysfunction or pain, then you'd be well advised to work on the appropriate areas with strengthening and/or mobility work before jumping into the heavy strength work.
II. What's their current fitness level?
Assuming you can do those movements, how many of them can you do? If you can't do one, is it due to a real movement issue or are you just too weak?
This is somewhat related to the last point, but I have to ask why people that can't do a proper bodyweight squat or lunge are doing barbell back squats. Or why someone that can't do a pushup is bench pressing. And so on.
Resistance/strength training is all about adapting to weights. If you aren't strong enough to handle your own body weight, I have to question how useful barbells or even machines would be.
There's a case to be made for using heavy strength exercises in a non-specific sense, to build the strength of the component muscles. One glaring example is pullups/chinups and women - how many raw beginner females can do a real pullup without assistance? In this case, I can see a point for using a pulldown machine and other exercises for the upper back and arm flexors.
Then again, using bands for assistance and focusing on inverted/supine rows could just as easily build that strength - with the advantage of moving your own weight around.
III. Do they care?
Frankly some people just don't want more than a modicum of strength or muscle mass. For those people, a strength-based progressive-overload workout just may not be ideal. While I don't think you can ever get 'too strong' or 'too big' without overspecializing, there are those that just want the baseline.
If someone isn't after competitive goals, such as your housewives or other recreational-exercising types, it may well be a mistake to give them a progressive-overload routine. I'd go out on a limb here and say that bodyweight and maybe some moderate strength work (even *gasp* machines) would be plenty.
It's something to think about, anyway.
I will say that it's easier to 'pull the ladder up from the top' than push it up from the bottom, to borrow an analogy. In other words, getting stronger makes it easier to train for strength-endurance at lighter weights. Someone that can bench 1.5x bodyweight will generally have an easier time with pushups, compared to someone who only does pushups and hopes it will make his/her bench stronger*.
* With the caveat being that our bencher actually has to train pushups for this to be valid. It might be better to say that the stronger person has the potential to see better carryover to pushups assuming s/he trains them.
If you're after mass, you need to be training to get stronger, full stop. There's just no way around it.
In my mind, this is all about building up a house - you don't start with the roof. You build a foundation and then work up. For some people, the barbell work will be the foundation. Some will need to look to more fundamental elements, though.
Sometimes these folks will realize that maybe this approach isn't best, or that for whatever reason they need a little resistance exercise in the mix.
Now, I feel that strength training has a place in any exercise routine, no matter what the goal. However, the type and amount of strength training can be very dependent on goals. For most people asking this question, the goal is appearance. They want to look better.
Here's the question though: Do they want to be a bodybuilder, or do they just want to get in better shape*?
* By 'in better shape' I mean better able to handle daily tasks, not be a health risk, maybe get better at recreational sports/activities.
It's easy to just jump the gun and lay out a beginner 5x5 workout (which I do think is ideal for certain populations) regardless, but I think there's more to it. For someone that wants to really get strong, and by extension build a lot of muscle, the beginner-level 5x5 is one of the best ways to do that.
However there are issues to consider before laying that program down.
I. What movement issues do they have?
Almost everyone will have some kind of movement problems, and it can be worse in people that aren't routinely active. While movement testing is beyond the scope of this thread, I'd suggest that people should be able to do at least
* Bodyweight squat to an acceptable depth
* Bodyweight lunge on each leg
* Pushup
* Inverted (or supine) row
before jumping into the barbell exercise. Now, if you're not severely impaired, I think you can handle this kind of corrective/mobility work concurrently with heavier barbell work.
If you can't really do those without some kind of dysfunction or pain, then you'd be well advised to work on the appropriate areas with strengthening and/or mobility work before jumping into the heavy strength work.
II. What's their current fitness level?
Assuming you can do those movements, how many of them can you do? If you can't do one, is it due to a real movement issue or are you just too weak?
This is somewhat related to the last point, but I have to ask why people that can't do a proper bodyweight squat or lunge are doing barbell back squats. Or why someone that can't do a pushup is bench pressing. And so on.
Resistance/strength training is all about adapting to weights. If you aren't strong enough to handle your own body weight, I have to question how useful barbells or even machines would be.
There's a case to be made for using heavy strength exercises in a non-specific sense, to build the strength of the component muscles. One glaring example is pullups/chinups and women - how many raw beginner females can do a real pullup without assistance? In this case, I can see a point for using a pulldown machine and other exercises for the upper back and arm flexors.
Then again, using bands for assistance and focusing on inverted/supine rows could just as easily build that strength - with the advantage of moving your own weight around.
III. Do they care?
Frankly some people just don't want more than a modicum of strength or muscle mass. For those people, a strength-based progressive-overload workout just may not be ideal. While I don't think you can ever get 'too strong' or 'too big' without overspecializing, there are those that just want the baseline.
If someone isn't after competitive goals, such as your housewives or other recreational-exercising types, it may well be a mistake to give them a progressive-overload routine. I'd go out on a limb here and say that bodyweight and maybe some moderate strength work (even *gasp* machines) would be plenty.
It's something to think about, anyway.
I will say that it's easier to 'pull the ladder up from the top' than push it up from the bottom, to borrow an analogy. In other words, getting stronger makes it easier to train for strength-endurance at lighter weights. Someone that can bench 1.5x bodyweight will generally have an easier time with pushups, compared to someone who only does pushups and hopes it will make his/her bench stronger*.
* With the caveat being that our bencher actually has to train pushups for this to be valid. It might be better to say that the stronger person has the potential to see better carryover to pushups assuming s/he trains them.
If you're after mass, you need to be training to get stronger, full stop. There's just no way around it.
In my mind, this is all about building up a house - you don't start with the roof. You build a foundation and then work up. For some people, the barbell work will be the foundation. Some will need to look to more fundamental elements, though.