Strength training isn’t just for building muscle bulk. It helps build bones, boost metabolism, improve posture, and so much more.
Have you ever thought of yourself as the architect of your own body? While that may sound like a strange concept, you have the power to create the body you feel healthiest in.
But, it’s not all about sculpting the “perfect” body – it’s also a powerful way to enhance your overall physical and mental well-being. That’s where strength training comes in and the tool you need to build a stronger, more resilient version of yourself.
Let’s explore the benefits of adding more strength training exercises into your routine, as well as some simple ways to start.
What is Strength Training?
At its core, strength training uses specific exercises to improve muscle strength and endurance. In many cases, these exercises apply a force or resistance against muscle contractions, which challenges your body and triggers muscle growth and fitness.
There is no single way to practice strength training. Some styles use tools like free weights, weight machines, or resistance bands, while others focus on using your own body weight.
No matter what type of strength training you do, the goal is not just to lift heavier weights; it’s to train your muscles to withstand more and more resistance to increase your overall capacity for physical activities and challenges. This doesn’t just benefit the fitness buffs – incorporating strength training into your exercise routine is an act of self-care and prevention for anyone. How? These exercises improve bone density, support weight management, reduce the risk of chronic diseases, and improve balance, posture, and even mental health.
Strength Training Vs. Weight Training
Because strength training may use weights, it is often confused with weight training. But, it’s important to distinguish the two. While weight training is a form of strength training focused specifically on lifting weights to improve muscle strength, strength training takes a broader approach.
In general, strength training exercises target muscle endurance and strength – with or without the use of added weight. This flexibility, adaptability, and accessibility is what makes strength training a go-to practice for anyone looking to live healthier.
The Benefits of Strength Training
Strength training has many health benefits that go far beyond looking fit. Let’s explore some of the core health benefits of integrating strength training into your daily or weekly workouts.
1) Increases Muscle Strength and Endurance
Building muscle strength is the most obvious benefit of strength training. These exercises work so well because they systematically challenge your muscles to perform better and grow stronger. This not only benefits your athletic performance, but allows you to perform simple daily activities (like carrying groceries to climbing stairs) with more ease and a reduced risk of injury.
2) Increases Bone Density
It’s not all about building muscle – strength training also effectively boosts your bone growth. Weight-bearing exercises (whether it’s free weights or bodyweight) have been proven to stimulate bone growth and increase bone density. This is especially important as we age, as our bone mass naturally declines over the years. By reinforcing bone strength, strength training is one of our best defenses against osteoporosis, fractures, and injuries.
3) Boosts Metabolism and Supports Weight Loss
Losing weight and maintaining a healthy metabolism requires a healthy diet and exercise. And while cardio may come to mind as the best way to shed pounds, strength training is just as important. Strength training exercises can help boost your overall metabolism, helping your body to burn more calories, even when you’re sleeping! Muscle tissue is more metabolically active than fat tissue, so the more muscle you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate.
4) Improves Posture and Balance
Did you know your posture can have a significant impact on your overall health? If you are regularly slumping or slouching, you are putting excess strain on certain muscles and weakening others. This eventually affects the spine and has far-reaching consequences. With strength training, however, you strengthen the muscles around your core, back, and shoulders to improve your posture. A strong core is crucial for maintaining balance and stability, which means better posture and reduced strain on your spine. Improved balance also means a lower risk of falls and injuries, especially as we age.
5) Improves Flexibility and Reduces the Risk of Injury
While strength training can make you feel a little stiff as your muscles acclimate to the exercises, when performed correctly, it can actually improve your flexibility. This is especially true for strength and mobility exercises that move your joints through their full range of motion. This, combined with an increase in muscle mass, helps protect your joints from injury and improves the body’s ability to absorb shock.
6) Reduces Risk of Chronic Diseases
Healthy diet, exercise, and stress management are essential lifestyle habits to avoid preventable chronic diseases – and strength training can help. Strength training has been shown to reduce the risk of several chronic diseases by improving insulin sensitivity, lowering inflammation, and improving body composition. These are all key factors that are crucial in preventing conditions like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers.
