Strength Training: Health Benefits, How to Get Started, and How to Get Better

The days of strength training being a pursuit of body builders and gym rats has passed.

Strength training has been linked with benefits from healthier bones to stronger muscles to a better mood and longer lifespan. These are just a few reasons resistance exercise is included in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) physical activity guidelines and recommended for all adults.

So, what makes strength training so important (and beneficial)? And how much do you have to do for health perks?

Strength training (or resistance training) is a type of exercise that causes your muscles 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 several other tools.

Types of Strength Training

According to the Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine, there are two primary types of resistance training:

• Isometric Resistance This type involves static muscle contractions, so your muscles contract without changing length (or without movement). Examples include holding a plank (the top of a push-up) or performing a wall sit (holding your body in a seated position with your back against a wall).
• Isotonic Strength training This type involves contracting your muscles through a range of motion. Examples include bodyweight squats and push-ups.

Isotonic strength training can be divided even further into two phases of muscle contraction: concentric and eccentric. The concentric part is the portion of the exercise in which the muscle shortens, whereas the eccentric is the portion in which the muscle lengthens, according to research.

So during a bicep curl (where you hold a weight in your hand and bend your forearm toward your chest from hanging straight down toward the floor, and then release your arm back down), a concentric contraction occurs as you curl the weight toward you, while the eccentric occurs as you lower the weight.

What Exercises Count as Strength Training

According to the HHS physical activity guidelines, all adults should complete at least two total-body strength workouts per week for general health. That’s in addition to the weekly 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (the category of exercise that raises your heart rate, such as, brisk walking, jogging, or water aerobics).

According to the Physical Activity Guidelines, muscle-strengthening activities count if they involve a moderate or greater level of intensity or effort than you’re accustomed to and work the body's major muscle groups (the legs, hips, back, chest, abdomen, shoulders, and arms).

The guidelines specify that strength workouts, in addition to overloading the targeted muscles, should work them to the point of fatigue (meaning it would be difficult to complete another repetition when you’re finished).

Some examples of these types of strength workouts are:

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

It’s also worth noting that some lower-impact activities — like Pilates, yoga, and barre — that focus on muscle-strengthening may not actually count toward the twice weekly strength workout recommendations from HHS if these activities aren’t targeting all the major muscle groups and if they’re not working the muscles to that point of fatigue (where you can’t do another repetition of an exercise when you’re finished).

But that’s not to say those activities aren’t still good for your muscles or overall health, says Mike T. Nelson, PhD, an exercise physiologist in Minneapolis, Minnesota. “If someone is going to do yoga, Pilates, or barre over doing nothing, any of those activities is light years ahead of doing nothing.”

Research has identified many health benefits associated with strength training. Some include:

Stronger Bones

Resistance training builds more than muscle — it builds bone, too. According to Harvard Health, strength training tugs and pushes on bone, which spurs bone-building cells to begin work. This action makes strength training helpful for preventing and improving osteoporosis (a condition characterized by weak, brittle bones) in older adults, according to a position paper published in August 2019 in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

In one study, postmenopausal women with low bone mass saw improvements in bone density and strength after training for 30 minutes twice a week for eight months.

Healthier Muscles

With strength training, by definition, you build muscle. But you’re also promoting healthy aging of your muscles. Thanks to aging, we start losing roughly 3 to 5 percent of muscle mass per decade around the age of 30, notes Harvard Health. By the time many people reach 80 years, approximately 50 percent of their muscle is gone, per a research review. Age-related loss of muscle (known as sarcopenia) has many consequences, including limited mobility, a lower quality of life, and an increased risk of falls and fall-related injuries, according to a review.

Strength training is one of the best ways to safeguard against sarcopenia. It’s also recommended as the first-line treatment for counteracting loss of strength and function related to sarcopenia in older adults, according to a research paper published in February 2022 in Age and Ageing.

And you don’t necessarily need to strength train for hours each week to see results. One review found that frail, elderly adults who performed one to six strength workouts per week (with each session consisting of one to three sets of 6 to 15 repetitions of an exercise) saw 6 to 37 percent gains in muscle strength, 3 to nearly 8 percent gains in muscle mass, and 4 to 58 percent increases in functional capacity (a measure associated with risk of falls).

Longer Lifespan

Resistance training may extend your lifespan. In one study, researchers analyzed data collected from over 80,000 people and found that participating in any form and amount of strength training lowered the risk of death from any cause by 23 percent over an average 9.2-year follow-up period, and lowered risk of death from cancer by 31 percent.

