How to Train for Different Goals

there are many different goals people aim to train for essentially we can split common training goals into three categories body composition goals performance training and training to maximize Health and Longevity we will now explore how to train for each element of these categories individually first let's discuss body composition this refers to exactly what the name suggests what our body is composed of more specifically we are referring primarily to muscle mass and fat Mass this is because we have the ability via training and nutrition to manipulate muscle and fat tissue in general most people are aiming to increase muscle mass and or reduce body fat let's Now cover how to achieve each of these body composition goals first let's start with muscle growth let's Now cover how muscle growth occurs and the best methods to train for it in simple terms muscle growth is simply an increase in the size of a muscle this is achieved mostly via what is known as myofibrilla hypertrophy myofibrils are individual units of contractile tissue and a bunch of myofibrils make up a muscle fiber and a bunch of muscle fibers make up the entire muscle belly so myofibrilla hypertrophy refers to an increase in the number of myofibrils within each muscle fiber so each muscle fiber is bigger and therefore the entire muscle belly also increases in diameter furthermore muscle growth has been hypothesized to occur to a smaller extent via what is known as sarcoplasmic hypertrophy the sarcoplasm is essentially just the rest of the muscle fiber apart from the myofibrils this includes other organelles important for muscle function and fluids so sarcoplasmic hypertrophy refers to an increase in the area of the sarcoplasm without necessarily an increase in the number of myofibrils and once again this would result in larger muscle fibers and a larger muscle belly as a whole however this would theoretically result in a bigger muscle but not a proportionate increase in strength since there isn't an increase in the contractile elements of the muscle fiber although it isn't well established whether or not psychoplasmic hypertrophy truly occurs in humans and to what extent this contributes to muscle growth and lastly there is one other adaptation that has been theorized to contribute to muscle growth and that is what is known as hyperplasia this refers to an increase in the number of muscle fibers within a muscle belly this has been seen in animals but hasn't been well established in human research as of yet so we don't really know to what extent this might or might not occur and if it is possible to train specifically for this adaptation now that we understand what adaptations contribute to muscle growth let's now explore how to best train for it overall here is a brief summary of how to best train to maximize muscle growth in terms of exercise selection we want to use exercises where the target muscle is the limiter of each set we want to train with loads that allow us to perform anywhere around 5 to 20 reps per set it is also important to take each set close to failure at least around three reps in reserve and hypertrophy is best achieved training with moderate to high volumes more than around 10 sets per muscle group per week and going even higher in volume if you were willing to put in the time and effort there are also other variables and more Nuance to each variable mentioned although this is a general overview of the most important factors and the other component of body composition is fat loss as the name suggests this refers to a reduction in adipose tissue this is usually desirable for aesthetic purposes because it reveals the shape of the muscle underneath the fat in other words you were visually able to see more muscle definition there are three primary components which can help us achieve fat loss the first is not a training variable at all it is the nutrition side of things for fat loss nutrition is the most important element to implement correctly from a nutritional perspective the goal here is to lose body weight to do so a calorie deficit is required this means eating fewer calories than you expend on average over time which will result in a net loss of body weight as a general rule you probably want to aim for a rate of weight loss of no more than around one percent of body weight per week to maximize diet adherence and our likelihood of muscle preservation furthermore trainees should probably opt for a moderate to high protein diet this will further assist with muscle preservation during the calorie deficit so that the majority of weight lost is fat tissue not muscle as a general rule trainees probably want to consume a minimum of around 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram or 0.7 grams per pound of body weight per day consuming more protein than this will likely be beneficial but probably won't have any major advantages once this minimum threshold is met to learn more about how to set calories and macros for muscle growth or fat loss there will be a video Linked In the description going into more detail the other method to help promote a calorie deficit is via General physical activity this refers to any form of movement that expends energy while it is difficult to track all forms of movement step counts provide a decent General overview of your total daily physical activity levels this is because it accounts for both intentional exercise such as running or running Base Sports as well as a non-exercise movement such as walking around the supermarket and the more physical activity we perform the more energy we expect this can help us promote a calorie deficit contributing to weight loss however physical activity doesn't seem to provide a linear increase in total daily energy expenditure as we would expect rather it has been theorized that energy expenditure is somewhat constrained in other words the more exercise we perform we do expend more energy but there is compensation from other components of energy expenditure so as we do more exercise we experience diminishing returns in terms of total daily energy expend future so at some point more intentional physical activity probably isn't worth the time and effort for the amount of energy you expend as a general rule performing around 10 000 steps per day is a decent General Target to hit if you are aiming to reduce body weight you could certainly go beyond this target but just keep in mind the compensatory response we discussed and the last component of fat loss is muscle growth or retention we want to at least retain as much muscle mass as possible during the weight loss process or potentially even gain some muscle mass if possible this is because if muscle mass is retained the lost weight will come primarily from fat