Training Tip #2: Get Strong

Following on from our first training tip of Goal Setting, our second tip is one which will help guide the goals of many people. I want you to GET STRONG!

Strength is the foundation physical quality for all kinds of things, although it doesn't always get the credit it deserves. Consider the groups below and how they might perceive strength training.

- Endurance athletes often see strength training as unnecessary, instead believing that the only muscular development they need will come from their regular endurance training and that additional strength work would make them more fatigued and add weight which would slow them down. 

- Adolescent and developing athletes (and their coaches) often believe that strength training will stunt their growth and should be avoided until they reach full maturation. 

- Elderly exercisers want to keep fit in their senior years, but will usually go straight to low-impact cardiovascular training, thinking that strength training is unimportant for them

It would be easy to go on listing people who perhaps don't value strength training the way they should, but let's look at the truths behind the groups above. 

- Strength has been shown to improve movement economy and so increase endurance performance. For example, after strength training, a long-distance runner will expend less energy per step than before strength training, and so will be more resistant to fatigue and will perform better over a given distance. 

- For adolescents, strength training should take the form of co-ordination based training at appropriate intensities with the aim of increasing strength in all planes of motion and in any given situation. This has been shown on numerous occasions to reduce injury risk, particularly around the time of the main growth spurt. While youngsters should not be pushed to hit maximal strength targets, learning techniques of weight lifting exercises is extremely safe and often very rewarding. 

- Elderly people arguably have the greatest need for strength training. As we age, muscle mass and strength decline in all of us. This doesn't pose a problem until we reach a point where we struggle to complete basic everyday tasks, or are at risk of breaking bones with a fall. Strength training can reduce and even reverse this strength and muscle loss, meaning the ability to carry out everyday tasks is maintained for longer, and elderly people can maintain an active, independent lifestyle! 

If the reasons above don't convince you that strength training should be your number one priority, consider that it also underpins almost all athletic qualities, including agility, and power, and even has positive effects on injury risk. 

Of course, there are different types of strength training and various methods of getting strong, and not everyone needs to be hitting maximal deadlifts and squats. But as a basis for a good training program, some kind of quality strength development should be included by EVERYONE!