When starting a new strength training program it is easy to get confused by all the different concepts and approaches available. Ask 10 different personal trainers what the best strength training program looks like and you are likely to get 10 different answers. You might overhear some guy at your local gym talking about some new amazing strength training program he read about that will help you gain strength and build muscle in no time, he'll probably tell you why this concept is far superior to any other program out there.

The truth of the matter is that the response to strengt training is highly individual. What works for one person might not necessarily work for everyone. There are many reasons for this, however explaining this here goes beyond the purpose of this article. However, there are some basic concepts that should be incorporated into any strength training program. Below are some basic concepts that should always be considered. Keep in mind that in the end what approach you choose are dependent on your unique goals.

• At least 24-36 hours of rest must be allowed for recovery(unless you are superman). Training the same muscles on consecutive days may lead to overtraining, muscle fatigue, and possible injury. All of our strength gains are made during the time we rest. (Some professional athletes follow exercise programs that conflicts with this principle but only for limited periods and these people have been training professionally for years)
• One should focus on one muscle groups and not too much on individual muscles. This is because the nervous system that controls our movements (and therefore muscles) works in patterns of muscle activation. This also makes the exercises more functional and transferrable to normal everyday activities where we never use one muscle at the time to perform a task. An easy way to incorporate this kind of exercsise is to focus on moving several joints at the same time within a movement. Examples of exercise that applies this concept are squats,dips,chins and benchpress among others.
• Strength training routines must be regular and consistent over a longer period of time for results to take place. A fine balance between intensity and consistency should be sought after. The best outcome from your fitness and strength training program comes from changing to a healthy lifestyle. Replace bad habits with good ones and reap the rewards.

• Your strength training program should be changed every 4-6 weeks. This will prevent our body from hitting a plateau and it will keep things interesting. There are several variables we can manipulate. We can change the frequency, intensity and we can change and try different variations of exercises. Make sure your body is challenged on every workout.
• Strength training programs must be designed according to specific goals. Specific goals may be fat loss, hypertrophy, maintaining weight or increasing strength. But effective goals needs to be more narrow than this. We need to specify how much, and within a given timeframe. Different goals will naturally have different methods that is better suited for the particular goal to be achieved. Being specific about goals is probably the most important foundation of a strength training program.
• The strength training program should work all of the major muscle groups in our body 1-3 times per week. This includes our biceps, triceps, shoulders, chest, back, abs, quads, glutes, hamstrings and calves. Leaving out muscle groups may result in muscular imbalances.

Knowing the main concepts to incorporate in a strength training program will move you one step closer to a fit, strong and healthy body