Towards the end of the last century the fitness industry (not that there really was one at this point) took an interesting turn. Whereas before individuals trained their bodies according to the functions it needed to perform, farmers, hunters, construction workers, etc., after this turn people became more and more certain that aerobic exercise was the end all/be all of physical fitness. This was a paradigm shift that many in the world of health and fitness see as a double edged sword. On the one hand, this explosion of aerobic fitness probably got quite a few people interested in exercise that weren't before. I can't say this is a bad thing, of course. But on the other hand, all the extra attention, both monetarily and in the form of "scientific" propaganda, shifted the entire fitness world away from what was, up until this point, a pretty important aspect of being a "Fit" person. That aspect is Strength Training.
When people hear the word Strength, quite a few images are likely to come to mind. Meat-heads in the gym flexing and yelling at each other. Giants on ESPN throwing around stones and pulling airplanes. Crazy little people from obscure countries putting hundreds of pounds over their heads in the Olympics. Now granted, these are absolutely good examples of the word Strength. But how about carrying that giant bag of dog food into the house after finding a bargain at Costco? Ever moved your old couch out front once you've found a new one? And from what I've heard, lugging kids around all day is quite the exhausting ordeal as well (the only experience I have is with a Bulldog...). You see, strength doesn't have to mean moving hundreds of pounds around, it can mean just making your day to day life a bit easier.
Before we go too far, let's discuss what the word Strength even means. The word strength, according to the All Powerful Webster means: capacity for exertion, or endurance. You're probably making a weird face right now, and I understand, because that definition won't do anybody much good. One of the more common definitions used by those of us in the fitness world is: The ability to produce force. Now this also might not mean much until we go a little deeper into what it means to you as a human. The world is full of forces, many created by gravity, others by momentum. Strength for us means being able to resist and/or counter those forces to enable us to move either ourselves, or other objects through space. Very simply, the more force you yourself can produce and apply to the outside world, the greater forces you're able to resist or counter. In English, the greater your level of strength (and technique in applying that strength) the larger/heavier objects you can move, and the easier you can move objects of relatively smaller size and heft.
That said, every one of us is capable of different measurements of strength, that I'll mention because a few of them are relevant to our discussion. Absolute strength, is the amount of force your muscle(s) can theoretically achieve if every single muscle fiber was activated and the muscle was in its exact line of pull. However, that type of perfect situation is not likely to happen any time soon A) because your nervous system probably isn't capable of recruiting every single muscle fiber you have, and B) because individual muscles still work together with other muscles to create movement, and it's extremely rare that every muscle and joint in your body will be in the exact position necessary for this. A more relevant measurement is what we'll call Maximal strength, meaning the peak level of force you can voluntarily produce during a certain movement.
The next question of strength is what type of strength you want to train. There are numerous ways to train different levels of strength, but for right now we'll concentrate on only 3 broader categories, since they're the ones most often desired. The first is training a high level of strength, meant to increase that maximal strength level, and is accomplished with very heavy loads and a lower number of repetitions. The second category is training a certain level of strength with relatively heavy loads and a middle range of repetitions, but more for the increase in size that it elicits rather than just the strength increase. The last category is training with lighter loads but for a great number of repetitions, to increase strength in more of an endurance fashion.
Now I realize that not all people who want to get stronger want to get bigger, and the stigma involved with strength training is that it'll make you "Bulky" or "Hyuuuge". However, I'm here to tell you that strength in and of itself is a function of the nervous system much more than just the muscles. The nervous system and muscle tissue you already possess can be trained to become much stronger and more efficient depending on how you want them to perform. If you want to train simply to push that maximal number higher and higher you can do just that, and if so I'd suggest you check out Olympic style lifting.
However, I realize being the strongest human alive might not be for everybody. But let me explain how raising that maximal strength level a bit may help you out, no matter the endeavour. Remember that aerobic exercise craze I mentioned? While it's a decent way to improve aerobic conditioning, in many cases it's actually detrimental to a person's strength if that's the only way they exercise. Long duration endurance exercise can lead to muscle breakdown, which besides the obvious immediate issues, can lead to strength and stability problems later in life. Even though you're not pumping iron when you're running, cycling, swimming, etc., it's still muscle tissue that's getting you down that road, up that hill, or across that lake. And if you continue to get rid of it, how can you hope to keep performing at a meaningful level? Strength training will ensure that you're preserving that ever important muscle tissue as well as joint stability and bone strength. In addition, if you're competitive at any level strength training can improve many aspects of your sport. From increasing stride length, power, and turnover rate in running, to improving strength, power, and upstroke in cycling, to even improving effective range of motion and joint stability/mobility in swimming.
For my CrossFit, MMA, or other intensity sporting friends, increasing your maximal strength can make any movement requiring less than maximal force easier, and more repeatable. Increase your maximal thruster strength/power and just imagine how much easier your dear Fran would be. Boost your strength and power in something like an atlas stone or hang clean and see how much more devastating your arm bar is. Training strength endurance will only compound these effects by making these lighter movements easier and more powerful once again. Broadening your range of strength makes your performance of all movements, both heavy weight, body weight, and longer duration endurance movements that much stronger and more powerful.
So do yourselves a favor, a couple days a week, hop off that treadmill or elliptical, hope out of the pool, and wander over to that other side of the gym, with all the weird heavy stuff and grunting dudes. You might even ask one of those grunting dudes for a tip or two in how to get started, quite a few of them are really great people to talk to. And while you're at it, you may be able to get one or two of them to join you on the cardio side once in a while, because there's a pretty good chance their endurance is in pretty rough shape.
Lift big, eat big, and have fun!!
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