The researchers recommend strength training at least 50 to 60 minutes per week and doing at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio per week to boost longevity, based on their results.

Improved Mood

According to a meta-analysis in JAMA Psychiatry, evidence supports strength training as a complementary therapy modality for treating depression symptoms, and possibly as an alternative treatment to standard approaches like cognitive behavioral therapy and antidepressants. However, more research is needed to compare the effectiveness of these treatment modalities.

And a study in obese adolescents found that lifting weights led to a greater self-esteem boost after four weeks than aerobic exercise.

Learn More About the Ways Strength Training Boosts Your Health and Fitness

Strength training doesn’t burn as many calories as aerobic exercise. Harvard Health estimates that a 155-pound person burns roughly 108 calories in 30 minutes of general weight lifting and 252 calories in 30 minutes of moderate-intensity cycling on a stationary bike. So strength training may not be the best option if burning maximum calories is your main goal.

But evidence suggests that strength training can aid weight loss efforts when combined with a healthy diet.

A systematic review and meta-analysis published in February 2022 in Obesity Reviews concluded that resistance training is an effective weight loss intervention in people with overweight and obesity when combined with calorie restriction.

In another study, dieters who did four weekly strength training workouts for 18 months lost more fat than dieters who didn’t exercise and those who did only aerobic exercise (about 18 pounds for strength exercisers, 10 pounds for nonexercises, and 16 pounds for aerobic exercisers).

As we age, we gradually lose muscle mass. Much of that muscle is replaced with fat — even if the number on the scale doesn’t change, according to past research. “Circumventing that change [through strength training] makes a huge difference over the course of many years,” Dr. Nelson says.

According to a review published in 2019 in the Journal of Obesity, maintaining or adding muscle mass often prevents people from gaining weight as they age.

Unlike fat, muscle is metabolically active tissue, which means that it requires energy to maintain, “The more muscle you have, the better you can dispose of calories, especially glucose, during daily movements,” Dr. Nelson continues. “That adds up over time.”

Learn More About Strength Training for Weight Loss

You can get an effective workout using your body weight alone. However, having equipment enables you to perform a wider variety of exercises (either at home or at a gym). It also helps you progress by making strength workouts more challenging, notes Katie Prendergast, a National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)–certified personal trainer in Denver.

Here is some gear that can help you get more out of at-home strength workouts:

• Dumbbells Dumbbells are a type of free weight, meaning they aren’t attached to anything and can be moved freely. They have a short bar with weight at either end and can be used for various strength exercises, such as squats, deadlifts, chest presses, biceps curls, and overhead triceps extensions. The ends of dumbbells are typically round or hexagonal. “I would recommend the hex-shaped ones, because the round ones will roll,” Prendergast says. It’s also a good idea to find dumbbells with rubber-coated ends, because these have a quieter landing when dropped, Prendergast notes. Adjustable dumbbells can be another good option. Unlike standard dumbbells, which have a fixed weight, adjustable dumbbells allow you to increase or decrease the weight at the ends using a knob, pin, or dial. The appeal of these is that they take up much less space, Prendergast says. And while a pair of adjustable dumbbells can cost a few hundred dollars, she adds that you may wind up spending the same or less than if you bought separate sets of dumbbells.
• Kettlebells Kettlebells are another type of free weight and can be used in addition to or in place of dumbbells. They’re shaped like a cannonball with a handle on top, which places their center of mass lower and makes them a great option for high-intensity movements like swings and snatches. But you can also do traditional strength exercises like squats and shoulder presses, Nelson says. There are many kettlebells on the market, but Nelson’s favorites are ones made from cast iron ( like the ones from Dragon Door). Some cheaper kettlebells have a rubber or vinyl coating on the handle — Nelson says to avoid these because they can be too grippy to let the bell slide around your hand the way it’s supposed to.
• Exercise Mat An exercise mat can help protect your floors when you set down weights and catch any sweat from your workout. A mat can also protect your knees and back during floor exercises. Opt for a yoga mat or lay down foam floor mats in a dedicated workout space. “Those are pretty inexpensive and they’ll last forever,” Nelson says.
• Resistance Bands Resistance bands are strength training tools that resemble large rubber bands. They’re available in various resistance or tension levels in styles that range from flat loop bands, to elastic tubing with interchangeable handles, to smaller loop bands, per the Cleveland Clinic. Resistance bands are an affordable way to add tension to many exercises, including squats, chest presses, shoulder presses, triceps extensions, and deadlifts. They’re especially helpful for pulling exercises like rows and biceps curls, as these can be tricky to do without free weights or exercise machines, Nelson says. Get a pack of resistance bands so you have bands of various tension levels to work with.
• Shoes and Apparel Prendergast recommends wearing flat shoes with a wide toe box that allow your toes to spread. Running and walking shoes are not the best choice for strength training, as these are built for forward movement and don’t offer the stability and ankle support needed for lateral (side-to-side) movements. Otherwise, you don’t need any specialty apparel for strength training. However, you may prefer tops and bottoms made of sweat-wicking fabrics (such as polyester, spandex, bamboo, or nylon), Prendergast says.