tissue so how can we ensure muscle mass isn't lost during this process well as we discussed we have some nutrition strategies that can assist this first is ensuring you are in a modest calorie deficit and second is consuming a sufficient daily protein intake but more important than the nutrition side of things is resistance training resistance training is the stimulus for muscle growth in the first place so without an adequate training stimulus there is no reason for the body to promote muscular adaptations whether or not we are in a deficit Surplus or maintenance so what is the best way to train to retain muscle mass well essentially we want to train in the same way as if we intended to build muscle mass and depending on your individual context it is possible to actually gain a small amount of muscle throughout a weight loss period but in most cases we are only expecting to retain our muscle tissue or at least retain as much of it as possible in terms of specifics this would be exactly the same recommendations as the previous section on muscle growth so you can just refer back to those points for an overview moving on to the next category of training goals we have performance training this refers to any form of training where the goal is to improve a specific athletic output this is usually an objectively quantifiable goal such as lifting more weight running a faster time jumping higher Etc while there are many different types of specific performance goals we are going to discuss two overarching categories in this video first let's discuss how to train for strength goals this refers to any event where the goal is to lift more weight for a specific exercise for example power lifting has the goal of lifting the most amount of weight possible for one rep in the squat bench press and deadlifts in weightlifting it is how much athletes can lift in the snatch and clean and jerk furthermore these lifts are also constrained by the requirements of the sport and Federation for example most powerlifting federations require the squat to be performed to adapt where the hip crease goes below the top of the knee to be considered a legal lift so the point to understand here is that strength goals are highly specific to the requirements of the sport in terms of training for strength there are two primary adaptations which contribute to being able to lift more load the first is lifting efficiency this is essentially how much weight an athlete can lift given their current body weight and body composition we are able to lift more load with any given exercise simply by improving our efficiency without changing body weight or body composition this is due to two primary factors which help us maximize efficiency first are neural adaptations there are a few neural adaptations which help us produce more force from the prime movers of the lift these include increased recruitment of fibers of the muscles involved in the lift increased coordination and synchronization of multiple muscles working together and an inhibition of other muscles which aren't directly involved in the exercise we also have technical improvements that contribute to efficiency such as finding the most biomechanically efficient path to move the load manipulating Tempo to maximize stability and control and taking advantage of the stretch shortening cycle for Relevant lifts so how can we train to maximize efficiency well the best way to train for efficiency is via specific training this means training in a way that replicates the demands of the specific strength goal you were training for we can make training more or less specific via three primary variables first is the exercise we perform obviously we want to train the lift without we are trying to get stronger at if the goal is to maximize efficiency second is via the loading used if the goal is to maximize your 1rm performance then the heavier you lift the more specific and third is via technique to maximize efficiency you want to train with the same technique that you would use on competition day I.E the technique that allows you to lift the most load within the constraints of the rules training to maximize efficiency is the fastest and most direct way to improve strength when performing highly specific training strength gains are usually rapid initially however efficiency will only take you so far and will eventually Plateau once you have near maximized efficiency with your current body composition so how do we continue to gain strength past this point well the primary way is to increase muscle mass of the Prime movers this will provide more contractile tissue due to myofibrilla hypertrophy as we previously discussed which can be involved in the exercise and with all else being equal a larger muscle will be stronger than a smaller muscle so how do we train for hypertrophy specifically for the purposes of translating to strength well firstly you will build some amount of muscle mass if you were training purely to maximize efficiency anyway at least in the earlier stages of a lifting career however at some point this won't be sufficient to continue building muscle mass as a more experienced lifter so direct hype trophy style training methods will probably need to be implemented for the most part this would be best achieved in the same way that you would train for muscle growth generally as we discussed earlier however there are a few specific considerations to keep in mind that might be relevant for strength transfer first is regarding exercise selection we probably want to select exercises which are at least similar in their movement pattern to the competition lift it is being used for this is because a similar movement pattern will ensure we are training the prime movers of the exercise and even more specifically we would want to bias the fibers of the Prime movers which are most used in the exercise this is because they are the contractile tissues which are required to produce the highest forces during the exercise and ultimately what moves the load so we probably want to select some hypertrophy exercises which aren't too dissimilar to the competition lifts so that we are targeting the same muscle groups and specific regions of the muscle which are most important for that exercise and second is that you probably want to be specific with which muscle groups you allocate more or less a volume for you probably want to spend the most effort training the prime movers rather than less relevant muscles for example you probably want to allocate more volume for the quads and glutes if the goal is to transfer to squat performance as opposed to spending more time and effort towards the calves and biceps so the two primary ways that will enhance strength gains are to improve efficiency and to increase muscle mass so