If just the mere thought of running pains you, perhaps you might enjoy a different kind of exercise — one that brings a challenge and plethora of metabolic health benefits: strength training. Also known as resistance training, strength training involves exercises in which the body produces force against some kind of external resistance. Think, weight training or doing a pushup (bodyweight training); however, there is a distinction between resistance training and weight training, which we’ll cover in this article.

The health benefits of strength training are several: it helps build muscle mass and strength that are lost as our bodies age, which then benefits our metabolic rate — making weight loss and maintenance easier. Strength training also happens to improve metabolic health by improving blood sugar management, lowering blood pressure, and potentially reducing cholesterol levels, triglyceride count, and waist circumference (the five biomarkers of metabolic health). 

What is strength training?

Strength training, also known as resistance training, is a type of exercise that involves using your body to produce force against some kind of external resistance. Some of the most common types of resistance you’ll find used in strength training are:

• Bodyweight
• Free weights
• Weight machines
• Resistance bands
• Water

While strength training is often used interchangeably with the term, “weight training,” they are not one and the same. Weight training involves the explicit use of weights, such as in the case of free weights (dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, and weighted medicine balls) or weight machines (weights attached to an apparatus or machine). Strength training is the practice of producing force against any kind of external resistance. This could be in the form of your own body weight (with gravity), elastic resistance bands — and, interestingly enough, even water!

If you’ve ever tried to run or walk while underwater, you know how hard it is to move, let alone move fast. This is because water produces resistance against submerged movements in any plane or direction. The faster you try to move, the more resistance you meet. Aquatic resistance training is a prime testament to the fact that resistance training is not automatically equivalent to weight training, but rather is the larger umbrella under which weight training can be found. Part of the reason why there is such a strong correlation between these two terms is that weights are one of the easiest ways to achieve two of the main objectives of strength training: 1) greater muscle mass and 2) an increase in overall strength. 

Regular strength training preps your body to be able to more easily produce force against external resistance and, in time, increase your ability to resist large volumes of resistance — the result of increased strength. What’s really happening, though, is that your body’s nervous system is adapting to your desire to activate and move different parts of your body to produce force. The nervous system sends signals to your muscle fibers, which create tension when pulling on your skeletal muscles, to activate and move that body part through concerted effort. In an extrapolated manner, strength can be measured by the nervous system’s ability to effectively call on muscle fibers for movement and force. In the strength training world, other measures of physical strength include:

1. Agile Strength
2. Strength Endurance
3. Explosive Strength
4. Maximum Strength
5. Speed Strength
6. Starting Strength
7. Relative Strength

Increasing any one or a combination of the first six measures of physical strength will increase relative strength, as a result. 

The benefits of strength training make this form of exercise appropriate and relevant for almost everyone. It defends your body against the signs of aging (loss of muscle mass, decreased metabolism, and lower energy), deters injuries or reduces the severity of injuries, helps better manage chronic pain, increases brain function, improves mental health, and improves the biomarkers of metabolic health. 

Metabolic health benefits of strength training

Strength training vs. aerobic training: which is better for metabolic health? Studies have found that incorporating both types of exercise in your workout routine is more beneficial than doing either one on its own, such as maximizing weight loss efforts. In fact, the two are mutually beneficial. 

• Aerobic training helps build endurance that allows you to yield greater results from strength training. 
• Strength training helps achieve greater fluidity in body movements, which makes aerobic training easier. 

While both types of training are essential to greater metabolic health, here's how strength training, specifically, impacts metabolic health:

1. Improves blood sugar management

Strength training and blood sugar levels have an interesting short-term/long-term relationship. If you wear a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), you might find that your blood sugar levels rise during certain strength training sessions. This temporary increase in blood sugar is due to the release of adrenaline, a stress hormone your body produces during certain workouts that encourages glucose release by the liver. Regular strength training trains your muscles to more efficiently push sugar out of the bloodstream and into muscle cells, where the sugar is converted into energy — which makes your body less reliant on insulin to lower blood sugar levels, thereby improving insulin sensitivity. In the long term, strength training improves blood sugar regulation.

However, to combat short-term blood sugar rises during strength training, the American Diabetes Association recommends using lighter weights at an increased repetition, pacing your breathing or using relaxation techniques to minimize the adrenaline effect; and moving your workouts from early mornings to later in the day to counter the dawn phenomenon (when, early in the morning between 4:00 am and 8:00 am, blood sugar naturally rises). If you take blood sugar medication, you may want to consult your doctor about adjusting your meds to adapt to your new workout routine. With January's metabolic health app, you can more accurately predict how certain activities (such as strength training) and certain foods will impact your blood sugar curve, enabling you to adjust accordingly. 

2. May reduce waist circumference

One of the five markers of metabolic health is waist circumference. Excess belly fat increases the risk of developing diabetes and insulin resistance. In a study of the effects of weight training and different aerobic physical activities on the long-term waist circumference change in men, researchers found that weight training was the most associated with lower increases in waist circumference as compared to aerobic activities among healthy men. While waist circumference inevitably changes as the body ages, weight training could help mitigate large increases in waist circumference, and potentially even reduce waist circumference. Dr. Rania Mekary, one of the leading authors of this study, goes on to state that "engaging in weight training or, ideally, combining it with aerobic exercise could help older adults lessen abdominal fat while increasing or preserving muscle mass." 