As with any exercise, starting slow as a strength training beginner is essential. When in doubt, start with fewer and shorter sessions than you think you can do and add more over time. Nelson says that this may make it easier for you to train consistently, which helps turn strength training into a habit. He adds that many beginners can manage 30 minutes three times per week.

Before starting a new strength routine, it’s important to check with your doctor if you have a preexisting condition like hypertension, diabetes, osteoporosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a heart condition, or any other issue that would interfere with your ability to safely exercise, says Robert Waskowitz, MD, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist with Orthopedic Associates of Hartford in Connecticut. A healthcare provider can help confirm what an appropriate workout plan for you looks like, or find out how to modify exercises that may increase your risk of complications, he adds.

Once you have medical clearance, follow these tips for getting started with strength training workouts.

Work With a Personal Trainer

Instead of walking into the gym and doing random exercises, set up a session with a personal trainer if that’s an option for you. Many people find it is worth the investment to work with a personal trainer for a couple of sessions to learn how to do exercises properly and ask questions specific to them, Prendergast says.

Plus, personal trainers can create a strength program tailored to your goals, abilities, and preferences, she notes. This way, you have a routine to follow, so you’re not wondering what to do next.

Do Bodyweight Exercises First

Prendergast recommends starting with bodyweight exercises if you’re new to strength training. “Bodyweight exercises help people hone their technique without a load so that when they do pick up weights, they move with good form,” she explains. This reduces your risk of injury from moving a weight incorrectly.

Plus, bodyweight exercises tend to be less intimidating for someone totally new to lifting, Prendergast notes.

Try push-ups (elevate your hands on a surface if needed), step-ups, and pull-ups (use a resistance band or machine to assist if needed).

Start Slow and Show Up

As Nelson notes, training less often and building up your frequency over time is better than jumping into a hardcore strength routine. You will reduce the risk of injury, and you may find it easier to create consistency.

Nelson recommends aiming for a 30-minute strength workout three times per week, and not worrying too much about following a “perfect” routine. “Just showing up and doing something, as long as it’s not painful, is going to offer benefits,” he says. “You can always change what you’re doing and make it harder, but just work on showing up in the beginning.”

Once you feel more comfortable lifting weights, look for ways to make your workouts more challenging.

Here are a few ideas:

• Increase weight. Once you can complete your prescribed sets and reps without much effort, it’s time to bump up the intensity. One way to accomplish this is to lift a heavier weight. Typically, dumbbells increase by 2.5- or 5-pound increments, whereas kettlebells increase by 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds), Prendergast says. She recommends simply choosing the next available weight of whichever tool you use. “If you feel like the last two reps of your set are hard but doable, you’ll know you picked the correct weight for that exercise and rep range.”
• Do more sets or reps. “Rep” is short for “repetition,” which refers to how many times you do a specific exercise (each push-up, for example, is one rep). A “set” refers to how many reps you do at a time (a set of push-ups for you, for example, might include 8 or 10 reps). Another way to boost the intensity is to add more sets or reps. Prendergast likes to start her beginner clients with three sets of 8 to 10 reps per exercise during their first week and increase to three sets of 10 to 12 reps with the same weight the following week. You can progress by doing four sets of 8 to 10 reps the next week and four sets of 10 to 12 reps the following week. “After that, it’s time to increase the weight,” Prendergast says.
• Slow down. Performing your reps at a slower pace boosts the intensity of the exercise. “If you think of a dumbbell chest press, lowering the weights more slowly will increase the amount of time each repetition takes,” Prendergast says. This can be a great method if your weight selection is limited and you can’t bump up your lifting load. Spend three or four seconds on the eccentric, or lowering, portion of an exercise, Prendergast suggests.
• Pick a harder exercise variation. You can also make your strength workouts more challenging by choosing more advanced variations of the same exercises. For example, you can swap a traditional two-legged squat for a single-leg or split squat. “You're still training the same leg muscles, but because you're doing it one at a time, you won’t be able to use as much weight,” Prendergast says.

