Abstract
This paper provides a four-week resistance training program that entails the development of muscles and an increase in mass through some beginner exercises. The training program is set to enhance bioenergetic, muscular, circulatory, and respiratory adaptation to resistance training. Students should expect a higher rate in their metabolic pathways.
As more people in society continue adopting healthy lifestyles, parents and the authorities in educational institutions have looked into encouraging teenagers to start exercising. Resistance training in a school is one of the approaches that might influence teenagers to adopt healthy lifestyles through regular exercising. The exercise program discussed hereafter is meant to enhance the adaptation of the musculoskeletal, bioenergetic, circulatory, and respiratory systems to resistance training. The program’s long-term goal is to increase strength, tone the body and increase the mass and endurance of muscles in the partakers of the training.
Session 1: Week 1 Full Body Exercise (Monday)
The goal of this session will be to prepare the body for resistance training. The session is open for 15-30 students per hour since it lasts 50 minutes. It will involve 8 exercises, namely, squats, dead-lifts, bench presses, cable triceps extension, barbell row, barbell curl, seated calf raise, and sit-ups. Each exercise will take 5 minutes, with two sets per exercise. Each set will have 10 reps that should be completed in one and a half minutes before resting for 60 seconds and starting the second set. Students will rest for a minute after the second set of one exercise before moving to the next exercise. The warm-up period for this session will involve rope skipping for 3-5 minutes. The cool-down period for this session will involve stretching the whole body.
Session 2: Week 1 Full Body Exercise (Thursday)
This session will be identical to the first session of the first week. Students will warm-up for 3-5 minutes, which will include jogging for 3 minutes, just enough to raise some light sweat on their faces. This will be followed by 2 minutes of stretching to prepare their muscles for the main exercises. The 8 exercises in session 1 will be repeated at the same frequency of 2 sets with 10 reps each for 5 minutes for each exercise. The cool-down period in this session will involve jumping jacks for 3 minutes then walking for two minutes.
Session 3: Week 2 Full Body Exercise (Monday)
Week two will include squats, dead-lifts, military press, lat pull down, barbell row, barbell curl, seated calf raise, and sit-ups. The goal of the two sessions in week 2 is to enhance muscle endurance and promote mass gain. Each of the exercises will have 2 sets, each with 12 reps, which will take 5 minutes for every couple of sets, including the rests between sets. This session will be open for 15-30 students The exercise phase will take 40 minutes. During this first session of week 2, the students will warm up by jogging on the spot for 3-5 minutes. The cool-down process after the exercise will involve stretching the muscles.
Session 4: Week 2 Hand and Leg muscles (Thursday)
The goal of this session will be to enhance hand and leg muscle endurance. Students will warm up by jumping the rope for 3-5 minutes, and their cool-down process will involve walking and stretching. The exercise will include push-ups, dips, squat throws, and calf raises. The exercises will take 40 minutes.
Session 5: Week 3 Abdomen muscles (Monday)
The goal of this session is to increase muscular endurance in the abdomen. The session will involve beginner exercises, including V-Ups, standing bicycle crunches, seated leg lifts, sit-ups, and several bicycle crunches. The students will cool down by stretching their abdominal muscles.
Session 6: Week 3Hand and Leg Muscles (Thursday)
This session will be identical to session 4 in week 2. The goal of the session will be to further strengthen hand and leg muscles.
Session 7: Week 4 Full Body Exercise (Monday)
This session will focus on the whole body. The exercises will include sit-ups, push-ups, calf raises, squats, dips, barbell row, barbell curl, seated calf raises, and V-Ups at an intense level. Warming up will involve jogging, and cooling down will involve walking and stretching the entire body.
Session 8: Week 4 Full Body Exercise (Thursday)
The goal of this session will be to prepare the muscles for healing (Fleck & Kraemer, 2014). Half the session will be used to repeat the exercises in session 7, and the rest of the time will be used for stretching.
Bioenergetic adaptation to resistance training
Exercising requires the muscles to produce more energy at a faster rate. This means that the students should expect their metabolic rates to increase during the exercising process. More macro-nutrients will be converted into useable energy in the muscles (Baechle & Earle, 2008). As they proceed with the exercises, their bodies will turn to reserved sources of energy, in the form of fats, to generate energy (McArdle, Katch & Katch, 2010).
Circulatory and respiratory adaptation to resistance training
The students should expect a more efficient circulatory system because resistance training will foster an increase in the mass of heart muscles. Similarly, the diaphragm will have more strength (Gibala & McGee, 2008).
Musculoskeletal adaptation to resistance training
The gradual intensification of the exercises and the muscle-focused sessions will increase mass (Schoenfeld, 2010). The students will increase their muscles and endurance with time, but the first few sessions might lead to muscle aches (Markovic & Mikulic, 2010).
References
Baechle, T. R., & Earle, R. W. (2008). Essentials of strength training and conditioning. Champaign: Human kinetics.
Markovic, G., & Mikulic, P. (2010). Neuro-musculoskeletal and performance adaptations to lower-extremity plyometric training. Sports medicine, 40(10), 859-895.
Schoenfeld, B. J. (2010). The mechanisms of muscle hypertrophy and their application to resistance training. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 24(10), 2857-2872.
Fleck, S. J., & Kraemer, W. (2014). Designing Resistance Training Programs, 4E. Champaign: Human Kinetics.
Gibala, M. J., & McGee, S. L. (2008). Metabolic adaptations to short-term high-intensity interval training: a little pain for a lot of gain?. Exercise and sport sciences reviews, 36(2), 58-63.
McArdle, W. D., Katch, F. I., & Katch, V. L. (2010). Exercise physiology: nutrition, energy, and human performance. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.