3. Lowers blood pressure

Another biomarker of metabolic health is blood pressure status. High blood pressure signals that your heart has to work harder to pump blood throughout the body — which may result from a buildup of plaque in the arteries, which blocks the flow of blood. Blood pressure is measured by two components: systolic blood pressure (the top number) and diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number). Systolic blood pressure measures the pressure of your blood against your arteries as your heart beats. Normal systolic blood pressure is at or under 120 mmHg. Diastolic blood pressure measures the pressure of the blood against your arteries as your heart rests. Normal diastolic blood pressure falls under or is at 80 mmHg. High blood pressure can increase the risk of heart disease, heart attack, and stroke. 

Studies examining the effect of resistance training on metabolic syndrome risk factors found that resistance training significantly reduced systolic blood pressure by 4.08 mmHg. Resistance training had less of an impact upon diastolic blood pressure, although the latter was still reduced by 1.39 mmHg. Thus, resistance training offers metabolic health benefits by reducing blood pressure and helping to keep blood pressure numbers in a healthy range. To keep blood pressure in control during strength training, remember to breathe while working against resistance. Exhale as you push, pull, or lift the weight, and inhale on the release. 

4. May lower cholesterol and triglycerides

High cholesterol, particularly too much of the harmful kind of cholesterol (LDL-C), increases your risk of developing heart disease. Too many triglycerides (a type of fat that travels through the blood), paired with high or low LDL-C, can lead to a buildup of fat inside your arteries — a condition known as atherosclerosis. The fat buildup forces your heart to work harder to pump blood, impairing its normal function.

Exercise, in general, helps to reduce the amount of fat buildup in the arteries and lower the bad kind of cholesterol by increasing the good kind of cholesterol. A 2014 study concluded that  high-intensity activities are required to elicit reductions in LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Such activities can and should include higher intensity aerobic training paired with resistance training to reap the most of the metabolic health benefits of exercise. 

The reality of our health and bodies as we age

The inevitable truth about our health and bodies as we age is that it all goes downhill without maintenance. Our bodily functions diminish, our physical appearance changes, and our health becomes harder to maintain. For example, the density of our bones decreases with age, which makes our bones weaker and more prone to injury. Past our thirties, we begin to lose muscle mass, which often leads to weakened strength and inactivity. Our metabolism slows down with age, which means more calories get stored as fat, rather than being burned for energy. A slower metabolism also makes it harder to lose weight and increases the risk of developing or exacerbating metabolic syndrome. Overall, we have less energy to maintain our gradually diminishing bodily functions. 

Fortunately, exercise — particularly a combination of aerobic endurance training and strength training a few times per week — can help stave off these physical signs of aging and help improve metabolic health. Strength training fights the gradual loss of muscle mass by increasing lean muscle mass. Having more lean muscle mass increases your resting metabolic rate (RMR), the number of calories your body burns at rest to sustain function. Overall, strength training is a powerful exercise to supplement most people’s workout routine, so long as it’s performed at the appropriate intensity and frequency for your ability and health status. 

How often should you strength train for metabolic health benefits?

Adults should get at least 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (such as brisk walking or fast dancing), as well as a minimum of two days of muscle-strengthening activity (lifting weights or doing pushups) per week, according to the Second Edition of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. This recommended frequency of strength training corroborates the findings of a 2019 study on the beneficial effects of strength training on healthy older adults (ages 65-75). The study found that "having more than two resistance training sessions in a week could be of benefit in the management of body composition and lipid profile." Individuals with higher systolic blood pressure benefited the most from resistance training, "regardless of how many times-a-week they trained." A minimum of two days of strength training, aiming to target all major muscle groups, at an intensity you're comfortable with, might be a good place to start. For older persons or previously sedentary adults starting exercise, very light or light intensity is recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine.

If you're training to gain strength, however, it gets a little more complicated. The frequency of training for strength gains will depend on your training status, training intensity, and training volume. An untrained individual should train two to three times per week at 60% intensity with four sets per muscle group to gain strength. For a trained individual, two times a week at an increased intensity of 80% with four to five sets per muscle group can help improve strength and power. Resistance training guidelines by the American College of Sports Medicine suggest waiting 48 hours between resistance training sessions to allow for muscle recovery and optimal performance during strength training sessions.

Before you start any new exercise program or workout routine, it's best to consult with a licensed medical professional and/or strength training professional about your state of health and physical ability. When it comes to weight training, this is especially useful. A weight training professional or a personal trainer can help you determine the right weight to train at, and guide you through the proper forms and techniques to lift weights and avoid injury.

Additional resources for strength training

If working with a personal trainer or a strength training professional is not feasible at the moment, there are plenty of other free resources to help you get started with strength training. You can find a wealth of strength training knowledge by following fitness blogs, fitness websites, and fitness channels on YouTube. If your gym has a mobile app, you may be able to find video tutorials on how to use certain machines or do certain exercises correctly. Lastly, you can always rely on your fellow gym go-ers; they, too, once started out with zero or minimal experience. Most are more than happy to help correct your form or give you advice if you ask. 

Key takeaways

Metabolic health can be improved through regular exercise or physical activity. Most people automatically think of picking up running or some kind of cardio exercise to improve their health, but these types of aerobic exercises are only one part of the equation. Strength training is an excellent type of exercise to complement workout routines. It helps fight the physical signs of aging by building (or rebuilding) muscle mass, increasing overall strength, and increasing metabolism while providing various metabolic health benefits. Strength training improves blood sugar management, lowers blood pressure, and may reduce cholesterol, triglycerides, and waist circumference — the five biomarkers of metabolic health. To stay active and healthy, adults should engage in a minimum of two days of strength training, aiming to target all major muscle groups, along with 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity every week. However, it's best to check with a licensed medical professional and/or strength training professional to determine the most suitable strength training routine for you.

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