7) Reduces Stress and Improves Mental Health
Strength training not only increases your physical strength, but your mental fortitude as well. Strength-enhancing exercise has been proven to reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress. How can this be? Researchers suspect that shifting the mind’s focus to the body and movements is a form of mindfulness. Strength training also enhances whole-body circulation and releases endorphins, which improve our overall mood.
8) Maintains Healthy Blood Pressure, Cholesterol Levels, and Heart Health
Exercise is one of the best ways to show your heart some love – especially if you live a sedentary lifestyle. Along with cardiovascular exercises (like running, dancing, or swimming), practicing strength training also helps support healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels. It does so by improving circulation and heart and blood vessel efficiency to keep those common risk factors for heart disease at bay.
9) Works with Anyone’s Fitness Goals and Abilities
One of the greatest advantages of strength training is its versatility. No one is too old or too young, too active or too unfit, or too busy to get the benefits! Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced athlete, you can adjust strength training exercises by intensity, style, and type to match your fitness goals and abilities.
10) Accessible and Affordable for All
Strength training is highly accessible; it doesn’t necessarily require a gym membership or expensive equipment to get started. In fact, you can try many strength training workouts right at home without any equipment but your own body or common household items. If you do love to workout at a gym, there’s plenty for you to experiment with there, too. This flexibility keeps you more consistent and motivated, regardless of your lifestyle, budget, or exercise preferences.
Types of Strength Training
With so many different styles and variations, strength training is not a one-size-fits-all workout. You can adjust your strength training types to improve different aspects of physical performance and health, based on your needs.
But how do you know which type of strength training is best for you? From enhancing endurance to boosting your explosive power, understanding these types can help you tailor your workout regimen to your specific goals. Let’s explore the different types and a few example exercises to get you started.
Agile Strength Training
Agile strength training focuses on improving agility, or the ability to move quickly and easily, through balancing strength, flexibility, and balance. This type of training is particularly beneficial for athletes who need to change directions rapidly or maintain control of their movements at high speeds. For everyday life, improving your agility is a great way to stay mobile, flexible, and active.
Try It With:
- Plyometric drills like box jumps, burpees, lateral jumps, or agility ladders
- Functional movements such as kettlebell swings or walking lunges
Endurance Strength Training
Endurance strength training focuses on increasing the muscle’s ability to perform for extended periods without getting fatigued. This usually means high-repetition sets with lower weights to enhance the stamina of the muscles over building mass. It’s ideal for endurance athletes and those looking to improve their overall activity endurance.
Try It With:
- Circuit training
- Bodyweight exercises like push-ups, squats, and lunges
Explosive Strength Training
Explosive strength training is all about power. This style helps your muscles exert their most powerful force in minimal time. This type is essential for sports requiring sudden bursts of power, like sprinting or jumping.
Try It With:
- Olympic lifts such as the clean lift and jerk lift
- Plyometrics like jump squats and clap push-ups
- Medicine ball throws
Maximum Strength Training
Maximum strength training focuses on increasing the greatest amount of force that a muscle can produce in one single effort. This type of training typically involves lifting heavy weights for a low number of repetitions and is the foundation for building overall muscle strength and bigger muscle size.
Try It With:
- Heavy lifts like the bench press, deadlift, or squat, with weights that challenge you for 1-6 reps
Speed Strength Training
Speed strength combines elements of strength and speed so you can perform powerful movements quickly. This training is crucial for those who need to apply force quickly, such as in sprinting or throwing sports.
Try It With:
- Sprinting drills, fast kettlebell swings, and light resistance training with a focus on rapid movement
Starting Strength Training
Starting strength training is about building the initial force that takes you from a stationary position into movement. This starting strength is crucial for many sports and activities requiring a powerful start, like sprinting from blocks or initiating a heavy lift. Even in daily life, this type of strength training can help you move with intention and avoid injury.
Try It With:
- Practicing starts in sprinting
- Explosive lifts off the ground like power clean lifts
- Other exercises like squats, deadlift, military lift, and bench press
Relative Strength Training
Relative strength measures strength in relation to your size. This type of strength training allows you to become stronger and move more efficiently without adding body weight – often through strengthening tendons or improving nerve impulses.
