Building strength is essential at all ages, life stages and athletic abilities, but many people don’t know how or where to start. Some don’t fully understand the importance of and difference between strength training and other types of exercise. Strength training, or “lifting,” is when our muscles are moving against resistance in different planes of motion. The ultimate goal is that muscle fibers break down but then rebuild to get stronger (hypertrophy). As our muscles get stronger, they adapt to the load placed upon them, and therefore have to continuously be challenged to continue gaining strength. Having stronger muscles can help improve overall health, decrease injury risk, prevent bone loss and promote healthy weight loss. Athletes who are focused more on aerobic training sometimes have a fear that strength training will cause them to look “bulky” and be slower in sport. However, this is a myth and strength training appropriately can improve performance.
The first important principle of strength training is progressive overload. Simply, we have to lift in a way that our muscles are challenged. While it is important to establish a baseline (i.e., with body weight exercises, using light weights or bands), many people stay at this level for a long time when their body can actually handle more load. Just think about our daily activities—carrying kids; pushing double strollers uphill; and lifting groceries, which can weigh more than 30 pounds. Additionally, running can produce a force two to four times your body weight. Why would I lift only 10 pounds for exercise when most of my day is spent lifting, pushing and holding more than 30 pounds? We need to move past the baseline and start progressively overloading our muscles. This can look like slowing down the movement (decreasing tempo), increasing the weight/resistance or moving from double-leg to single-leg exercises. Otherwise, our muscles will not change. Sometimes, I see a strength workout that is actually more of a HIIT (high intensity interval training) workout. While HIIT is a great way to work out, the goal of HIIT is more aerobic or plyometric in nature. If your goal is to gain strength (defined as your muscles’ ability to handle more load), we need to do lower reps and higher-intensity lifts. You may not feel aerobically challenged or feel the same “sweat,” but you will get stronger. The strength workout may look the same for the first few weeks, so you can learn how to progress weight and give yourself a chance to improve from your baseline. This does not mean you need to stop other exercises you enjoy, but it is important to carve out days for strength training. This requires a lot of patience and commitment, as it can take up to six weeks to gain strength.
Similarly, many confuse cross training with strength training. Cross training is another way to improve aerobic endurance. Many runners training for a race will add a day of cross training to improve aerobic capacity without putting more load on our body (swim, bike). Like running, it essentially is the same repetitive motion over time, so our body is getting the same stimulus over time. Strength training provides different stimuli to different muscle groups and allows us to move in different planes of motion nonrepetitively for the purpose of hypertrophy.
Many social media accounts can make strength training in the gym look daunting and unrealistic. Strength training does not have to be fancy. The beauty is in the simplicity of it. Using simple movement patterns that are easy to follow and progress is a great way to start. Machines are helpful in the gym, and basic exercises like squats, hip hinging, lunges and upper-body pushing or pulling can be done at home or at the gym. Performing simple exercises also can help make sure our form is correct. There are always modifications and progressions of exercises that can be individualized from person to person, skill level to skill level.
A big next question is how many days and how many reps and sets do I do? This varies greatly from person to person. It depends on current activity level, athletic goals (are you training for a marathon?) and how busy the weekly schedule may be. The general guide is around three days a week. What I find is that the more realistic the program is, the more likely consistency will be maintained without stressing over it. If you can only do two per week for 30 minutes, making a plan that gives you the best bang for your buck those two days is important. For runners specifically, strength training will look different in the off season versus during a training cycle. In regard to reps and sets, “three sets of 10” is not always the way to go. For bigger muscle groups that produce more power (think glutes), higher resistance and fewer reps is usually ideal. Smaller muscles that act as more endurance muscles may benefit more from higher reps and lower weight (e.g., the calves). For more postural muscles (think core), challenging those muscle fibers by holding a contraction for a longer period of time is ideal, since these muscles have to be “on” for a long time to keep us upright and functioning throughout the day.
Another important principle of strength training is specificity. If you are an athlete participating in running or another sport, making sure the strength program is tailored to your sport is very important. The programs will and should look different from basic strength training. If you want to participate in your sport for a long time, strength training is crucial and will catch up with you if ignored.
While I brought up runners and sports a few times, strength training is important for everybody. Investing in strength training as we age can improve bone density, improve balance and mobility, decrease risk of falls and decrease risk of osteoporosis and compression fractures. As we age, strength can be quickly lost and harder to gain. While it’s never too late to start strength training, there is no time like the present! Find someone who can make a training plan that works with your hectic schedule. It is definitely worth the investment for lifelong health. Once strength goals are reached, it only takes a fraction of the effort to maintain that strength.
Another very important population that needs to lift more is parents! As I mentioned above, kids are heavy. And they come with a lot of stuff. While it can be very hard to find time as a parent with young kids to strength train, I have seen too many parents with aches and pains popping up from the constant load they need to carry. Parents need to be strong so they can decrease the risk of hurting themselves while performing all of their parental duties. Your kids will thank you later for taking the time to take care of yourself now!
If you are unsure what strength training is supposed to look like, finding a professional like a physical therapist or personal trainer to either work with at home or in the gym can be very
helpful! We can help teach the foundations of strength training, help build the foundation and teach how you can progress so you can become independent in your training programs.
Not sure where to start or have any questions? Book a consult with your friendly neighborhood physical therapist.
Jenny is a local, private physical therapist and owner of Next Step PT. She specializes in general orthopedics for adults and teens, is a pelvic floor specialist, works with women during pregnancy and postpartum, is a running gait analyst and more. For a free PT consultation or more information, contact nextsteppt123@gmail.com.
