Beginner Strength Training: What the Research Actually Says

Strength training is essential for maintaining and improving musculoskeletal health. In fact, adults who do not engage in resistance training can lose around 8% of their muscle mass per decade (Source), with this loss increasing during older adulthood. Therefore, strength training is something that everyone should be including in their fitness plan. However, we recognise that some individuals may lack confidence when starting resistance training in a gym. Or you may have limited time to attend before or after work. That's why home gym equipment is ideal and will boost your motivation, consistency, and subsequently, provide you with the beginner strength training benefits that you desire. This blog will cover what the research actually says about beginner strength training. We will also highlight some recommended equipment and guide you to ensure a safe start into your strength training journey. 

 

What Is Strength Training and How Does the Body Adapt?

Strength training refers to a type of physical activity that includes completing muscular contractions against an external load. The external load places mechanical tension on the musculature and causes subsequent increases in metabolic stress. The mechanical tension, coupled with the increased mechanical stress, induces physiological responses that enhance protein synthesis, responsible for muscle growth (Source). 

What Is Strength Training? Understanding the Basics of Beginner Strength Training

There are multiple ways you can complete strength training to induce physiological adaptation. The most basic form is via bodyweight exercises. For instance, completing press-ups, body weight squats, pull ups are all exercises that use your own weight as the external load. This is great, as you can complete bodyweight movements anywhere at any time. However, progressive overload is a key training principle within resistance training and without it, adaptations will quickly stop. Therefore, greater stimuli need to be added progressively. This can be achieved by adding greater loads, for example, with a weighted vest or free weights. 

On the other hand, you can increase external load to drive adaptation by using free weights. This can be quite daunting, especially when starting a home gym, as you feel like you need to purchase a range of equipment to complete this. This is not entirely the case, and Exersci offers versatile equipment to help limit the amount of equipment you have to buy. For example: 

• Adjustable dumbbell & barbell set
• Weighted bench
• Kettlebells

Even with this little amount of equipment, you can complete full-body strength training, as well as mix up your training exercises so that your programme remains fresh! And, if you feel like you have gained adaptations that exceed the external load you have available, you should start completing unilateral exercises to provide a greater stimulus to the musculature being exercised. Essentially, the goal is to provide sufficient mechanical tension on the body to force adaptations neurally (Source) and muscularly, in turn improving strength and daily function (Source). 

The good thing about being a beginner is that these adaptations (especially neural adaptations occur much quicker... that's why there is such a thing as beginner gains.

What the Research Says About the Benefits of Beginner Strength Training

Researchers have studied strength training for well over a century, and the scientific community clearly understands its benefits. It is obvious that strength training induces increases in strength and muscle size, but why is this so important? 

Strength training isn't globally recommended for you to look aesthetic or have an ego that you can lift more than your peers. The reason the World Health Organisation, governing bodies, and general practitioners recommend strength training is because of the significance that increased strength from resistance training has on your quality of life and longevity. For example, review literature, whereby peer-reviewed, published research articles are summarised together, and the data is analysed to create a general observation of the current data, shows that resistance training significantly improves quality of life (Source). In this study, quality of life was measured with self-reported general health surveys that asked the participants questions on improvements in function at work, daily activities, social activities, etc. Therefore, this review specifically highlights that the benefits of resistance training are not limited to just improved strength, but also improved daily function and subsequently a more quality lifestyle. 

Not only does it improve function, but current research showcases that regular resistance training can prevent and combat the development of musculoskeletal disorders such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and lower back pain (Source). Improvements in bone health (through increased bone mineral density), stronger joints and ligaments, and greater muscle size likely drive these benefits

How Beginners Can Start Safely and Effectively at Home

A major obstacle for people wanting to start completing some form of resistance training is that they dont feel that they have the knowledge, or they feel nervous about performing exercises wrong in public. This is yet another benefit to having a home gym, where, if set up correctly, you have a safe and comforting environment to optimise your lifting. 

Like many hobbies/activities, doing it is the best way to learn. However, you should take a few steps during resistance training to ensure safety and reduce injury risk. Importantly, start with a low load and keep it low until you learn correct technique — you shouldn’t expect to begin training with perfect form. However, by starting lighter, you are able to minimise the risk of injury from incorrect technique. Once you have your technique down, it's time to stay consistent and progressively overload.

Progressive overload is a key training principle, where, without it, physiological adaptations will plateau and eventually stop. You can apply progressive overload in many ways, and you can easily achieve it using the limited equipment highlighted in this blog. The most common method is to increase the external load, thus increasing the mechanical tension placed on the muscle and enhancing adaptation. Other methods include increasing the repetition range, thus heightening metabolic stress, which also enhances adaptation. You can also increase the frequency of your training sessions or slow the tempo of your lifts to increase the time under tension. 

Example exercises to increase muscular strength

Compound movements are important for beginner strength training. Movements such as bench press, squats and deadlifts are multi-joint movements, engaging an array of musculature to maximise adaptations. Once you have these down safely and controlled, then you should start adding accessory movements. For instance, bicep curls, tricep extensions, leg extensions, etc., to target specific musculature. 

Load, repetition range and frequency are also extremely important to optimise your training plan. In line with recommendations from heavily cited research from the American Journal of Sports Medicine, beginners should aim to apply loads whereby you can lift for an 8-12 rep range. This means you should be failing between these reps. Once you are able to perform 1-2 reps over 12 reps without failure for all 3 sets, then you should increase the load by ~2-10%. Furthermore, beginners should perform resistance training 1 to 3 times per week. 

Example training session: 

Lower body (3 sets, 8-12 reps)

• Goblet squats (Adjustable dumbbells)
• Romanian deadlifts (Adjustable dumbbells or barbell) 

Upper body (3 sets, 8-12 reps)

• Bench press (Adjustable dumbbells or barbell & weight bench
• Bent over row (Adjustable dumbbell or barbell)
• Seated shoulder press (Adjustable dumbbell & weight bench)

Core

• Kettlebell dead-bugs (2 x 10-12 reps) / or Kettlebell carries (2 x 30-45 seconds)

 

Conclusion 

Strength training is integral to your musculoskeletal health. Strength/resistance training includes completing movements against an external load. This applies mechanical tension on the musculature to subsequently increase protein synthesis and enhance muscle hypertrophy. Strength training provides numerous benefits, including combating musculoskeletal disorders and enhancing function and quality of life. And one of the best parts is that you can complete it at home using minimal equipment. You should train smart and stick to the recommendations within this blog, based on high-quality research. You dont need complexity, you just need to stay consistent and progressively overload. 

Are you ready to dive into science-based lifting in your own home? Explore Exersci's wide range of equipment for beginners to advanced lifters on our website www.Exersci.co.uk