Now officially “strength” is movement specific and refers to the amount of force a muscle can produce in one maximal effort, whether the muscle produces the force without movement (isometric) or at a fairly even rate of movement, fast or slow (isotonic). That is clearly different than “endurance.” It is also different than “power” which refers to maximal force per unit velocity - of greater importance for most athletes as that translates into how far the shotput or baseball goes, and how high you jump. “Hypertrophy” is the mass of the muscle and does not necessarily correlate with either of those although of course it contributes. Glassman of CrossFit fame (or infamy depending on your POV) has tried to popularize another concept of meaningful muscle fitness as work capacity across broad time and modal domains.
These precise definitions can be useful for deciding on methods to achieve serious athletic goals, such as that of a basketball player, vs a sprinter, vs a powerlifter, vs a bodybuilder.
But what are most fitness recreationalists actually wanting when they say they want to get stronger? The poll to follow will put forth some models, ideals, of what you want your strength to look like but please feel free to add others.
I mostly train for muscle size/definition, and I’m never going to be a “big guy,” so I’ve decided that a gymnast’s physique is a good target. To that end, I’ve started added gymnast-type exercises to my routine, like pull-ups with my legs at a 90° angle to my body.
I want to be healthy, capable and useful. I’m pretty handy helping friends move, for example, and I can deadlift over 300lbs. Imagine if I could deadlift 500lbs?
Remember, strength is more fundamental than endurance or power. If your pedal stroke represents some small percentage of your 1RM squat, for example, then driving your squat higher will make pedaling your bike a smaller percentage of your 1RM, therefore both easier and less fatiguing, allowing you to bike faster and farther.
Power is strength displayed quickly. A 500lb deadlifter will always power clean more than a 200lb deadlifter. Strength drives power improvements because the other side of the equation, speed, is hard to train.
And CrossFit is hilarious with its “muscle confusion”. Nobody at the CrossFit games got there by doing just CrossFit. Strength, defined as the ability to produce force against a resistance, and trained by increasing the amount of force one can produce against gravity, with a barbell for example, will help in every category, from endurance to power to “general physical fitness” or whatever the CrossFit folks say their goal is.
Don’t know much about bodybuilding, except the successful ones got there by getting strong first, dieting second, and doing a million isolation exercises last. Those isolation exercises didn’t make them big and strong, they just get certain muscles to “pop” for the judges.
I lift to gain and maintain muscle mass. Part of that is to look better, but my specific objective is to lift heavy things.
That said, we alternate workouts between heavy and higher reps, which I find most effective–sort of how running intervals helps long distances. But I gauge my strength fitness by how much I can lift, and I stick to the more-traditional muscle-head lifts (bench press, etc.). Part of it is because I’m a bigger guy, and (perhaps this is foolish) I would feel silly with lower weights on the bar.
Lots of plates, baby! Hey, girls, look over here! I lift things up and put them down!
For me, strength has always been secondary to the aerobic sport.
High school-I had no idea how to train but I did some lifting in P.E. class and found I had a better drive to the finish in track and cross-country. BW:130 Benched 120
College-Between work, classes and training/practice, I had no time to lift but I was running 60-80 miles/week in a hilly area( Los Altos Hills-SF Bay Area) and I hit on the idea of carrying half pound weights in each hand. BW:132 No bench press. Measured at 8% bodyfat.
After college to middle age- Mostly high rep weights (15-20/set) with some low rep power moves (power clean, deadlift, bench) mixed in. BW:150 Benched 240 Dead 310 P.Clean 200 Age 38 measured 9.5% bodyfat
After accident, age 44-On returning to the gym 6 months post-accident, I was barely able to bench the 45 lb bar. My lifting focused on upper body mass and strength. Lower body work was mostly to rehab and maintain what was left of my left leg and gain added support from the hip muscles(which were unaffected) and bring the right leg up to normal levels.
Three years later, a week before doing a century on the handcycle, I benched 315 @ 185 BW. Est bodyfat around 12-13%
Wearing my AFO(leg brace) I could deadlift (trap bar) 275.
It’s just one of those words. It’s meant to do good things for your health. Reduce osteoporosis maybe. Slow down aging. I just follow whatever my trainer or the class I’m doing decides is the right kind of strength exercise for me. Then at times in my daily life, I notice that lifting something was easier, or some other small task went well, and I think it was because of the strength training I did at the gym.
Gymnast or wrestler seems like the best match from your list.
