Let’s Compare Resistance Training and Strength Training. Which One Should I Be Doing?
3 Objectives we’ll uncover in this article:
- Define Resistance Training and Strength Training to Compare and Contrast them.
- Uncover Which One is Best for You
- Explore the Methodology That Will Provide You with the Maximum Benefits!
By Definition:
Resistance Training:
Any exercise where your muscles contract against an external force.
A fairly vague definition, as well as a pretty low bar for a description of an “exercise,” wouldn’t you say? When your mom swaddled you tightly in a blanket when you were a newborn, and you struggled against that “external force” to get your little arms and legs free, you were performing Resistance Training!
Ok, a little cheeky on my part. But what’s important to know regarding resistance training is all the different objects that qualify as “external force”, including your baby blanket. And in today’s fitness-crazed world, the list keeps growing.
Here are just a few:
Free Weights
Dumbells
Barbells
Weight Plates
Kettle Bells
Medicine Balls
Machines
About 30 to 40 different machines for just about every muscle in your body.
Resistance Bands/Tubing/Cables
These are great as they are safe, easy to use, and cheap! They also take up very little room, so they are great for your home gym or to put on your suitcase if you travel a lot.
Wearable Resistance
Weighted Vests
Ankle Weights
Wrist Weights
Weighted Gloves
Weight Belts
And My Favorite Category: Body-Weight Equipment
Suspension Trainers like TRX and Gymnastic Rings
Total Gym – Utilizing your body weight and good ole’ gravity
Plyometric Jump Boxes
Ab Wheel
BOSU & Stability Balls
Balance Boards
Pull-Up Bar
The Earth! For Push-Ups, Squats, Planks, and a ton more…
Why is Body-Weight Equipment my favorite? Because they are safe, on the cheaper side, and are all great for your own home gym. Most importantly, they all encompass Functional Training. I’ll save this definition and discussion for another blog.
For now, use your visual imagination and picture the physiques of athletes who use their own body weight as resistance:
Gymnasts
Swimmers
Dancers
Rock climbers
Track and field peeps
Martial artists
Not too shabby of physiques to emulate, wouldn’t you agree?
Back to our Definitions:
Strength Training:
Resistance Training with a specific goal – gaining strength.
You are using any form of external force, including your own body weight, to get stronger. Just like money or love, who doesn’t want a little more strength in their life?
As you can see, all Strength Training is Resistance Training, but not all Resistance Training is Strength Training. If you’re going to take the time to do Resistance Exercises, let’s ensure you’re getting stronger in the process. Strength Training is what is best for you. Now let’s focus on how to make it happen!
The Rule of 10:
A huge part of helping my clients achieve the goal of getting stronger and reaping the maximum number of benefits is to keep things simple. The Rule of 10 does just that. Simplicity = Easy Adherence.
Here tis: any exercise that you are doing, add enough external force so the muscle you are targeting hits fatigue in 10 repetitions or a few less. Think around the 7,8, or 9 mark with good form. That’s it, team! Now you will forever know the answer to the question: “How much weight should I be using in this exercise?”
As I’ve told you, using your own body weight is my favorite flavor of Resistance Training. And my favorite machine for that is the Total Gym. The machine is brilliant in its simplicity. You are simply using gravity and a percentage of your body weight, which is determined by the incline you choose on the machine.
My Total Gym has 12 levels, with 12 being the hardest (the largest % of my body weight working against gravity). So let’s explore an example.
The Golden Rule of The Rule of 10: Every time you do an exercise, go until you hit fatigue. This simply means you can’t do any more repetitions with good form.
Let’s say I’m doing a Chest Press Exercise and I have no idea where I will achieve fatigue, so I just start on level seven. I focus on safe, sound form, and I actually do 17 repetitions until I hit fatigue. Well, I now know that I need quite a bit more external force, so I aggressively bump it to level 11 for the second set. This time, I barely get to six repetitions before I hit fatigue, so I’ve overshot the mark.
Finally, on the third set, I choose level nine, and I ironically hit fatigue and have to stop right at the ninth repetition. Voila! Level nine is my perfect level – today – to achieve the maximum benefits from my strength training program. I emphasize the word – today – because remember, correctly adhering to The Rule of 10 will make you stronger. Yeah! Hell Yeah! Next month, you’ll probably have to bump it up to level 10 so you keep progressing.
Now that you 1. Know the definitions and, 2. Know which one you should be doing and, 3. You know how to accomplish it, go to ChatGPT and ask it, “What are the benefits of strength training?” This should motivate you to keep crushing that Rule of 10, and reaping all the juicy, healthy benefits!
