A Beginner's Guide to Resistance Training

If you’re serious about packing on muscle, size, or strength, you know, instinctively, that you have to do more than move. That’s why you’ve likely picked up a set of dumbbells and kettlebells, or grabbed a gym membership: You understand the value of resistance training. From the rise of spin to the continued growth of high-intensity interval training, there have been plenty of changes in fitness. But this much has remained constant: You have to move against more than air if you want to get your body to grow. And any exercise movement that places you against a resistive force is considered resistance training. Bodyweight training still has you loading your muscles with something (your own bodyweight), Prime Boosts Supplement Boosts Reviews and within the context of bodyweight training, you can still create challenge for your muscles. And at it's core, resistance training is about challenging your muscles under load (or resistance), pushing them farther by doing so.

Resistance training is the key to building the muscle you want, and to adding overall muscle. It's challenging your muscles and tendons in ways that don't come if you, say, take a four-mile walk or lightly pedal on a stationary bike. You're pushing your muscles to overload, and when you do this correctly, your muscles respond by adding size and strength to face the new challenges of resistance training. Resistance training is a fundamental piece of your muscle-building journey. Not sure where to start with it? We’ve got you covered in this resistance training primer. Are weights the only form of resistance training? No. Essentially, any exercise in which you muscles must a "resistive" force is considered resistance training. When your muscles face a "resistive" force, they must produce greater force than normal in order to create some sort of movement (or, in some cases, to stop movement). Barbells, dumbbells and kettlebells are obvious examples of such resistive forces, but they’re not your only options.