3 Important principles of Resistance training

Specificity:

This relates to the idea that in order to get better at a certain task or skill, you must perform that task. It seems like a fairly simple concept but one that many of us forget about when it comes to physical exertion. Have you ever lifted a bag of coal or compost or carried full bags of shopping? Have you then suffered with muscle aches and pains or even low back pain and spasm as a result? Well, this is most likely because you don’t consistently practice these movement patterns and tasks. To get good at lifting heavy objects you must practice it!

Variability:

The stresses and strains our bodies undergo during our daily lives are rarely clean and structured movements. Rather we must twist and bend and manouvre ourselves in many different directions in many different environments. For example when we clean the house, gardening or chopping timber for the fire. Therefore, when we are training movements in the gym or at home it makes sense to train many different movements, in different planes of movement and under different loads. Create a little bit of chaos in your resistance training plan and become more resilient to the unpredictable stresses and strains of daily life.

Porgressive overload:

As human beings we are incredibly adaptable. Over a period of time, our bodies get used to the stresses and strains we put them under – the same applies of course for resistance training. Therefore it is important to gradually increase your load to challenge your system even more. There are several variables that can be adjusted in your training plan such as weight, reps, sets, number of exercises, frequency with which you train and speed of the movement.

If you decide to take up some resistance training and want to keep your body a well oiled machine or just get a tune up, please see our services.

Or you can book a free discovery session if you are unsure if physiotherapy is the right fit for your problem will we can go through your issue and a short movement screen to see if physiotherapy can help you.