Learning how to conduct appropriate strength-training workouts can be a daunting process for athletes new to the iron game'. After all, strength-training novices must learn proper form on machines or with free weights and establish an optimal training frequency and duration. In addition, they face the problems of choosing the amount of resistance (weight) to utilize and selecting the proper number of repetitions per set.

Making the whole process even tougher is the fact that some strength experts recommend beginning with light weights and high numbers of repetitions, while others call for moderately heavy weights and seven to 10 'reps' per set.

To determine which strategy produces better gains in muscle strength, researchers at the University of Florida recently studied 10 pairs of healthy, untrained identical twins. The twins engaged in variable-resistance strength training for their quadriceps muscles twice a week, but one twin utilized resistance great enough to permit no more than seven to 10 repetitions per set, while the other twin used lighter resistance which permitted 15-20 reps per set. After 10 weeks, gains in quadriceps-muscle power were assessed in both groups.

There wasn't a shard of strength differential between the two groups (each boosted quadriceps power by 13 per cent), suggesting that either moderately heavy weights with seven to 10 reps OR light weights with 15-20 reps are fine for beginning strength trainers. As expected, gains in strength and muscle-fatigue characteristics were correlated between twins, indicating that a significant portion of one's potential for muscle-strength improvement is inherited.

('Number of Repetitions Does Not Influence the Initial Response to Resistance Training in Identical Twins,' Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, vol. 26(5), Supplement, p. 574, 1994)

basic weight training routines