“If you have a body, you’re an athlete” - Bill Bowerman, Nike co-founder
Key Takeaways
Despite the common misconception, injury and extreme muscle growth are not inevitable side-effects of strength-training
Muscle strength, power, and size all decline as we age, so we must act deliberately in order to retain levels of strength sufficient for a high quality of life
Strength is a measure of force generated via movement and has little to do with the size of muscles - the manner in which it is assessed and trained should reflect this
The 3-5 method can be an effective way to improve our strength over time
Thank you for taking a step toward living a healthier, more deliberate life. The goal here is to move the needle, not all at once, but in a stepwise fashion.
In this edition of the Stepwise Health newsletter, we’re going to discuss strength and the role it plays in our physical fitness. Most of this discussion will focus on strength-building exercise, particularly weightlifting / resistance training, as the end goal is to equip ourselves with the necessary tools to build an effective exercise strategy that complements our long-term health strategy.
Growing up, I vividly remember two ‘truths’ of strength training: 1. If you begin lifting weights too early, it can stunt your growth, and 2. Becoming “bulky” is an inevitable side-effect of weightlifting. Unfortunately, I’ve heard these claims repeated more recently than is justified, as studies have repeatedly shown that weightlifting does not stunt growth and is not sufficient for extreme growth in muscle size. Therefore, it’s safe to say that we can improve our strength without negatively impacting long-term development or resembling Arnold Schwarzenegger. So, why do these narratives exist and what truths can we be sure of regarding strength training? As a hint, one of the narratives has something to do with the Terminator himself.
First, the fear that strength training can inhibit growth is related to injury. A common misconception is that strength training is inherently risky and that activities such as running or golfing are more conducive to remaining injury-free. However, all major sports, in addition to light jogging, have a higher prevalence of injury than weight-training. In fact, jogging and golf are responsible for 0.70 and 1.25 injuries per 100,000 participants per year, respectively, compared to 0.10 injuries per participant in exercise classes, a mode that commonly involves weight-training. All this goes to say that weight-training is not inherently dangerous; instead, it’s essential that we use proper technique while performing the various movements involved in strength-building exercise, a topic we’ll cover in our discussion on stability.
Prior to the late 1970s, the most common forms of exercise for the general population were aerobic exercise and calisthenics. However, with the rise of bodybuilding, weightlifting began to grow more popular and be seen as something for the everyday person. Because strength is an important predictor of our ability to live well for a long time, weightlifting’s increased prevalence was largely positive; however, due to the nature of its rise, strength training has commonly been associated with extremely muscular physiques. Yet, this connection is misguided.
Ultimately, weightlifting causes three main adaptations: Strength, power, and hypertrophy. Generally, strength and power refer to movement, whereas hypertrophy refers to size. Specifically, strength is the measure of our muscle’s ability to generate force. Power is our ability to generate force with the added element of speed. Hypertrophy on the other hand refers the size of our muscles.
Previously, I outlined that strength, stability, and aerobic efficiency are the core elements comprising our level of physical fitness. Strength plays such an important role in physical fitness because it affords us the opportunity to continue living well for a long time. Many of our daily activities, such as walking up stairs, getting up off the ground, and putting a suitcase in the overhead bin are functional exhibits of strength. After the age of 40, we lose about 1% of muscle each year, but more importantly, we lose about 2-4% of strength and 8-10% of power. This decline in muscle strength, size, and power is why it’s so important to build ‘reserves’ early-on. The functionality of strength sets it apart from power and hypertrophy, and we should try to build as much of it as possible. While hypertrophy affords us the aesthetic benefits of exercise, strength affords us the opportunity to live an able-bodied, activity-filled life.
So, where do we start?
Assessment
When assessing strength, we are not concerned with the strength of specific muscle groups. I’ll say that again. We’re not concerned with how strong your lats are. Instead, we’re concerned with assessing our ability to move through certain ranges of motion. For example, the isolated strength of the calves is inconsequential compared to the strength of a lower-body hip-hinging movement (e.g., deadlift), a movement that the calves are a part of. Therefore, in order to assess our strength, it’s important to test strength through the different types of movement patterns: 1. Hinging, 2. Pushing (incl. squatting), 3. Pulling, and 4. Rotation. Here are some sample exercises:
Hinging
Deadlifts
Kettlebell Swings
Good Mornings
Pushing (including squats)
Upper body
Push-Ups
Overhead press
Lower body
Squats (Front or back squat)
Single leg extension
Pulling
Upper body
Pull-Ups
Bent-Over Rows
Lower body
Hamstring curls
Cable reverse squat
Rotations
Cable Woodchoppers
Medicine Ball Rotational Throws
For each of these movement patterns, it’s important to have a good understanding of your starting point, so for those who are experienced exercisers, I encourage you to test these movements sooner rather than later. If a one-rep max test is not in the cards, use this table for multi-rep conversions.
If strength is the adaptation we’re seeking, then a training program should reflect the aim of building strength through movement, not muscle groups. In order to become stronger, we need to train these movements.
Improvement
So, why aren’t there strength gyms, power gyms, and hypertrophy gyms that are each dedicated to training the adaptations separately? The short answer is because they can all be trained by doing the exact same exercises, with the main differences being the load and frequency. This is an area where the methods are many but the concepts are few.
Simply put, the lower the rep range and the higher the weight, the more conducive the exercise is to power-building. Conversely, lighter weights and higher reps are more conducive to hypertrophy-building (at less than ~ 15-20 reps). Strength is somewhere in between, and we should keep the following protocol in mind when thinking about how to improve our strength.
3-5 Method
Frequency: 3-5 days a week
Sets: 3-5 sets per exercise
Reps: 3-5 reps per set
Rest: 3-5 minutes
In general, it’s important to keep the total number of reps per set below 8 in order to build strength, while ensuring that proper form is maintained.
Programming and movement selection are just a couple of the factors that dictate our strength, and we’ll talk more about the specifics of programming at the conclusion of the newsletters on exercise. Additionally, protein plays a critical role in the strength-building process.
The criticality of strength in our everyday and future lives is quite evident, and my hope is that others can see and experience its benefits. At the end of the day, strength is a lot like investing. The more you’re willing to invest now, the more experiences you’ll be able to have later. So why not start now?
Challenge
Main challenge: Assess hinging, upper body pushing / pulling, and lower body pushing / pulling strength to establish baseline.
Physical challenge: Complete one week of the 3-5 method strength program, spending at least one session focused on hinging, pushing, and pulling each
Resources:
The Huberman Lab Guest Series: Dr. Andy Galpin
Huberman Lab x Andy Galpin show notes
Next newsletter: We’ll discuss aerobic efficiency and its role in our physical fitness in addition to how we can assess and improve it.
Excellent information!