What is Strength Training?
Strength training is a form of physical exercise that uses resistance to induce muscle contraction. This builds the strength, size, and endurance of our muscles. Strength training has incredible benefits for youth and adults of all ages, including injury prevention, improved athletic performance, increased bone density, lowering our risk for many chronic diseases, and improving our day-to-day functioning.
Strength training (also called resistance training; I use the terms interchangeably) is a broad term that refers to any type of exercise that uses some form of resistance to strengthen and build muscle. We can create this resistance by using dumbbells, barbells, weight and cable machines at the gym, kettlebells, medicine balls, our own body weight, and—of course—resistance bands.
Note that when we talk about endurance within the context of strength training, we mean anaerobic endurance, where our muscles are relying on stored reserves of fuel, rather than oxygen. Anaerobic (without oxygen) activities are high-intensity and short duration, like sprinting or performing a challenging set of ten weighted squats.
In contrast, aerobic endurance refers to the ability of our respiratory and cardiovascular systems to maintain moderate intensity exercise over extended periods. Aerobic activities involve oxygen in our muscles’ energy-generating process. Swimming, jogging, or cycling at a consistent pace for thirty to sixty minutes, for example, requires aerobic endurance.