Try It With:
- Pull-ups, dips, and bodyweight squats
- Add weight (such as wrist or ankle weights) for increased resistance
How to Start a Strength Training Program
Whether you’re an athlete or someone who simply wants to stay active, there are countless reasons to take on a strength training practice. And while you may feel excited to harness the benefits of strength training, getting started can feel daunting. Let’s break down the steps to kickstart your strength training program safely and effectively.
Start with a Health Check
Before you dive into any new fitness plan, it’s a smart idea to first assess your current state of health. A quick visit to your healthcare provider or local AlignLife Center can ensure that you’re physically ready to start strength training, as well as assess what types of exercises will be safe for you to take on at this time.
Set Goals
Before you decide what strength training exercises to do, you need to get clear on what you want to achieve. Perhaps you want to improve your overall health, gain muscle, lose weight, or enhance athletic performance? Start with one main purpose for your training, then set specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals to keep you focused and motivated.
Choose Exercises & Create Your Plan
Based on your goals, choose exercises that target the major muscle groups involved: legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, or arms. But don’t stop there – a balanced program should use a mix of exercises beyond your focus area to ensure full-body strength development.
It’s also important to choose exercises based on your current fitness level. For instance, beginners might start with bodyweight exercises (like push-ups, squats, and lunges) then gradually move to exercises that use free weights or machines.
Be Smart About Safety
Following safety guidelines is a top priority for any plan if you want to avoid injuries and enjoy your strength training journey. Here are a few must-know safety guidelines to consider as you get started:
> Always Warm Up and Cool Down
Warming up and cooling down is crucial for good muscle health (plus it helps prevent pain post-workout). Begin each session with a 5-10 minute warm-up of light cardio and dynamic stretching. Cooling down with gentle stretching after your workout helps prevent muscle soreness and tightness.
> Prioritize Proper Form and Technique
It’s more than what you do – it’s how you do it. Maintaining proper form and technique in strength training exercises (and any physical activity) is crucial if you want to train safely and hit your goals. If you’re new to strength training, consider working with a certified personal trainer for at least a few weeks to learn the correct techniques.
> Avoid Overtraining
It can be tempting to push your limits, especially once you start seeing results with strength training. But, overtraining opens the door to risky situations and can sabotage your goals. Listen to your body and plan for adequate rest between workouts to prevent burnout and injuries. As a general recommendation, give muscle groups about 48 hours of rest before targeting them again.
Back it Up with Holistic Support
Exercises are just one part of a successful strength training program. To truly build physical and mental strength, you also need balance, nourishment, and support. These three holistic tips can make your strength training program more effective and complete:
> Get Regular Chiropractic Care
When your spine and joints are properly aligned, your strength training program is safer and more effective. Working with your AlignLife chiropractor also means you’ll be able to address any imbalances or issues that arise from your training so you can enjoy faster recovery and better performance.
> Strengthen From Within with Functional Nutrition
You likely know that diet is a crucial part of a healthy lifestyle. But did you know that certain foods can help with muscle strength, recovery, and balance? Working with a functional nutritionist can help you pinpoint the macronutrients and micronutrients your body needs to reach your unique training, fitness, and overall health goals.
> Strength-Enhancing Supplements
Diet is a great way to enhance your strength inside and out. But, sometimes we need extra support from strategic supplements. That’s where Aceva’s Bone Matrix and Muscle Support supplements come in.
Bone Matrix, with its optimal 1:1 calcium to magnesium ratio, ensures the right mineral balance for peak bone formation. It’s also enhanced with Vitamin K2 which halts bone loss while building new bone.
While Bone Matrix strengthens your bones, Muscle Support focuses on muscle strength and recovery. This supplement uses an L-glutamine and Alpha-Ketoglutarate blend to enhance workout endurance, muscle recovery, immune health, and gut health.
Build Strength and Resilience at AlignLife
Strength training will help you build muscle, achieve your fitness goals, and stay strong and independent as you age. But, there are so many other motivating reasons to make it part of your workout routine.
In reality, strength training is just as much about strengthening your mind, protecting your heart, and building a healthier, more vibrant you.
Ready to start your strength training journey? Take your first step with a health assessment and exercise strategy plan at AlignLife. Our team of expert chiropractors and nutritionists will help you create an effective and safe strength exercise, diet, and self-care plan designed for you.
Reach out to your local AlignLife center to get started today!
