Why You (Yes, You) Should Be Trying to Get Stronger

Our Oxford Personal Trainers here at The Project PT are here to give you a breakdown of why you should be trying to get stronger right now!

For many people outside the fitness bubble, ‘exercise’ looks like long runs, bicep curls and burpees. These perceptions inform how training is done at a novice level for many people - long sessions of cardio, isolation joint exercises and exhaustion for the sake of exhaustion.  The general goal of exercise for this group is a somewhat vague idea of ‘health’; we’re told that we need to move, eat our greens and sweat a few times a week to ‘keep fit’.  However, rarely are we told that we should focus on getting ‘stronger’, vs getting ‘healthier’ - so today we’re going to talk about why everyone should be loading up a bar and lifting heavy.

First of all, what is ‘heavy’ is going to be different for everyone.  Someone who has never stepped foot in a gym is going to have a vastly different perception of ‘heavy’ vs someone who is a Crossfit athlete, and an office worker will have a different idea of ‘heavy’ to a farm labourer.  This doesn’t mean, however, that one person in this analogy is wrong and the other right - ‘heavy’ is relative, and over time our bodies will adapt to the stresses it is put under, become stronger, and ‘heavy’ will become light.  This phenomenon is called ‘Progressive Overload’, and it is the cornerstone of any scientific training program.

So, why should we be getting stronger?  Every day, in gyms across the world, the following sentences are spoken;

‘I just want to tone, I don’t want to get bulky!’

‘I only want to be healthier, I don’t need to be a bodybuilder!’

‘I heard that lifting heavy weights is really bad for your back!’

The list goes on - despite its prevalence in the popular imagination, there may be no more maligned area of fitness than strength training.  However, I believe that everyone, not just bodybuilders and athletes, should be training to get stronger.  This is because strength ‘is’ health, especially as we get older.  As we age, we lose muscle mass, our ability to generate power and force decreases, our resting metabolic rate declines and our bones become more brittle.  The Copenhagen Sarcopenia study, a study into the correlations between age, lean muscle mass and physical function, states that;

‘...low muscle mass represents an independent and substantial risk factor for frailty, morbidity, falls, fractures, and mortality in old age as well as for a wide range of acute and chronic diseases.’

There is a wealth of studies, evidence, meta-analyses and data supporting strength training as an indispensable tool in the fight against the diseases that come with age.  So many conditions that we consider part and parcel of ageing - osteoporosis, sarcopenia, loss of balance and subsequent falls, general weakness and infirmity, can be positively affected by resistance training.  

This is only the tip of the iceberg of empirical evidence correlating strength with positive health outcomes.  A heavy squat won’t just get you drumstick quads, it’ll help you stand up off of a low sofa without assistance.  A deadlift won’t only get you a great butt, it’ll allow you to pick up your kids without throwing your back out.  A Turkish getup doesn’t just look awesome, it’ll teach you how to stand up with strength and coordination should you fall - and make that fall less likely to occur.  This is why we should all be getting stronger - because there are no downsides to it.  Strength is an all-around positive for your life.

As well as the well documented physical and medical benefits to strength training, the mental benefits are also invaluable.  Lifting weights isn’t just throwing a metal bar around - it’s a physical expression of your intent, your will.  Setting a goal weight for a lift, working towards it, and finally achieving it, is far more concrete and compelling than an arbitrary weight loss goal, because it’s a tangible mountain to climb.  When you’re faced with a heavy deadlift you’ve been working towards for weeks, months, years - it’s the culmination of hours of focus, determination and spirit.  It either goes up, or it doesn’t, and it’s your job to make sure it does.  Putting yourself under controlled, but challenging amounts of mental pressure breaks down and then grows your resolve, just as controlled but challenging amounts of physical load breaks your muscles down, and then rebuilds them stronger.  

‘...that moment, on the way up in a heavy squat, where there’s that split second where the bar just stops, and it’s like time stops.  You have this incredibly quick discussion with yourself, about whether or not to keep going, whether or not you can keep going...and the more times you can win that, the more times you can train yourself to win that in your life.’

Bryce Krawczyk, Calgary Barbell

So, why should you train to be stronger? 

You should train to be stronger for your health, as the overwhelming evidence shows us.  But more than that, you should become stronger physically, to help yourself become stronger mentally.  You should become stronger so you can help your neighbour move their fridge when it breaks down.  You should become stronger to help clear the rubble when a storm blows down an old wall in  your town, because who else is going to do it?  You should become stronger because we have a responsibility to each other, as a community, to be the best versions of ourselves we can be, to try our best to help each other.  You should become stronger because it will make you realise you can accomplish more than you thought you were capable of.  Most importantly, you should become stronger because it will change who you are for the better - and that’s worth investing in.

About The Project PT Oxford Personal Trainers

The Project PT uses fitness to empower people. Through our Oxford Personal Training Studio, we use 4 pathways to achieve our mission. Our first pathway started in August 2019 creating accessible and fun fitness events in unusual settings, making fitness enjoyable for all. Our second pathway offers free fitness classes for young children, helping them to build a positive relationship with exercise and sport. The 3rd pathway comes in the form of our Movement Studio, a nature-inspired space teaching people how to move their body's in a welcoming and non-judgmental environment. Our 4th pathway is still in the development stages, Youth Lift will engage with young people on the periphery of being excluded from school. Using the medium of lifting weights empowers them to make other positive changes in their lives.