Resistance training: Your questions answered.

Yesterday a BBC News headline caught a few peoples eyes - "Pumping weights could help you live longer". Anyone who knows me will know I've been banging the drum of resistance training for the past few years! What was great about this article is that it highlighted the fact that resistance training can be started at any age. As one client pointed out to me though - why did the headline picture have to be of a women holding the tiniest pink weights?! Anyway - that's for another blog!

Last week I discussed the importance of protein for maintaining muscle mass. Today, I'll answer some of the most common questions I get about resistance training and outline the main benefits.

What is resistance training?

It's a form of exercise that challenges the muscles through resistance created by weights, bands machines or even bodyweight.

Defining Strength.

Strength is the ability to exert the force. Strength plays a role in moving a body part, resisting movement of a body part and stabilising a body part (in a fixed position).

What are the key physical benefits of resistance training?

- Increased muscle function (muscle growth, strength, power, recovery, endurance)

- Increased neural efficiency that increases muscle force production, rate of force development and power

- Improvement in balance and co-ordination

- Increased tendon and ligament strength

- Increased bone density

- Increased metabolism

- Increased insulin sensitivity

- Reduced rate of injury

- Reduced lower back pain

- Slowing of age-related declines like strength and bone loss

- Improved posture

What are the key psychological/mental benefits of resistance training?

- Increased confidence

- Increased self-esteem

- Increased motivation

- Increased sense of purpose

- Potential reduction in symptoms of low mood and depression

How does resistance training help with daily life?

The deadlift is essentially picking a heavy weight up from the floor and standing up tall. The squat is using the quads, hamstrings and glutes to stand up straight from a lowered position and controlling the load in the lowering phase. These are known as 'compound' exercises as they train muscles attached to multiple joints in the body. They have a direct transfer to daily life as they strengthen predominantly the lower body muscles responsible for walking, running, climbing stairs and standing up from a chair. They also involve the postural muscles of the trunk (core) which support the spine.

Can anyone at any age start resistance training?

Yes! Of course there will always be exceptions for medical reasons (if this is the case you should always check with your doctor before embarking on a new exercise programme). The BBC article highlighted a women who started at age 65 but there are lots of people that start in their 70's and later and see great results.

Sarcopenia is the age related involuntary loss of muscle mass and this begins in our 30's and 40's. I started resistance training when I was 40 - before then I had mainly focussed on running and HIIT (high intensity interval training). The older I get, the more important strength training has become as I want to ensure a good quality of life for as long as I possibly can. I see maintaining strength and muscle mass as my long term life insurance policy! Today I lift much heavier weights than I've ever lifted and I feel stronger and fitter than ever.

At the other end of the spectrum are children. There is still a widely held misconception that children shouldn't lift weights. Over the past few years, this myth has been well and truly busted by peer reviewed scientific research. In actual fact, building a good foundation of strength, good quality movement and athletic abilities from a young age will give children and young people a much better chance of carrying this through to adulthood.

My daughters have been lifting weights since they were 11. Currently they're not as consistent as they used to be as typical teenage distractions compete for their attention. But I know that they have built a good foundation of movement, muscle and most importantly education about training that will stand them in good stead later on in life.

Will resistance training help me run faster?

Absolutely! All the top athletes from sprinters to marathon runners, employ strength coaches. Building leg strength and improving rate of force development (how fast you can develop force/explosive strength) is essential if you want to run faster and for longer. If you're a runner looking to improve your 5km, 10km or half marathon time, I would highly recommend adding strength training into your training week.

Will resistance training make women get big and bulky?

Resistance training is a broad term which covers a range of different types of training. The type of resistance training that you do, totally depends on your goals, your training age, time, budget, other commitments etc. For the purposes of this blog, we can simplify resistance training to training types for strength, hypertrophy and power. They all have a time and a place in the training spectrum and have different impacts on the body.

Hypertrophy resistance training (muscle growth) is typical body-building style training and is associated with 'getting ripped'. For women, it's much more difficult to 'get ripped' than men. At rest, men have 10 times more testosterone as women which has implications the ultimate ability to gain muscle mass. Women often tell me they want to look 'toned' (not a term I'm that fond of to be honest!), and this is absolutely achievable through doing a well structured programme of resistance training coupled with a well-balanced diet of moderation!

Do I need to have access to a gym?

Resistance training can be done with bodyweight so you don't need to use a gym. One of the plus sides to lockdown was that we had to get creative with equipment. I had clients on Zoom sessions using rucksacks filled with books! Resistance bands are a relatively inexpensive piece of kit and are easy to use. There's also a whole host of 'home gym' equipment available online.

If you're a complete beginner and you've been living a sedentary lifestyle, using bodyweight as the resistance will provide enough of a stimulus for the body to adapt to. Once the body has adapted, in order to keep progressing, the stimulus needs to change. So this is where progression can be made by using bands, home weights or household objects if need be!

In an ideal world, if your new to resistance training I would recommend finding a gym and if budget allows it, a coach to give you personalised training and support.