Why The "Average Joe" Should Strength Train
We live in a society that expects everything to be extremely FAST! Instant messages, text messages, internet, email, cell phones, streaming video, all have increased the rate that information can be passed along to others and has played a huge role in shortening our attention spans and grown our expectations that results will be delivered QUICKLY! And while I'm all about delivering results in the quickest and most efficient way, sometimes it's good to take a step back, use patience, and do things the right way.
I see people in the gym all the time killing themselves doing large sets of 6's, 8's, 10's, & 12's with the occasional set of 15. These are the typical "hypertrophy" or "mass building" rep schemes that people use to build muscle or "tone." And while their time under tension may be astronomical (which is known to help muscle building), they still see minimal results. Now, how could this be? It could be a number of different things from their lack of proper macro nutrients to not getting enough calories in their diet, but I believe that the biggest reason is that many gym goers fail to ever train "STRENGTH!"
Now, throughout this article when I talk about "strength," I am talking about a weight that can be lifted through a full range of motion for only 1 repetition. How do you increase your strength? There are tons of ways! Lifting moderate weights at high velocities, lifting light weights for speed, and plyometric exercises are several examples. However, in my experience, nothing will increase your strength more than actually lifting something that is heavy! To get stronger, lifting heavy weight is a must! Now, I am not talking about repping a weight out for 10 and considering it "strength." I am talking about doing lifting a weight for 3, 2, or maybe even 1 repetition! So, why should the average gym goer train for strength?
Strength training increases a person's ability to recruit more motor units during voluntary contractions (2). What's a motor unit? A motor unit is the motor neuron and the muscle fibers that it innervates (2). Essentially, strength training will help a person recruit more muscle mass or muscle fibers behind each repetition! Pretty sweet right?! This has some pretty awesome implications! Say you've worked on gaining strength for a while now and you go on a run. Your weight has remained the same from the time before you were strength trained and after you strength trained with no changes in lean body mass. It should be easier for you to carry your own weight while running now that you are stronger because the forces placed on your body now demand a smaller percentage of your overall strength to remain upright and moving forward. Training for strength can increase your MOVEMENT ECONOMY (1)! If you can now run longer distances at the same speed or run the same distance at a faster pace, you can burn more calories during exercise! Therefore, strength training can help you LOSE WEIGHT! This same principle can be applied for people that are trying to BULK UP as well. After training for strength and then moving into a more "mass building" phase of training, local muscular endurance will be increased (2). If you could previously only rep out a certain weight for 6 reps, now you might be able to lift that same weight for 10 reps. This is possible because you can access more motor units! Being able to recruit more motor units means that more muscle fibers will experience damage when lifting, and therefore more mass should be gained by the person exercising!
Picture the person that hasn't ever focused on training for strength as a blank canvas. Now bring out the potential of that canvas! Use strength as a launch board to increase the pace you run at! Focus on strength to improve muscular endurance and enhance hypertrophy training. Some people just want results right away! If you have some the patience, training for strength can be a strategy to make your body into a MASTERPIECE!
References
1. Konig, D., M. Huonker, A. Schmid, M. Halle, A. Berg, and J. Keul. Cardiovascular, metabolic, and hormonal parameters in professional tennis players. Med Sci Sports Exerc 33: 654-659, 2001
2. Sale, D.G. Influence of exercise and training on motor unit activation. Exerc Sport Sci Rev 15: 95-151. 1987.
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