Adapted from EverydayHealth Website https://www.everydayhealth.com/fitness/strength-training/guide/

Strength training or resistance training is a type of exercise that causes your muscle to resist an external force, according to the definition from Penn State College of Medicine. The force can be applied by your body weight, dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells, resistance bands, exercise machines, or other tools.

Types of Strength Training:

• Isometric Resistance: This type involves static muscle contractions, so your muscle contract without changing length or without movement. Ex: include holding a plank or performing a wall-sit.
• Isotonic Strength Training: This type involves contracting your muscle through a range of motion. Ex: include bodyweight squats and push-ups. Isotonic strength training can be divided even further into two phases of muscle contraction: Concentric and Eccentric.

Concentric is the portion of the exercise in which the muscle shortens. Eccentric is the portion in which the muscle lengthens. So, during a bicep curl, a concentric contraction occurs as you curl the weight toward you, while the eccentric occurs as you lower the weight.

According to the HHS physical activity guidelines, all adults should complete at least two total-body workouts per week for general health. That is an addition to the weekly 150 min of moderate intensity aerobic exercise. Muscle strengthening activities count if they involve a moderate or greater level of intensity and work the body’s major muscle groups such as legs, hips, back, chest, abdomen, shoulders, and arms.

Research has identified many health benefits associated with strength training, some include:

• Stronger bones
• Healthier muscles: We start losing muscle roughly 3-5% of muscle mass per decade from around the age of 30. By 80 years old, approximately 50% of the muscle is gone. This condition also known as Sarcopenia.
• Longer lifespan
• Improve mood.

What exercises count as strength training?

• Powerlifting
• Olympic weight lifting
• CrossFit
• Bodybuilding
• Functional strength training