Exercise Specificity and Why It's Important
Welcome back, friends, and happy Thursday! Let's dive in to today's topic of exercise specificity.
It is a fact that if you're new to working out and you're just starting your fitness journey, you will make progress (GAINZ!) much faster than someone who is more advanced/has been training for a long period of time. These are referred to as "newbie gains". This occurs because your body hasn't been exposed to this/much stress before, or a stress similar to that of intense exercise. Because this stimulus is so new, your body is simply going to respond strongly to it, even if it’s not the most “optimal” stimulus. Furthermore, the more foreign an exercise is, the more strength you’ll rapidly gain as your nervous system learns how to use the muscle mass you already have to efficiently perform the movement.
Once you have gotten into the groove of exercising, find what you actually enjoy doing (weightlifting, high intensity workouts, powerlifting, olympic lifting, bodybuilding, etc.). Finding a method of exercising that you truly love is very important, as it is what's going to keep you working towards your goals day after day, week after week.
As you advance, you can start getting more specific with your training by programming and planning out your workouts either weekly, monthly, or in four/eight/twelve-week cycles based on what your end goal is. It is essential you do some research on your method of training as well as your desired adaptation (your end goal) to educate yourself on the specifics of each. For example, a marathon runner would not train in the same manner as a bodybuilder because the exercise stress imposed on the bodybuilder is specific to the long term goal of aesthetics. The adaptations of a bodybuilding program would result in building muscle, which is a different objective than the long-distance runner.
What makes a program specific? There are a host of variables, including but not limited to: range of motion, muscles involved, metabolic pathways used, intensity and effort applied, speed of contraction, duration, volume, rest intervals between sets, mechanics of exercise, exercise selection, recovery period between sessions, and load requirements. Below I show you the contrasting variables of powerlifting, the method of training I engage in, and hypertrophy. Powerlifting hosts the well-known core lifts- squat, bench, and deadlift, while hypertrophy is intended to induce the fastest muscle growth possible, without losing efficacy over an extended period of time.
Powerlifting
Load (high)
Metabolic pathways (ATP-CP)
Skill acquisition (standardized lifts)
Rep range continuum (low end)
Tempo continuum (fast)
Rest intervals (long)
Hypertrophy
Load (low and high)
Metabolic pathways (anaerobic glycolysis)
Variation (advanced trainees)
Rep range continuum (moderate and high end)
Tempo continuum (slow and fast)
Rest intervals (short and moderate)
Eccentric loading (micro-tears)
In sum, it is important you understand the specific variables you need to implement so that you have an optimal chance in reaching the desired objective and/or adaptation, whether you are creating a training program for yourself or another person. Knowledge is power!
Thanks for reading :)
xoxo
