Designing Resistance Training Programs

Designing Resistance Training Programs, Fourth Edition, is a guide to developing individualized training programs for both serious athletes and fitness enthusiasts. In this updated and expanded fourth edition, two of the world’s leading experts on strength training explore how to design scientifically based resistance training programs, modify and adapt programs to meet the needs of special populations, and apply the elements of program design in the real world.

Fleck and Kraemer provide readers with a thorough understanding of the process of designing resistance training programs from both scientific and practical perspectives. As with previous editions, the fourth edition includes comprehensive tables that compare data and conclusions from research on core topics related to design of resistance training programs. By summarizing research and content for the reader, these tables offer a study guide, on-the-job reference, or starting point for further research. Designing Resistance Training Programs, Fourth Edition, is the only resource available that presents the body of research in the field in this organized and comprehensive format.

The fourth edition has been thoroughly revised to present the most current information while retaining the studies that are the basis for concepts, guidelines, and applications in resistance training. Meticulously updated and heavily referenced, the fourth edition contains the following updates:

• A full-color interior provides stronger visual appeal for the text.

• Sidebars focus on a specific practical question or an applied research concept, allowing readers to connect research to real-life situations.

• Multiple detailed tables summarize research from the text, offering an easy way to compare data and conclusions.

• A glossary makes it simple to find key terms in one convenient location.

• Newly added instructor ancillaries make the fourth edition a true learning resource for the classroom.

Designing Resistance Training Programs, Fourth Edition, begins by outlining the principles of resistance training and exercise prescription, and examines the various types of strength training, including isometrics and eccentric training. This is followed by a discussion of resistance training from a physiological perspective and an overview of how resistance training programs interact with the other conditioning components such as aerobic, interval, plyometric, and flexibility training. Readers will then explore advanced training techniques, how to manipulate training variables in a long-term resistance training program, and ways to plan rest into long-term training that minimizes losses in fitness or performance gains.

An important text for students, researchers, and practitioners, this textbook offers the information and tools to help readers evaluate resistance training programs and better understand the context and efficacy of new data findings in this ever-changing field. Designing Resistance Training Programs, Fourth Edition, is an essential resource for understanding the science behind resistance training and designing evidence-based resistance training programs for any population. This text provides the tools for understanding and designing resistance training programs for almost any situation or need.

Steven J. Fleck, PhD, is an associate professor in health, exercise science, and sport management at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. He earned a PhD in exercise physiology from Ohio State University in 1978. He has headed the physical conditioning program of the U.S. Olympic Committee; served as strength coach for the German Volleyball Association; and coached high school track, basketball, and football. Fleck is a former vice president of basic and applied research and the current president of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). He is a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the NSCA. He was honored in 1991 as the NSCA Sport Scientist of the Year and received that organization's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.

William J. Kraemer, PhD, is a professor in the department of kinesiology in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. He holds joint appointments as a professor in the department of physiology and neurobiology and as a professor of medicine at the UConn Health School of Medicine Center on Aging. 

He earned a PhD in physiology from the University of Wyoming in 1984. Kraemer held the John and Janice Fisher Endowed Chair in Exercise Physiology and was director of the Human Performance Laboratory and a professor at Ball State University from 1998 until June of 2001. He also was a professor at the Indiana School of Medicine. At Pennsylvania State University, he was professor of applied physiology, director of research in the Center for Sports Medicine, associate director of the Center for Cell Research, and faculty member in the kinesiology department and the Noll Physiological Research Center. He is a fellow of the ACSM and past president of the NSCA. Kraemer has been honored by the NSCA with both their Outstanding Sport Scientist Award and Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2006, the NSCA’s Outstanding Sport Scientist Award was named in his honor. He is editor in chief of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.