Exercise selection in fitness and resistance training stands as a cornerstone principle, wielding significant influence over one’s goals, performance outcomes, the array of resistance training modalities utilized, and the targeted muscle groups. By comprehending the intricacies of exercise selection, individuals can tailor their workout routines effectively to align with their unique objectives and maximize results.
What Are the Effects of Exercise Selection on Muscle Groups?
Exercise selection profoundly impacts the development and balance of specific muscle groups within the body. By choosing exercises that target particular muscle groups effectively, individuals can promote balanced muscular development while mitigating the risk of muscular imbalances and associated injuries.
Moreover, understanding the synergistic relationships between muscle groups allows for the creation of comprehensive exercise training programs that address functional movement patterns and enhance overall muscular strength and stability.
Benefits of Accurate Exercise Selection in Training
Diverse modalities of resistance training offer distinct benefits and serve different purposes in workout programming.
From traditional free weights (barbells and dumbbells) and plate loaded or selectorized machines to innovative tools like resistance bands and cable machines, each modality presents unique advantages in terms of resistance and strength curves to muscle activation and muscle length, stability requirements, and even range of motion.
Goals Alignment
The selection of exercises for fitness training plays a pivotal role in determining the efficacy of a training program in achieving specific fitness objectives. Whether the aim is to build strength, enhance endurance, promote hypertrophy, or improve flexibility, the principle of specificity underscores the importance of selecting exercises that directly contribute to the desired adaptation.
For instance, a focus on compound movements like squats, deadlifts, and bench presses is conducive to strength gains, while incorporating high-intensity interval training (HIIT) may be more suitable for improving cardiovascular endurance.
Exercise and Performance
The relationship between exercise selection and performance is multifaceted, encompassing biomechanical considerations, muscle activation patterns, and energy system demands.
Certain exercises leverage biomechanical advantages to optimize force production and movement efficiency, thereby facilitating performance improvements. Additionally, strategic exercise selection can target specific muscle groups or movement patterns critical for enhancing athletic performance in various sports or activities.
5 Types of Resistance Training
With each exercise, you focus on a specific muscle or group of muscles. The thing that changes the body’s response to the exercise is based on the variation you choose.
What are the effects that resistance has on the body? Everything you do physically has an effect on the nervous system. Specific movement patterns have greater stimulation on the nervous system due to their workload, or how many things need to be recruited to perform the exercise.
Let’s go down the list from most taxing modality to least taxing based on the effects it has on our nervous system:
- Free Weights: This includes barbells and dumbbells due to the large amount of drop off load during the movement or exercise. Free weights require coordination, stabilization, and muscle strength to perform the movement, thereby overstimulating the nervous system.
- Plate-Loaded Exercises: These allow for large drop off of load but not as much as free weights.
- Selectorized Machines: These have small to large drop off of load but resistance is typically applied throughout the entire movement within some capacity.
- Resistance Bands: These are a little tricky, but they are ranked higher than cables in this regard. Resistance bands are slightly more taxing due to the constant change of resistance throughout the exercise.
- Cables: These provide constant resistance throughout the entire movement, which makes them the least taxing for the nervous system.
How to Choose the Correct Training Exercise
When choosing the correct exercise for fitness programming, you should have a goal or an idea of what you hope to accomplish by choosing this exercise or movement. Once you figure out your goal, the next step is picking an exercise that aligns with that particular goal. Don’t over analyze or over think the selection process; you’ll just want to make sure it is practical and efficient.
For example, let’s say our goal is to focus on our quads and your choices are the squat, split squat or lunge. The obvious choice is the squat, since lunges are more likely to recruit the glutes based on the mechanics of the exercise, and split squats have a limitation as to how much you can overload and how much weight you can use for them. Because of this, the biggest “bang for your buck” so to speak is the squat. Now you have an idea of choosing an exercise for your particular goal.
As another example, let’s talk about selecting the correct training machine and exercise variation. Let’s say you have the hack squat, leg press, and pendulum squat available—which exercise would you choose? If your answer was the pendulum squat, then you’re on the right track.
If your first instinct wasn’t the pendulum squat, here’s why it should be. Each of these machines target the quad in some degree. But, one targets the quads more than the others. The quads are stimulated the most depending on your degree of knee flexion/bend, and the exercise that gets you the greatest degree of knee flexion is the pendulum squat.
In conclusion, exercise selection in fitness training has large effects on goal attainment, performance optimization, resistance training modalities, and muscular development. By employing a strategic approach to exercise selection informed by individual goals, biomechanical principles, and physiological considerations, individuals can unlock their full potential and embark on a journey of continuous improvement in their fitness endeavors.
Are you ready to start your fitness journey, or do you need help in selecting the right fitness exercise for your programming? Contact Fitness Factory KC today for advice from our expert coaches.