Strength training is an important part of any exercise program, but it's not always thought of in terms of injury prevention. A primary goal of strength training should be to correct imbalances in the musculoskeletal system, greatly reducing the risk of overuse injuries.

Strength training refers to strengthening and conditioning the overall body, rendering all systems more efficient. This, in turn, leads to noticeable improvements in the efficiency of one's everyday activities.

For example, back pain is a common problem in the workplace. This is especially true among people who must lift heavy objects and bend over constantly or people who must sit for extended periods. It might seem that these jobs are the cause of back pain. However, the underlying reason may simply be a muscle imbalance. Here's why: Sitting for long hours in a seat that doesn't provide proper support chair causes some muscles to relax, forcing other muscles to contract even more to compensate for the relaxed muscles. The result is back pain.

A strength program is aimed at strengthening all muscles, both the major muscles and the smaller supportive muscles. Without a conscious effort to understand where the imbalances in the body may exist, and taking steps to correct them, the stronger muscles become stronger, the weaker muscles become weaker, and the imbalance becomes that much greater. Therefore, a well-designed strength program is one that strengthens all muscles, thus allowing a person to lift and bend or to sit for long hours without pain.

Overuse Injury Prevention

A balanced muscular system is important for injury prevention, particularly among seniors. Each muscle group has an antagonist, or opposite, muscle group. If both muscles are not equally strong and equally flexible the possibility of injury is greatly increased. For example, the muscles in the front of the thighs, the quadriceps, are usually better developed than are the back of the legs, the hamstrings, in most people. This imbalance raises the chances of pulling the hamstring muscles. In the case of back pain, the abdominal muscles often over power the erector spinae muscles in the lower back, causing excessive pulling. As the name suggests, overuse injuries tend to develop over long periods of time, and it may take some time to develop the antagonist muscles to achieve a suitable balance.

Additional Benefits

In addition to helping to balance the body's overall musculature, there are many "side" benefits to a strength-training program. Strength training increases lean muscle mass, causing the metabolic rate to increase. And since muscle burns more calories at rest than does fat, an increase in muscle mass means a faster and more efficient metabolism.

Strength training paired with some form of aerobic activity will result in a change in your body composition in terms of muscle-to-fat ratio.

A word of caution: While aerobics and dieting will help someone lose weight, some of that loss will include muscle and a person may end up with a greater fat percentage than before he or she started.

Workout Tips

In strength training, generally one to three sets are performed for each exercise. Usually, for strength purposes, 8-12 repetitions are performed within each set. All movements should be done with full control of the weight. This means using a slow, controlled movement at all times. Taken together, proper form and slow, controlled movements are the best techniques to achieve good results.

Whenever exercising, remember to warm up and stretch properly.

When performing each exercise movement, be sure to use a full range of motion to ensure flexibility and a fuller contraction of the muscle. This type of program should be used 2 - 3 times per week.

Advanced weight trainers may even attempt 4 days a week, but increasing the frequency of workouts any higher may result in overtraining, thereby working against one's goals.

A well-planned combination of strength training and aerobic exercise will bring about positive changes to body composition that can also manifest themselves in outward appearance.

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written by bdub, February 16, 2012

How come this article recommends 8-12 reps for strength? NFPT recommends 4-6 reps.

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