- Not Chris Highcock
I’m reading Hillfit: Stength, an ebook by Chris Highcock of Conditioning Research. One of the scientific review articles he cites in support of his recommendations is an eye-opener.
Evidence-Based Resistance Training Recommendations is available free online. It’s published in Medicina Sportiva, which I’m not familiar with. I’ll confess I’ve read little of the hard-core literature on the science of strength training. It’s one of my more recent interests.
An excerpt:
We recommend that appreciably the same muscular strength and endurance adaptations can be attained by performing a single set of ~8-12 repetitions to momentary muscular failure, at a repetition duration that maintains muscular tension throughout the entire range of motion, for most major muscle groups once or twice each week. All resistance types (e.g. free-weights, resistance machines, bodyweight, etc.) show potential for increases in strength, with no significant difference between them, although resistance machines appear to pose a lower risk of injury.
The article has already got me questioning some of my notions, such as how often to work out, number of reps moving a weight, speed of moving a weight, and whether I should stick with free weights. Why not see if your dogma is supported? Worth a look.
Fisher, James, et al. Evidence-based resistance training recommendations. Medicina Sportiva, 15 (2011): 147-162.
Paleo Diabetic 