Reference Guide to Strength Training

I disagree with the statement that strength training strengthens tendons and ligaments. I'd like to see where this has been proven. I have Ehlers Danlos so my tendons and ligaments (and other connective tissue) are too loose, causing my joints to dislocate frequently. Exercising, even gentle and no impact, causes more problems with my joints, not less. I have to pay close attention to everything I do because even one uncontrolled movement causes pain and dislocations. When I was in sports as a kid my joints actually became much worse, not better. Now my hips can dislocate just from walking. Thus my tendons and ligaments became weaker - not stronger - through exercise. If the Ehlers Danlos was diagnosed as a kid I would have been told to exercise less, not be in sports, and I would have had access to doctors who could provide proper braces for my joints well before my joints got to be this bad.

There are also many cases of people who have torn tendons and ligaments through exercise (ever seen an achilles tendon snap while someone's running?). They're not being strengthened, but being tested and pulled. - 7/15/2012 4:31:51 AM

Great article very educational and informative. Written well and explains the information in an easy to read way for the general public. However, I disagree with you on saying machines are for beginners and free weights are for advanced lifters. I would only agree with this for a beginner who has no trainer and no idea what they are doing, otherwise machines increase the risk of injury long term for the trainee. They do not strengthen their stability muscles but increase the strength of their prime mover. When they are finally allowed to move to free weights they have strong prime movers with no support and the risk of injury skyrockets.
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- 5/15/2012 3:23:42 AM

I think this article makes a lot of really good points, and I'm really glad that the "Specificity of Training" principle was included - I just wish the SparkPeople Training Plan Generator would get the message. Since it's well documented that doing a leg day back to back with an arm day is totally fine since you're targetting complete different muscles, it's so *frustrating* that the workout generator *won't let you* enter back to back workouts on different mucles groups, reminding you that you shouldn't train back to back without a rest day (perfectly true, if you're using the same muscles). I realize that this is the wrong place to vent about this, and I've already raised it in the "tech" forum, but it seems I can't help myself - BAH!

In any case, I was happy to see this idea, and others that are equally important, explained here clearly and accurately. Bravo. - 12/13/2011 11:08:35 AM

Don't forget that water exercise, especially vertical exercise like water aerobics, has a strength component. Water resistance is 12x the resistance of air, so every move in every direction is evenly resisted. To add challenge similar to adding weight to dumbells, you can use various devices to increase buoyancy or drag resistance. You can employ speed, acceleration, and direction change to further up the ante. AND there's no danger of dropping a chunk of iron on your toe! - 12/13/2010 1:11:15 PM

I have been strength training since 1987. I had a trainer for a couple years. After becoming comfortable at one weight, I increase it just like you're supposed to do. I mostly do machine exercises, but also bicep curls--free weights. However, a few years ago, I was getting strange sensations in my right thigh, sort of like when your arm or hand "go to sleep" and you experience tingling in it. I had that sensation in my right thigh. I went to physical therapy, and now I have specialized stretches to do every day. My thigh has much improved. However, I was told not to do the abductor or adductor machine exercises since they are not at all helpful, and as I remember they are not highly recommended in the Fitness section of SP. I was also doing the back stretch machine, which to me was like rocking and it was even fun. I had worked my way up to putting all the weight blocks on, including even extra weight--over 300 pounds--and I was quite proud of myself, to be able to lift more weight than many of the men. But the physical therapist was very critical of this, saying I would definitely be popping a disk if I continued doing that. She said that someone my age, 63 then, could not do exercises like they could at a younger age. She also nixed the leg pushes I was doing and said I should not be going over 150 lbs. (I was lifting about 100 lbs. more.) So I pass this information on if it can be of use to anyone. And if Jen wants to comment on this or give me some advice, I'd appreciate it, since I want to be sure that what I'm doing is all right. - 12/13/2010 1:00:15 PM

I've just started strength training in my pulmonary rehab program and I really excited. I used three different machines yesterday for 10 reps each. Can't wait to get more familiar with the system! - 10/9/2010 1:54:26 PM

very good info for the novice! thanks a lot - 10/9/2010 1:47:28 PM

It says I read the article in March, but i don't remember reading it before. I enjoyed it and feel that I am still a beginner. At my age, I may never progress any farther.!
Very informative. - 10/9/2010 11:23:15 AM

Great article! I'm reading a lot about strength training and working out with a small weight-lifting class. Up til now, that part of the gym was a black box to me. I ignored it.

Weight-lifting is fantastic. It makes my gym workouts far more interesting because I mix it up every day. I appreciate and learn from other gym members--many of those exercises are a LOT harder than they look, I had no idea. My body is sculpting as I'm losing weight. At 5'6" and 214 lbs, I'm obese. But I'm a lot stronger than the skinny girls taking the weight training with me. Yay! - 3/3/2010 10:54:57 AM

I much appreciate this article. Some things here that I know and many more explained with clarity. The information is put together so well in a format that I can understand. I have been trying to grab back some of my muscle strength after a lifetime of not looking after myself at all so it is exactly what I need. - 10/16/2009 11:21:51 AM

The article would have helped me more if strenghth training with water weights in the pool were included. - 7/9/2009 9:01:04 AM

This article is exactly what I have needed!! I now understand!! Thanks soooo much. - 3/14/2009 10:35:35 AM

Excellent article. Good Information explained very well. Makes it all crystal clear .!! - 2/26/2009 10:33:32 AM

Excellent and detailed article, however it may be too technical for the beginner. It might be easier for the beginner if the topics were broke into separate articles or more examples given. I understand it myself but I just know from reading the Spark message boards that strength training seems to really confuse people. - 10/2/2008 12:24:57 PM

Jen always gives advice that I agree with. I liked this article a great deal. It explained many things about weight training that I was not sure about - like what core means. I keep hearing this term everywhere, but never really understood the exact muscles involved. I didn't even note that this was her article until I finished it - it does not surprise me at all. I am a big fan of Jen's. - 7/27/2008 1:23:30 AM