Exercise: Resistance Training

Resistance training is a form of exercise that involves pushing or pulling against some weight, including pull ups, chin ups and weight machines in the gym. It stimulates muscle growth and is very good for the bones. Dr Joe Kosterich talks about the importance of resistance training, the fact that you don’t necessarily have to bulk up, and how to start resistance training.

Resistance training is one of those things that often people tend to shy away from. And the reason for that is it tends to get associated with people like Arnold Schwarzenegger, who pump lots of iron, and people associate resistance training with: “Oh, am I gonna get that big?” Now, some people set out to do that, but the vast majority of us don’t.

In this video we’re going to talk a bit about the importance of resistance training and the fact that if you do some of it, it will be good for you and you don’t necessarily have to end up looking like Arnie.

So what is resistance exercise?

Resistance exercise is the form that you do that involves some weight or resistance against the body. If for example, you go out running and you are running into the breeze that really doesn’t constitute resistance. Resistance is when you’re pushing or pulling against some weight. Now, that can include simple exercises like pull ups, press ups, chin-ups, squats where you have a weight on your back, anything that involves the use of dumbbells or barbells, organ machines that some people have at home or you may find in the gym.

So you’re generally going to be doing repetitions of a particular type of exercise. Compared to say, swimming where you use all the body’s muscles at once, in resistance exercise you’ll generally be using certain groups.

The type of contraction of the muscle is a little bit different. This is where it becomes quite technical and you don’t need to go into all of that but it does work the muscle in different ways. Resistance exercise is very important because it stimulates muscle growth. It’s also very good for the bones and this, again, applies to everybody but particularly for those who may have osteoporosis, resistance training is really important.

Unless one is perhaps doing six or more hours per day, and for some people using perhaps products that shouldn’t be used, it’s not going to have you ending up looking like a giant bodybuilder.

Weights in women

Women in particular get very concerned about this and sometimes you see on the internet pictures of women who look like they have perhaps overdone it a little bit at the gym. That sort of picture did not just come from doing some resistance training. Unfortunately some of these people are using some substances that will help get them bigger.

For all of you out there if you are doing some resistance training it’s going to help give you some muscle tone, it’ll give you a better shape and, again, often for women that’s quite an important thing, for the blokes too these days. But it IS good for your bone strength; and it does protect your bones a bit from osteoporosis in the later years.

Ok, simple things like we said before: push-ups, pull-ups, chin-ups, squats, dumbbells, barbells. Now, technique is really important and, again, this is where people often like machines, exercise machines that you can find in the gym or that you can have in your home.

Don’t try and lift heavy weights the first day, start light and build up. Use repetitions of 8, 10 or 15; do them multiple times. But, again, start low and work up.  A lot of people benefit from using a personal trainer or sometimes getting some video, DVDs or other guides to help with resistance training.

You need to work all the muscle groups. It’s not just about building up your shoulders or building up your thighs, it’s building up all the muscle groups including areas like your back and your abs as well.

As I do keep emphasising, it’s very important to use the right technique. You don’t want to injure yourself or try to lift weights heavier than you can manage. If you start with light weights you can build up over time.

For those of you who have had injuries or problems with a particular part of the body then you need to work around that and it may be worth having a chat with your doctor or physio, perhaps even chatting with a personal trainer.

So to summarise, resistance training: often overlooked, really important, very good for muscles/muscle mass, very good for your metabolism and for those wanting to burn more fat, very very good for your bones. All up, resistance training is really important. Aim to do all the muscle groups through the course of the week. Aim to do at least 2 or hopefully 3 sessions of some resistance training throughout the course of your week.

More information

For more information on fitness and exercise, including stretches, types of exercise, exercise recovery and exercise with health conditions, as well as some useful videos, see Fitness and Exercise.