how can this be implemented in practice well this is where the concept of periodization comes into play periodization is essentially just strategic long-term programming so we can focus more or less on different training qualities at different times of the year for strength we probably want to periodize our training in the following way earlier in a training cycle it is usually best to emphasize muscle growth the more muscle tissue we can accumulate the greater our potential to become efficient with later on here you don't want to completely neglect efficiency training but it just won't be the emphasis of your training you might still perform the competition lifts but not quite as heavy and not as frequently and as you get closer to the time of your Peak you would want to emphasize training for efficiency this is to maximize your strength potential with the current muscle mass you are carrying at your current body weight again this doesn't mean you would neglect hypertrophy training altogether it just means that you might train with slightly less volume for all accessory lifts and between these two ends of the training cycle there should be a gradual shift from emphasizing one quality to the next this is because a sudden change in training style is likely to increase injury risk since the tissues are not fully adapted to the new stress and the other performance goal we can train for is Sport performance there are many different sports that can be trained for and there isn't a universal way to train all of them however here are a few General categories that are relevant in some way to most sports the first and usually most important is skill practice this refers to training the specific skills required in a sport irrespective of physical capacity this is the most important component of sport performance in almost all cases since it has the largest impact on the outcome of the sport even if physical capacity is Elite without good sport specific skill your Effectiveness on the field court or pitch is probably going to be almost useless it should be noted however that the importance of skill also differs somewhat between sports for example table tennis or badminton is usually going to be highly influenced by skill and secondarily by physical performance although pure output Sports such as sprinting or endurance running are going to be mostly influenced by physical output as opposed to skill in either case skill can be trained on a spectrum of specificity versus exposure at one end of the spectrum we have higher exposure but lower specificity whereas the other end of the spectrum involves less exposure but higher specificity on the high exposure end of the spectrum we have repeated practice of one specific component of the sport as a whole usually in a more controlled environment an example of this might be performing a hundred forehand shots on a tennis court from the same position into the same Target on the other end of a spectrum we have lower frequency of any single skill but in a more realistic environment as we would see during competitive matches of that sport this involves combining motor patterns timing decision making positioning Etc as would occur in competitive matches in general higher exposure practice is generally going to be more beneficial for younger less skilled athletes while more advanced athletes require more game specific training as they have already developed all the fundamental skills well the next method that can contribute to sport performance are speed power and strength training these traits essentially allow us to amplify our ability to display skills on the court or field they cannot replace skill practice but they can provide a larger Foundation to work from as it relates to sport performance these traits can be implemented in the following ways speed is best developed in a low fatigue state with maximal effort this involves all out efforts of straight Sprints or change of Direction drills performed with full recovery and maximal intent depending on the sport the distances and drills might be different to accommodate the requirements of the athlete power can be developed by using a ballistic and plyometric exercises ballistic exercises involve moving an external load without any deceleration for example a squat jump or a medicine ball throw ballistic exercises are usually useful for acceleration lateral movement and static jumping ability Plyometrics involve significant use of these direct shortening cycle some examples of Plyometrics include repeated hurdle jumps drop jumps and Bounds these exercises are mostly used to develop maximal speed and dynamic jumping ability and strength training is often used by athletes to increase muscular Force output and for injury prevention purposes we have already discussed how to train for strength in the previous section but it might be implemented slightly differently for other athletes unless you are a strength athlete lifting weights isn't a requirement of the sport itself so the principle of specificity is less important here so the exercise itself isn't all that important it is more about what we would call General strength this refers to developing a decent base of strength in the primary movement patterns like squatting hinging pressing and pulling but not specifically for any individual lift furthermore athletes May Implement some specialized strength training for injury prevention purposes for example many field-based athletes include eccentric and asymmetric hamstrings and a doctor strength training to minimize risk of muscle strains it should also be noted that not all athletes require all of these training methods and different athletes require more or less of each trait the second training and nutrition strategy that athletes may need to consider is body composition depending on the sport athletes May benefit from carrying more or less muscle mass and or body fat in some cases a lighter leaner physique is beneficial while other athletes May benefit from a bigger and heavier physique for example a lighter and leaner physique is usually going to be favorable for gymnastics performance in most cases whereas some positions in rugby will usually benefit from greater muscle mass and potentially also a slightly higher body fat and athletes can manipulate body composition by gaining or losing muscle mass and body fat we have already discussed training and nutrition for body composition in the body composition section so you can refer back if necessary and the last form of training that athletes can benefit from is endurance training this refers to the ability to Repeat Performance in whatever way is required and like all performance traits this is going to be specific to the sport for example endurance for a distance Runner refers to