Quality over Quantity
If you’ve never lifted weights before, then initially doing pretty much anything will get you some sort of result if you’re doing it consistently. For most people this ends up being the classic ‘3 sets of 10 reps’ on every exercise – little to no thought is given to warming up with a lighter weight first, the order in which they select exercises, or even what exercises they do (usually it’s whatever machine is available). And I have to say that I honestly understand that – when first starting out there’s a ton of information to take in, and most people just want to get their results as soon as possible without feeling like they don’t know what they’re doing – which usually ends up in them choosing the ‘safe’ options they see everyone else doing (machines) for 3 sets of 10 reps.
While this can definitely be useful (if done safely and consistently) to help you get your foot in the door and become used to lifting weights, to truly fast-track your results and get the most out of your time in the gym you will want to base your workouts around quality movements done with enough working volume to elicit a response from your body (an increase in strength/metabolism, and the stimulus for improving muscle tone). It’s not about doing the most exercises as you can in an hour, it’s about doing enough of the right exercises in the right way.
…So where do I start?
Exercise Selection
For most goals in the gym (Fat loss and Strength increase being among them) we want to start with the biggest exercises that use the most muscles first, then go to the smaller movements that use less muscles afterwards. Say for example we’re doing an all-body session, where we’re looking to use most (if not all) major muscle groups in the body. Rather than starting the session with a bicep curl (which would only use a few, small muscles in the arms) you should be starting with a lower body movement like a squat or a leg press (which will use the larger muscle groups in the legs).
We’re trying to ensure that when you’ve got the most energy available (the start of the session) you’re working harder on the movements that will give you the best results (exercises that use more muscles). Here’s an example of how this might look:
Taken from a recent ‘Workout of the Week’ for the Jetts Maroochydore members.
In this session we start with the Trap Bar Deadlift, which uses essentially all the muscles in the legs as well as the core, back and arms. From there we move onto the Reverse-grip Lat Pulldown which uses the back and arms (the biceps specifically), then the Machine Shoulder Press which hits the shoulders and arms (this time using the triceps) before finishing with some core work by doing some Side Planks.
This is simply an example – you don’t have to stick to this particular workout every time you come into the gym and should learn how to do each movement correctly before attempting to increase intensity and weight. But by structuring your training sessions using this principle of exercise selection, you can start making the most of your time in the gym.
…So how many do I do?
Volume Selection
Firstly we look at your warm-up with each exercise – the heavier we plan to do our working sets at, the more warm-up sets we need. If for example you’re hitting the all-body workout from earlier and plan to do your working deadlift sets at 80kg, your warm-up progression might look like this:
15 reps of the bar
12 reps of 40kg
10 reps of 60kg
We’ve started very light and done more reps to focus on getting blood supply to the muscles we’re going to use, as well as practicing the movement to ensure that we’re familiar with it before getting to the heavier working sets. In this way warm-ups are crucial – we’re not just trying to throw the weight around, but rather using every set and rep as an opportunity to lift with the best technique possible. If you don’t pay attention to your warm-up sets (or don’t perform any at all) you risk serious injury by not performing the movement correctly – speaking from experience as someone who herniated a disc in their lower back and had to spend 18 months rehabbing the area before returning to heavy lower body lifts.
At a minimum for most exercises I’d recommend 2 warm-up sets. If you’re short on time and want to have a quick workout then you’d look at cutting away the back end of the workouts – maybe do less exercises, or less working sets. The warm-up stays in however; this is non-negotiable for longevity.
I’m not saying you’ll have to answer to John Wick, I’m just saying that warm-ups are non-negotiable.
Once we’ve warmed up we need to decide how many working sets and reps we want to do- depending on how much focus you want to put into that given movement, between 3-5 sets is a good range to stay in. Want to get better and stronger in that particular movement? Hit 5 sets. Want to save some energy for a different exercise? Hit 3 sets.
For rep ranges and weight loading, if it’s a new movement it’s more important to learn the exercise through lighter weight, higher rep sets – think between 10-15 reps. Once you’re familiar with that exercise and want to get stronger you can start looking at the 5-8 rep range with heavier weight – just remember that the heavier you want to lift, the more warm-up sets you’ll need to do.
So next time you’re coming to the gym to train, spend a minute or two planning your session. Don’t just sleep-walk through your exercises doing 3 sets of 10 reps on every single movement – warm-up properly and perform enough working volume to get your desired results. As the old saying goes, ‘Quality over Quantity’.
Talk soon,
Alex
