Our final Foundational Strength post Part seven. We have discussed the big picture concepts of what it means to train for strength, the general macro cycle of moving towards the specificity of strength as well as setting strength goals and then the last four posts discussing progressions. Today we are going to talk about general principles for organizing your training.
1. Frequency of sessions: Overall it has been found that increased frequency is ideal. Keep in mind frequency does not mean they’re all at the same intensity. Minimum you should be hitting all major muscle groups twice per week. Frequency of 4 sessions per week or more seems to be advantageous to strength gains. This can be split any way you like push, pull legs, two upper days and two lower body days etc.
2. Volume: Lot of contention about optimal volume for strength don’t overcomplicate it get 10-20 total sets per week per muscle group.
3. Rep ranges: generally speaking hypertrophy and strength go hand in hand at some level however rep ranges between between 1-6 are going to emphasize strength focus with reps 6-12 providing some strength and leaning more toward hypertrophy.
4. Compound Movements first: Begin training days with compound movements to maximize strength economy (most bang for your buck) and push more strength focused rep ranges here with your progressions.
5. Picking accessories: Pick accessories (movements outside of primary compounds) that attack your weaknesses. You have a weak posterior chain? Do reverse hypers or RDLs. Be critical and select movements you need to work on.
Those are some very general tips about organizing your training sessions. At the end of the day I could post about strength info forever but I want to move on to other topics right now. Lots of different views and opinions on this stuff out there but at the end of the day if you’re hitting training sessions week to week and staying on top of a progression you will improve. If you need help programming I highly recommend finding a coach.