Posted by Click aquí para ver este post en español
Hey Life Warriors!
Strength training is a great unknown, the subject of many myths and very little practised. In this series of articles we are going to try to explain in an easy way all you need to know about strength training: what, why and how.
What is strength training?
Many people, when they hear about strength training, automatically think of weightlifting competitors or elite bodybuilders. Very often we coaches hear the famous “I don’t want to get too big” (especially in women) as if getting that big was so easy… Although weightlifting and bodybuilding are two sports in which strength is a key element, they are not the only ones, it is not necessary to use the same methods (at least not with the same intensity) and the result doesn’t need to be an extreme body
Strength training is nothing more than moving our muscles against resistance. This resistance can be the force of gravity itself, as in the case of calisthenic exercises (pull-ups, push-ups, etc.) or through the use of different instruments such as weights, machines, elastic bands, etc.
Why strength training?
This type of training has many effects beyond the most obvious, which is to increase the strength and size of our muscles. Strength training helps us to naturally protect our joints, strengthens tendons and other connective tissues, thus helping us to avoid the risk of injury and increases our bone density, significantly reducing the risk of osteoporosis. If all these are not enough for you, increasing your strength will increase your self esteem, help you maintain your weight and boost your self confidence.
For years we have heard that children should not train strength, as it would stop or hinder their natural growth process; however, it is now widely proven that, although during the growth phase maximum strength training should not be done (more on this later), strength training with moderate weights or your own body weight is risk-free and very beneficial.
How to train our strength?
There are a multitude of possible approaches depending on the type of strength we want to develop. We speak of maximum strength when we refer to the maximum load we are able to move in a single repetition. We train maximum strength with very high loads, which allow us to do sets of no more than four or five repetitions and with long rests between sets (3-4 minutes).
Strength-endurance is the type of strength that allows us to move a sub-maximal load for as many repetitions as possible. To develop this type of strength, we will use loads that allow us to do between 5 and 25 repetitions, with relatively short rests between sets (45″ – 1′). This will be the most suitable training to get the muscle to increase in size (hypertrophy). For our readers: don’t panic. To achieve muscle hypertrophy, in addition to training with progressive overloads (i.e. progressively adding weight to the exercises), you need a very specific diet, proper rest and, most importantly, a favourable hormonal environment, which you probably don’t have. The cornerstone of muscle building, testosterone, is present in the male body in an amount about 10 times higher than in the female body. It is for this reason that professional bodybuilders show such a masculine look due to the different drugs they take (testosterone, growth hormone, etc.). Here you can see the difference between a strength athlete who uses this type of aid (Andrea Shaw, professional bodybuilder) and one who does not (Sophia Rose, professional trainer). Sophia lifts weights regularly (you can see her trainings in her instagram profile) and still she has not developed a masculine body or extremely developed muscle, but she is strong as a bull!!
Relative strength refers to the strength we have in relation to our own body weight, and we can measure it through the repetitions we are able to do in calisthenic exercises. This type of training is becoming increasingly popular because of its benefits, its simplicity and the fact that we need virtually no equipment to do it. This is the form of training we use most frequently at Life Warrior (you can see our workouts by clicking on this link).
Finally we will talk about power, which refers to the combination of strength and speed that we are able to apply. This training is widely used by athletes whose disciplines require fast and explosive movements: sprints, combat sports, throws, ball sports…
To train power it is necessary to combine different elements such as jumps, bounces, etc. with quite high loads, so the potential for injury if not trained correctly is very high. The ideal when we want to develop power is to go to a professional trainer.
What type of training is suitable for Life Warriors?
Given that Life Warriors, in general, are of an age, we should avoid training with very high loads, i.e. maximum strength training, and if we want to train power, we should do it very progressively, keeping a close eye on the loads. Why do we say this? Fundamentally, there are two factors that influence the production of strength. On the one hand there is the capacity of the muscle fibres themselves, i.e. their size and the force they are capable of producing, and on the other hand there is the capacity of our central nervous system to recruit these motor units (a motor unit is a group of muscle fibres innervated by a single neuron). Over the years, our central nervous system becomes less efficient at recruiting motor units, especially the larger ones. When we perform a maximum effort, we need to recruit all the motor units at once and in the shortest possible time. Because of this loss of recruitment efficiency, as we get older, our maximal strength decreases, even though we can continue to progress in the other types of strength. For this reason, our recommendation is that from the age of forty onwards, you should concentrate more on more moderate and sustained efforts, which are still very demanding. If your goal is to improve your body aesthetics, the good news is that you can continue to pursue this goal without any problem whatever your age.
We hope we have convinced you, if you weren’t already, of the importance of strength training. In future chapters we will give you all the information you need to compose your own routines, whether you train in a gym or at home. If you found this information interesting, please share it with your contacts so that more people can benefit from it; if you don’t want to miss the content we publish on other platforms (Instagram, tiktok, twitter…) we leave here our list of links so you can follow us.