What is Strength Training? 

Strength training is exercising with the goal of increasing your physical strength. It's one of the oldest disciplines and an important part of an overall fitness routine. Strength training is crucial when it comes to losing weight and changing your body, even if you're a beginner. So, If want to reduce body fat, increase lean muscle mass and burn calories more efficiently then strength training is for you. The old adage goes "use it or lose it" applies here. Muscle mass naturally diminishes with age. If you don't do anything to replace the lean muscle you lose, you'll increase the percentage of fat in your body. Strength training can help you preserve and enhance your muscle mass — at any age. 

There are two kinds of strength:

Relative Strength: - Gymnasts or rock climbers need strength, but not at the expense of an increased body-weight: it makes their sport harder. Relative strength is building maximal strength while controlling calorie intake and/or adding cardio so you don’t increase your body-weight.

Absolute Strength - More body-weight means bigger muscles & thus more strength. Absolute strength is about becoming a strong person regardless of body-weight.

Benefits of Strength Training. A few generations ago, manual labor kept you in shape. Nowadays sedentary lifestyles are common: desk jobs, watching tv, driving car all day. Here’s what strength training can do for you: 

It builds muscle -  the stronger you are, the more muscles you’ll have. Strength training is not bodybuilding however: building muscle is a byproduct of exercising, not its goal.

It burns fat - Strength training burn calories, keeps your metabolic rate high under strict dieting and tends to make you stick to your diet better.

Increases health - Strength training increases endurance, bone density & testosterone levels. Strength training strengthens your joints, lowers cholesterol & improves your sleep. You’ll notice nutrition is important to get results in strength training. All leads to a healthier body & lifestyle.

Builds Character -  Strength training teaches you persistence, sacrifice, self-control, responsibility & builds self-confidence. You’ll get out of strength training what you put into it.

How do You Build Strength?

Stress. Exercising stresses your body. Your body doesn’t like stress & adapts by getting stronger & building muscle.

• Progressive Loading. Your body quickly adapts to stress. Increase the resistance systematically to avoid plateaus.
• 1 Step Back, 2 Steps Forward. Eventually you’ll stall. You can’t increase the resistance forever. Decrease the resistance for a while, then increase it again bursting through your plateau.
• Speed. The faster you move, the stronger you’ll be. You’re using more muscle fibers & can use momentum.
• Power. Power is the ability to accelerate: going from a dead stop to fast. The quicker you can achieve top speeds, the stronger you’ll be.

Types of Strength Training. You have different methods available to build strength. Here’s a non definite list:

• Weight Lifting. Barbells are the easiest method to build strength. Start light, focus on technique & add weight systematically. The more weight on the bar, the stronger you get. Example of weightlifting exercises are the Squat, Bench Press, Overhead Press, Barbell Row & Deadlift.
• Body-weight Exercises. Force you to use your own body-weight as resistance. Can be hard at first if you lack sufficient strength. Examples of body-weight exercises: Pull-ups, Chin-ups, Dips, Pistols & Push-ups.
• Machines. Machines balance the weight for you. This makes them easier & less effective than free weights or body-weight exercises. Machines also force your body into a fixed movement pattern. Position yourself wrong using a lot of weight & you risk injuries.

Be sure to check with your doctor before you start lifting weights if you have any medical conditions, injuries or illnesses.

Choosing Your Sets, Reps and Weight 

Choosing your reps, sets and weight can be the most confusing part of strength training. How many reps and sets you do will depend on your goals.

• To lose body fat, build muscle: Use enough weight that you can ONLY complete 10-12 repetitions and 1-3 sets (1 for beginners, 2-3 for intermediate and advanced exercisers). Rest about 30 seconds-1 minute between sets and at least one day between workout sessions
• For muscle gain: Use enough weight that you can ONLY complete 4-8 repetitions and 3 or more sets, resting for 1-2 minutes between sets and 2-3 days between sessions. For beginners, give yourself several weeks of conditioning before you tackle weight training with this degree of difficulty. You may need a spotter so don't be afraid to ask.
• For health and muscular endurance: Use enough weight that you can ONLY complete 12-16 repetitions, 1-3 sets, resting 20-30 seconds between sets and at least one day between practice sessions.

To determine how much weight you should use, start with a light weight and perform one set. Continue adding weight until you can ONLY do the desired number of repetitions. The last rep should be difficult, but not impossible and you should be able to keep good form.