Resistance training is about more than just muscles. One of the most powerful, and often overlooked, benefit is in metabolic health. When you eat carbs, they get broken down into sugar (added sugars skip this step), and then stored in the muscles for later use. Once your muscles are full, the rest gets stored as fat. When you train, your muscles use this fuel up and make more room for your next meal. Bigger muscles as a result of training means you can store more in those big

A proper warm up is essential for optimal performance and injury prevention.   There is no one-size-fits-all approach. A good warm-up should be specific to the activity or sport you’re about to perform.   The RAMP protocol provides a practical framework for warm-up structure.   Raise: The goal here is simple: increase body temperature, heart rate, and blood flow. When muscle temperature rises: Nerve conduction velocity increases Muscle elasticity improves Rate of force develo

A meta-analysis found that new lifters perform best training each muscle 3 days per week, whereas experienced lifters tend to do best training each muscle group twice per week. Additionally, they found 60% of 1 RM yields best results for new lifters, and 80% 1RM for experienced lifters. 2 Essentially, new lifters benefit most from moderate weights at higher frequencies, while experienced lifters benefit from more intense weights less frequently.   We also know that performin

Not all resistance training is created equal. The way you manipulate training variables determines whether your body adapts toward  muscular endurance, muscle growth (hypertrophy), or maximal strength. The body adapts specifically to the demands placed upon it. Training adaptations are primarily driven by variables such as: Intensity / load Repetition range Total volume (sets × reps × load) Proximity to muscular failure Strength, hypertrophy, and endurance exist on a continuu

Last week we got granular about how resistance training creates adaptations in our muscles, nervous system, tendons, ligaments, and balance systems. In this post I will give you some practical applications for how to train to become more injury resilient.   As we previously discussed, resistance training improves tissue strength, neuromuscular control, and load tolerance—key factors associated with reduced injury risk when athletes are exposed to sport demands. 1 By applying