Strength Training is simply defined as: using resistance to build strength in your muscles. Note: Calisthenics does fall into this category, but since calisthenics is strictly just bodyweight exercises, it deserves more attention in it’s own category. Strength Training is most effective utilizing weights as a form of resistance to build strength.

The benefits of strength training:

1. Increased strength (exponentially)

2. Your entire musculoskeletal system becomes stronger; stronger bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints, and everything else that helps you move.

3. Hormonal balance, increased production of hormones.

4. Injury prevention and injury recovery from strength training.

5. Better sleep quality

The list goes on forever. Strength training with weights improves one's quality of life in a multitude of ways.

Let’s dive more into strength training and how to properly form together a training plan that will provide you with the biggest bang for your buck; increased strength gains (and all of it’s benefits) in the shortest amount of time. Note: this differs from bodybuilding whereas the focus of bodybuilding is on development of specific muscles and body aestheticism. Strength training and bodybuilding are one and the same, but by focusing on strength training, we focus more on the development of our health, mind, and body altogether.

Strength Training 101 - Training techniques and training philosophy

1. Lift Heavy, Lift Often: this old adage has sustained the test of time, going as far back as ancient Greece. To build strength, you must stress your muscles, and this can be achieved through lifting heavy weights. But we want to achieve this style of training in a way where we’re not destroying our bodies, our aim will be geared towards longevity; consistent strength gains without injury. Which brings us to number two…

2. Compound Lifts or Key Lifts: think barbell benchpress, barbell squat, a pull-up, barbell deadlift, or any exercise where a group of muscles are working together to execute the movement. This helps us achieve our goal of efficiency; consistent strength gains in the shortest amount of time. Remember in Phase 1, where we discussed the seven functional movement patterns; push, pull, squat, lunge, hinge, twist and locomotion, well that’s where our compound lifts formed from. These seven functional movement patterns should be kept in mind when training so that we can develop strength that is evenly balanced throughout our body.

3. Sets, Repetitions, and Rest: the structure of your training will be formed around a certain amount of sets, the amount of repetitions within those sets, and your rest time in between sets. Sets usually range anywhere from 2-5 sets and sometimes more. The amount of repetitions that you perform within a set is where the magic happens. Repetitions (or just Reps) range in different amounts depending on what you are aiming to train for. For example, rep ranges of 2-4 are used for lifting really heavy weight or lifting 90% of your 1rm (rep max) for 2-4 repetitions, this rep range would be aimed towards building strength. Other rep ranges that fall within this category of building strength include: 4-6 reps, 6-8 reps, and even 8-10 reps. These rep ranges for building strength are used for different exercises where you might need to use a higher rep range and lower weight to build strength, like in an overhead shoulderpress (this muscle group is used for example because building strength in the shoulders requires more time to develop strength than like that of the chest and legs).

4. Reverse Pyramid Training: standard pyramid training is working your way up in reps, sets, and/or weight, whereas reverse pyramid training is working your way down in weight. This technique helps you build strength more efficiently than any other style of training.