Master the Basics - Strength Training
The next topic in my Master the Basics series is Strength Training. This might seem strange to need to talk about as on the surface it’s obvious, right? Or is it?
Strength in the weight room is all about the capacity to produce a force which is calculated: Mass x Acceleration. So the more load/mass you can move and the faster you can move, the “stronger” you are.
But what dictates force production and acceleration in the body?
You might be surprised to hear it’s NOT your muscles. The ability to produce force is all down to the brain’s ability to recruit motor units that contract the muscle fibres. So yes, having more muscle gives you the “potential” to be stronger but it’s not as simple as more muscle = more strength. Efficient recruitment of your muscle is key. So strength training is creating neural (brain) adaptations.
Pretty cool, right?
Whereas hypertrophy is all about laying down new muscle. To do this you have to train in a way that places maximal tension directly on the muscle. Within hypertrophy style training, there will be localised plasma storage, which increases the cross-sectional size of the muscle, but this is not actual contractile tissue. So it’s not going to make you stronger.
Hypertrophy training is similar but subtly different to strength training. It’s worth knowing this because you don’t necessarily end up adding lots of muscle just because you lift.
To round up, I want to highlight some of the other benefits of strength training beyond getting stronger and increasing muscle.
- Helps maintain bone mineral density
- Increases joint stability
- Improves flexibility and mobility
- Decreases risks of injury
- Helps manage blood glucose levels
- Improves skill and coordination
- Can help people maintain weight loss
Stay tuned next week for another instalment of Master the Basics and don’t forget to follow me on Instagram where I share exercise techniques, and show you how to maximise your training. I hope you enjoyed this blog post, if you have any questions I host a weekly Sunday Q&A session on my Instagram channel. Otherwise, please feel free to email me at andy@andyvincentpt.com.
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