what is strength training

To put it simply, it is all training that stimulates muscle contraction against resistance to improve muscle strength, endurance, and form. It is not called strength training in everyone’s impression.

I met a friend who just gave birth to a baby. The doctor asked her to do Kegel exercises to repair her pelvic floor muscles. She was still wondering if this was considered fitness? In fact, it is a low-load strength training targeting the small pelvic floor muscle groups. There are also the Xiao Yan Fei and wall squats that are required by the rehabilitation therapist for sedentary office workers, the horizontal bar pull-ups done by the park uncle for morning exercises, and even if you deliberately slow down and walk home with two large shopping bags on the weekends, as long as you consciously control the force of your muscles to resist the weight, it can be regarded as strength training in a broad sense.

Of course, when it comes to practical details, there are a lot of controversies in the fitness circle. The most typical one is whether strength training should be done to complete exhaustion. Many of my friends who compete in bodybuilding competitions believe that each set must be completely immobile, saying that only in this way can the muscles be stimulated in place, and the weight and dimensions can be increased more efficiently. ； However, there are also many mass fitness coaches who recommend that you leave 1-2 reps in each group. After all, ordinary people do not train for competitions, so there is no need to risk joint injuries. The most important thing is that it does not affect work and childcare the next day after training. In fact, both opinions have corresponding research support, but they are suitable for different people and needs.

Speaking of this, some people may say, I don’t want to build big muscles, so why bother with strength training? In fact, you just think of it as a "muscle pension" for your body. Muscles will naturally be lost every year after the age of 30. If you don't do any strength training, when you are in your forties or fifties, it is common for your legs to become weak when climbing stairs or to carry heavy objects. My mother used to have to rest for half a day even when climbing the third floor. I arranged for her to do 12 slow squats every day while holding on to the table to train the muscles on the front of her thighs. After two months, she now goes shopping all afternoon without complaining of leg soreness. This is the most tangible benefit of strength training.

For novices, there is really no need to load up on heavy weights at the beginning. Use two bottles of mineral water filled with water as dumbbells for shoulder training, or do a few kneeling push-ups at home. These are good introductions. The key is to make the muscle groups to be trained feel exerted and swollen, and don't rely on your waist and joints to borrow force.