PBT versus VBT – what leads to success?

Strength training

Doing muscle training under supervision is a good idea. Possibly. the training partner can take corrective action here. Scientists have now found that the weight of the dumbbells is less important than the repetition frequency. (Image: pixabay.com, 5132824 (CC0 Public Domain)

Behind the abbreviation PBT is the so-called percentage training. The athlete performs exercises to strengthen the muscles. Over the days and weeks of training, not only are the exercises repeated, but the weights are also increased. Recovery phases are particularly important in this training phase in order to avoid injuries and increase the efficiency of the training. The term VBT is the so-called speed-based training, in which the time is measured to lift the weight. The amount of weight is adjusted accordingly.

Why these two training variants are now under scientific scrutiny is one University of Lincoln study (Great Britain), which announced a result at the beginning of 2020, which seems quite unusual, because: The test group with less weight was able to increase their performance over the test period.

This was the structure and outcome of the study

A total of 16 men, who were on average 22 years old, were examined and observed. The study ran for a total of six weeks. Strength training includes exercises such as bench press, deadlift, overhead press, a counter movement jump and squats.

The result: The greater increase in performance was achieved by the study participants who trained based on speed and not those who increased their weights. The scientists somewhat diminished this result by the fact that the VBT only allowed an increase of one to six percent, that is, it only enabled a slightly better performance than PBT. Another positive side effect of the training without pushing your own limits in terms of weight was the lower injury rate. The reduced weights resulted in less muscle fatigue and less injuries. For strength athletes, this means that an increase in performance is possible – even without heavier weights.

In addition, a doctor at the University of Copenhagen has already found out that muscles send messenger substances and that they even exchange them with organs. However, this only works if the muscles move. It does not have to be in the course of strength training, it is said, but the movement is necessary to motivate myokines (= the messenger substances) to communicate with the organs.

Strength training
In order to achieve success with dumbbell training, the movement sequences must sit properly – without endangering your health. (Image: pixabay.com, 5132824 (CC0 Public Domain)

Professional equipment ensures safe, sustainable training

Of course, training through an unhealthy sequence of movements can do a lot of damage to the body. This is why experts also recommend that you first train on equipment that enables strength training before you can start exercising with dumbbells. The reason is simple: a device that enables strength training usually shapes the body in such a way that the exercise is basically done correctly after looking at the sequence of movements. Anyone who trains with dumbbells must have internalized the correct, health-promoting and muscle-building movements so that the risk of injury is low.

Beginners should plan six to eight weeks of device training, then switch to partially guided cable pulls and only switch to dumbbells after another one and a half months. At Gorilla Sports there are devices in the category strength machines as well as under dumbbells and weights in another category.

The regeneration phase is no less important than professional equipment. American and French researchers have already provided information on this. If there is an extremely high continuous load, the calcium stores will leak. Calcium gets into the muscle, reducing its strength, and molecules break down the muscle fibers. Another team of researchers from Columbia University in New York is now aiming to repair the leaks to optimize endurance.

Strength training
If you want to achieve success in strength training, you must first define your own goals. Should strength improve, should muscles grow, or should endurance be optimized? (Image: pixabay.com, 5132824 (CC0 Public Domain)

Weights that have been too heavy have always been a bad idea

The fact that injuries can be avoided by using suitable weights that are not too serious is not a novelty, but has long been known in the industry. If you want to build muscle mass, do these exercises: pull-ups, bench presses, overhead presses, cross-giving and squats. They all fall into the category of compound exercises. On the other hand, if you want to build muscle and lose fat at the same time, you have to perform so-called multi-joint movements. The following also applies: the right weight and the right repetition factor lead to success.

It’s hard to say which weight is the “right” one, but there are some basic rules that should be followed by all those who start with this sport. If an infinite number of repetitions are possible, the weight is too light, the exercise becomes unclean (and therefore also dangerous to health), because the athlete almost collapses under the load, the weight was also the wrong choice. The optimal choice of weight also depends on the individual goals – i.e. whether strength, muscle growth or endurance are the declared goal of the athlete.

Sports coaches advise on these training units tailored to the respective goals:

  • A high repetition frequency between 12 and 20 repetitions (with 1 to 3 sets) leads to good strength endurance.
  • Athletes achieve the best muscle growth with 3 to 5 sets with six to 12 repetitions.
  • The maximum effort is with 4 to 6 sets and just one to five repetitions.

In addition, experts advise you to stick to a specific workout order, starting with the largest muscles. The largest muscle in terms of area is the latissimus dorsi muscle, i.e. the broad back muscle. The provides an overview of the other back muscles AOK Rhineland / Hamburg in an online graphic. In terms of volume, the gluteus maximus muscle, the largest gluteus muscle, is ranked first and in terms of strength and strength, the masseter muscle, the chewing muscle, has the most to offer.

May 11, 2020

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