Strength is the ability to exert static force (or, since that is an oxymoron, pressure.)
A strong guy might have huge grip strength, or the ability to lift heavy stuff. He can throw a devastating punch. He can grab you in a bear-hug and suffocate you.
I am a fitness recreationist…but I’m exercising for endurance. “Wind.” I go for long, gentle hikes. (More like rambles.) My success is in being able to walk for ten miles when, some years ago, I couldn’t do five.
Now, some increase in strength is associated with this. I’m better able to lift heavy things too because of my long walks. But strength isn’t my specific goal. (Staying alive past the age of 65 is my actual goal.)
I am a middle aged female. I want to be physically stronger in a measurable way. I want to be able to pick up heavier things safely. I want to prevent or at least minimize osteoporosis.
When I first started working with weights a few years ago, I could barely handle two-pound weights. I’m on my second week of barbell practice (with a StrongFirst certified barbell/kettlebell trainer) and I’m amazed at how strong I’m getting. The heavy legal files I work with are much easier to lift and carry now!
I would like to be strong like the other ladies in my barbell/kettlebell ladies only class - I’m usually working with the lightest weight of us all.
I would like to be strong enough to help care for my disabled husband in the event he loses more function. Hopefully this will not happen but it’s something I think about.
I chose the “powerlifter” option, but that’s not quite right. I’m definitely interested in bringing those lifts up, but I don’t want to be a big fat powerlifter who’s incapable of doing anything beyond waddling up to the monolift and lifting a big barbell. I’d really love to do strongman stuff (like the World’s Strongest Man competitions), but that requires specialized equipment and the space to use it, so it’s a little tough to get into. Maybe one of these days.
I think for most people it’s different. In my case, my goal is to be fit, with fit defined as being able to do 10 pull-ups, run 5 miles, and other arbitrary metrics.
I want to be able to ski, hike, bike, swim and run further, faster, and for more time. Those pursuits require core, leg, and, to a lesser degree arm strength. So that’s what I work on during gym sessions.
I’m more into aerobic fitness. At 60 years-old, I’d like to be able to ride my bicycle as fast and far as I did 10 years ago. Same goes with half marathon times.
I have a chronic illness, and because of it I’ve lost 50 lbs since mid-June. I have 3 goals in mind right now:
[ol]
[li]Replace and build muscle mass, but not bodybuilding;[/li]
[li]Get myself in overall good fitness to accommodate a future liver transplant;[/li]
[li]Short term condition myself to carry a 40 lb backpack on a 4 day, 60 mile hike, probably next April.[/li][/ol]
I picked “power lifter.” I run and bike regularly and lift weights when my stupid back allows. I want strength for practical things, and muscle mass/definition for looking awesome and burning more calories.
I chose powerlifter. To me, I like challenging myself to lift more and more weight. I’m in my mid-30s and have been lifting recreationally for about 5 or 6 years now. 30-40 minutes in the gym for 3 days a week is about all the time I have, so I try to make it count by just sticking with the big compound lifts (squats, overhead press, bench press, deadlifts and power cleans) and then doing a few pullups and dips to finish off the workout.
My initial goal was for a 1-plate press, 2-plate bench, 3-plate squat and 4-plate deadlift. Now I’m getting close to a 2-plate press and 5 plate deadlift, and have been doing 3-plate benches and 4 plate squats for a little while now.
I do get concerned about the long-term effects to my body from this though. I sometimes wonder if I’m going to end up doing more harm than good to my body by working out.
What sort of harms are you concerned about? I can understand one questioning how to best optimize the impact of a total of 1.5 to 2 hours a week of available exercise time, opportunity cost and all that jazz … is it better to do HIIT or training or powerlifting or what? But assuming your form is good and you are lifting in a way that does not promote imbalanced development (and it sounds like you have a balanced mix to me), harm?
Well, I usually work in the 1 - 5 reps range and can’t help but think I’m putting a lot of stress on my body. I feel fine now, better than I ever have, and I don’t have any nagging pains in any joints or anything I just get the feeling when I have 405 lbs on my back that this probably isn’t good for an aging body. I would just lower the weight and up my reps, but I like the challege of lifting more and more and I’m not ready to give up yet… I think I’m just being stubborn.
Squatting 405 is probably safe for most people under 60, but yeah, the stories of aging powerlifters are not pretty. You’re taking some risks if you chase the biggest iron.
