Strength Training

Understand

Overview

Strength (resistance) training is a form of physical activity that works muscles against an external load — body weight, free weights, machines, or resistance bands. In the context of longevity, it is sometimes described as one of the few lifestyle interventions with evidence as strong as quitting smoking — it simultaneously affects muscle mass, bone density, insulin sensitivity, and fall risk.

Unlike endurance (cardio) training, strength training is the only widely available intervention that directly and effectively counteracts sarcopenia — the progressive, age-related loss of muscle mass and strength that begins as early as one's 30s and accelerates after 60.

Strength training benefits practically everyone, but people in their 40s and 50s gain the most (as the rate of muscle loss accelerates), as does anyone who wants to preserve functional independence into older age — studies link greater muscle strength to a lower risk of death from any cause. The only significant limitation is uncontrolled cardiovascular disease, which requires a cardiology consultation before starting — outside that risk group, age or a lack of prior experience is not a reason to skip this intervention. ACSM and WHO guidelines cite as few as 2 sessions a week as a sufficient threshold for health benefits, and people starting from zero tend to tolerate machine-based training or calisthenics well, thanks to their lower technical demands.

Where it's found

Loaded training has accompanied humanity since antiquity — Greek athletes preparing for the Olympic Games trained strength with stones and early barbells (halteres), and the legend of Milo of Croton, who is said to have carried a growing calf on his shoulders every day until it became a full-grown bull, is sometimes cited as the first informal description of the principle of progressive overload. The modern form of strength training descends from the tradition of strongmen at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and from the development of strength sports — Olympic weightlifting and powerlifting.

History of use

The scientific foundations of modern strength-training periodization were laid in the mid-20th century by Thomas DeLorme, a military physician who developed the progressive resistance exercise protocol to rehabilitate soldiers after injury — today regarded as the foundation of most modern strength programs. For decades, strength training was seen mainly as the domain of athletes and bodybuilders; only from the 1990s and 2000s did research on sarcopenia and the metabolic health of older adults move it into the mainstream of lifestyle medicine as an intervention for healthy aging.