As with any form of exercise, nutrition plays an important role in strength training. Use these guidelines to fuel up right.

Before

If you haven’t eaten for a few hours, grab a light snack about 30 to 45 minutes before your workout, suggests Roxana Ehsani, RDN, CSSD, a board-certified specialist in sports dietetics and adjunct professor at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.

Look for a snack that contains easy-to-digest carbohydrates and keeps protein, fat, and fiber to a minimum, “as they take longer to digest and will slow the quick carbs from hitting your bloodstream,” Ehsani says. “We want those carbs to hit quickly to give you an energy boost pre-workout.”

She recommends these options:

• 1 cup of 100 percent pomegranate juice
• Banana
• 1 cup of applesauce
• A handful of pretzels

If you work out at the beginning of the day, you may opt not to eat anything beforehand. However, Ehsani recommends at least having a small snack (like one of the options above). “After an overnight fast, your energy stores are low. Eating something before training can help you achieve better results from your workout,” she explains.

During

If your workouts are an hour or less in duration, you can probably stick to water during your workout, Ehsani says.

But if you train for over an hour, bring an electrolyte-rich beverage like a sports drink with you, too. “It gives you a mix of fluids, electrolytes, and simple carbs to keep your energy levels up during a long workout,” Ehsani says.

You can also opt for a small, easy-to-digest snack instead of a sports drink. Think dried fruit, applesauce, or even jelly beans, Ehsani says.

After

Ehsani says to make sure you’re hitting the three “R’s” after your workout: rehydrate, refuel, and repair. “A lot of athletes may complain that they aren’t hungry after tough training sessions, but I always encourage them to start by sipping something to start the recovery process,” she says.

Ehsani suggests a fruit smoothie made of:

• 1 cup of milk (dairy or nondairy)
• ¾ to 1 cup of plain nonfat Greek yogurt
• 1 to 2 tablespoons of chia seeds
• 1 banana or mango
• 1 cup of berries
• 1 to 2 handfuls of baby spinach or kale

Or snack on a handful of pistachios. “Pistachios are one of the highest-protein snack nuts and provide all nine essential amino acids, making them a complete protein and the perfect post-workout snack,” Ehsani says.

Then, aim to have a well-balanced meal consisting of veggies, fruits, complex carbs, healthy fats, and 20 to 35 grams of high-quality protein within two hours post-workout.

“One of my favorite post-workout meals is wild Alaska salmon, because it’s a high-quality source of protein that helps rebuild muscle,” Ehsani says. She recommends pairing 3 ounces of salmon with 1 cup of roasted veggies like broccoli or cauliflower, and 1 cup of quinoa or brown rice for a nutrient-dense meal.

Education

American Council on Exercise

The American Council on Exercise (ACE) is a nonprofit organization that certifies health coaches and exercise professionals. It also offers plenty of free resources on its website, including a robust blog, calculators (for body mass index, target heart rate zone, blood pressure), and an extensive exercise database and library with detailed descriptions and photos.

National Academy of Sports Medicine

The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) has been certifying fitness professionals since 1987. Check out the NASM website for free resources that include a blog, podcast, calorie calculator, exercise library, and mini education courses.

Blogs

Nerd Fitness

Founded by Steve Kamb in 2009, Nerd Fitness is a blog and community of certified strength training professionals that strives to provide a fun place for “nerds” to learn about health and fitness. You’ll find tons of articles for beginners, covering topics like finding a good personal trainer and beginner-friendly gym workouts.

Tony Gentilcore

Certified strength and conditioning specialist Tony Gentilcore maintains a consistent fitness blog. Here, you’ll find answers to common lifting questions, form tips, advice for handling pain, and more. While the blog is geared toward fitness professionals, recreational lifters will learn a lot, too.

The Body of Knowledge

The Body of Knowledge is a central hub where you can access free resources created by Andy Galpin, PhD, a professor of kinesiology at California State University, Fullerton. It includes video explainers on exercise physiology, articles (you can access by providing your email address), and Galpin’s personal book, blog, and podcast recommendations.

Apps

Future

The Future app takes the guesswork out of training. It pairs you with a strength coach, who creates personalized weekly workouts tailored to your goals. Plus, Future boasts a robust blog where you’ll find articles about postpartum fitness, eating for weight loss, mobility exercises, and more.

Alo Moves

This app offers numerous at-home strength classes, from barre and dumbbell workouts to bodyweight-only and low-impact options. You can get your cardio workouts from Alo Moves, too. The app includes plenty of walking, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), and boxing routines.