How to structure a resistance workout

As a professional Personal Trainer, I often get asked what the best structure to a resistance workout is. How often it should be implemented, what type of exercise to do, and how many reps and sets etc.? Well let me try to make this a little clearer for you...

The first thing to consider, is that if you are wanting to 'tone up', 'lose weight', 'improve strength', 'build muscle mass', 'increase muscular endurance' or 'chisel your figure', then you need to perform resistance work, or as we commonly say - lift weights, and weight train!

Many individuals however tend to be put off by the thought of 'lifting weights', but this is generally due to the lack of fitness or weight training knowledge that prevents people from achieving their goal through this type of fitness training.

It is important to recognise that anyone can benefit from resistance training, from children (generally aged 8+yrs) to the elderly. As long as the programme is balanced, planned for the individual and has been ideally developed and supported by a fitness professional.

The Structure

Ideally when performing resistance training, it is advised that the bigger muscle groups are worked first, with the smaller ones at the end. This means that you would most likely work on your back, chest, legs first, followed by your shoulders, arms and then your abdominals at the end.

Your abdominals are the stabilising muscles for your body, and are worked throughout your training session supporting your posture, and maintaining core strength and stability, so these should only be worked at the end to prevent premature tiring of these key muscles.

The number of sets and repetitions you should perform per exercise and per muscle group greatly depends on your ability and interest but most importantly your fitness or health goals (the reason behind doing this form of training). The reason for this is that differing reps and set numbers has been shown to provide different results. This is where most people go wrong! - I will discuss this topic in more detail in a future blog...

If you would like to get a more professional approach to your resistance training, or fitness training on a whole, please feel free to contact me by email, or what would be more beneficial is to sign up to my Online Personal Training service which starts at just £1.99/month, but for individualised programming starts at just £4.99/month - Personal Training has never been more affordable and accessible! Please visit my website now at http://www.absolutefitness-online.co.uk for more tips and advice and to sign up to my training support services.

So, what are you waiting for... get to the gym, or dust off your dumbbells at home, and get sinking, squeezing and lifting! Enjoy, but be careful!