running continuously for a prolonged period of time but endurance for a boxer refers to the ability to throw and avoid punches and move in multiple different directions for multiple two to three minute rounds with short rests between rounds so the way in which these two athletes will train will look quite different there are three primary ways in which endurance training can be performed for athletes the first is via sport practice itself in most cases training for the sport alone will provide a decent endurance stimulus specific to the sport this replicates the demands of the sport perfectly and usually prepares athletes quite well furthermore if sport practice itself isn't enough for an athlete to be prepared for their sport so some specific conditioning can be used for extra endurance training this would involve endurance modalities which are similar in type duration work rest periods movement patterns and so on to that of the competitive event this might be used as a way to prepare for competitive sport after time off or returning from an injury before being cleared to participate in full training and lastly we have General conditioning this refers to General aerobic training which simply has the goal of promoting Central endurance adaptations such as cardiovascular and respiratory endurance this might include training such as continuous cycling running or rowing for an extended duration at a relatively low intensity this isn't specific to any sport modality and isn't going to transfer perfectly to sport performance however it can be used to develop a large General aerobic capacity which can enhance specific endurance when sport practice is implemented and the last training goal we will discuss in this video is Health and Longevity this refers to exercise and diet strategies which can enhance markers of Health theoretically allowing us to live longer or have a higher quality of life while this area of evidence is difficult to draw highly specific recommendations for there are a few General forms of training which are widely accepted as beneficial for Health and Longevity the first is resistance training in general resistance training performed in moderation has many positive effects on health and function most notably resistance training is helpful for muscle mass development and strength gains as we have mentioned already but also for development and maintenance of bone density furthermore performing full range of motion resistance training is going to act as a good form of Mobility training allowing trainees to maintain joint range of motion for health and function purposes resistance training doesn't need to be performed with the same volume and intensity as hypertrophy or performance goals lifting two to three times per week for 45 to 60 Minutes is probably enough to near-maximize the health benefits of course lifters can always lift more than this if they have other goals but for health purposes even a little resistance training will be highly beneficial next we have cardiorespiratory training this refers to training with the purpose of improving the ability of the heart vascular system and respiratory system to efficiently Supply and remove gases and nutrients in around and out of the body increased cardiorespiratory Fitness is associated with a large number of positive health effects such as reduced blood pressure a lower resting heart rate improved blood lipid profile and increased insulin sensitivity to name a few furthermore cardio can also help with the maintenance of bone density and counteract muscle atrophy in the Aging population the best way to train the cardiorespiratory system is to perform endurance style training where local muscle fatigue isn't a limiter instead we want the cardiorespiratory systems to be heavily taxed during the exercise modalities such as running cycling circuit workouts Etc are all good options to train the cardiorespiratory system and similar to resistance training performing a relatively low dose of this exercise is going to be held helpful from a health perspective low to moderate cardiorespiratory exercise two to three times per week is usually sufficient to achieve the majority of health benefits and for further health benefits it might be helpful to make one to two of these sessions of higher intensity such as intense interval training and lastly body composition also appears to be an important factor for health outcomes too maintaining a healthy body composition in conjunction with regular exercise is usually going to have favorable effects on health and function we already discussed the importance of resistance training for the development and maintenance of muscle strength and bone mass but the other side of the equation is related to body fat we would ideally want to maintain a fairly low body fat but not so lean that health is diminished this is mostly going to be a result of diet which helps us keep body weight under control as a general rule maintaining a body fat around 10 to 20 percent for males or around 18 to 28 for females is generally where markers of Health are ideal a prolonged maintenance of a higher or lower body fat than these ranges often results in some negative markers of Health in most cases and lastly we should understand that all of these training goals do have some overlap between them you can definitely train for multiple goals simultaneously and Achieve good results however the further you push towards any one specific goal the more likely it is that other goals may suffer to some extent this isn't bad or wrong it just means that we should be aware of any trade-offs that we may make by being hyper focused on a specific outcome furthermore trainees may want to prioritize certain goals over others at different points in time maybe an athlete is focused primarily on performance at one stage of their life but then prioritizes Health at another stage so individuals can adjust their training based on their goals at any given point in time thanks for watching and hopefully you got something out of this video check out flowhighperformance.com for online coaching training templates ebooks and more

Channel: Flow High Performance

Views: 764,225

Keywords: train, training, lift, lifting, muscle, hypertrophy, strength, weight, weightlifting, growth, diet, nutrition, calories, macronutrients, macros, carbohydrate, fat, protein, technique, bench press, squat, deadlift, powerlifting, bodybuilding, body, how to, exercise, fat loss, weight loss, composition, chest, triceps, delts, quads, hamstrings, glutes, biceps, lats, back, traps, build, workout, program, periodization, push, pull, legs, upper, lower, progressive overload, definition

Id: J3UPiPrjASc

Length: 25min 41sec (1541 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 21 2023