What Is Strength Training?
Strength training (also called resistance training) is a form of exercise where your muscles work against resistance. That resistance might be:
Your bodyweight (squats to a chair, wall push-ups)
Dumbbells or kettlebells
Machines (leg press, cable row)
Barbells (squat, deadlift, bench press)
Resistance bands
The exercises within the workout are organised it into:
Reps (how many)
Sets (how many rounds) and
Rest in between sets
Here is an example of a strength exercise layout.
Squats
3 rounds, 10 times = 3 sets of 10 reps
Rest between each set = 45 seconds
Strength training is interval-based by design: you perform a set of an exercise (e.g. 10 reps of squats), then take a distinct rest period (typically 60–120 seconds or longer for heavier work) so your muscles and nervous system can recover enough to produce high-quality, high-force reps in the next set.
The deliberate rest between sets is crucial to allow time to recover so that you can maintain exercise technique.
If you can maintain exercise technique then you can progress the weight safely each week and this is what drives adaptations like stronger bones, bigger motor-unit recruitment, and measurable strength gains.
That being said, you want to make sure you’re working hard enough (but not too hard).
How hard should I be working?
By the time you finish your set (e.g. the 10 reps of squats), it should feel like you could do 2-3 more with good technique and without pain.
However, if you are on a progressive overloading strength program, there will be sessions where you may be pushing past this intensity (but it’s intentionally planned).
What to do if my form starts breaking down?
You can either take a longer rest period (e.g. instead of resting 60s, rest for 90-120s)
OR
You can drop the weight
OR
I’d recommend looking at your overall week and how you’re spacing out your workouts. If they are too close together, perhaps you need more time to recover between your workouts to maintain quality sessions.
How strength differs to cardio
In contrast, cardio (swimming, cycling, or jogging) and most circuits/HIIT are continuous or near-continuous: you move from one effort to the next with minimal rest, keeping heart rate elevated to build aerobic fitness and drive metabolic changes.
If the rests are too short and the loads too light, what looks like “strength” becomes conditioning; great for fitness, but it won’t load the muscles and skeleton enough to maximise strength and bone benefits.
Don’t get me wrong, both are valuable but each are different methods for different outcomes.
A note from Helen
Initially, I had a difficult time wrapping my head around what strength training actually looked like. Exercise for me was meant to get me sweaty and out of breath but strength training involved completely resting which was such a foreign concept!
I remember seeing my girlfriend squatting 100kgs and thought to myself, I’d love to achieve that!
That’s when I had to stop doing everything under the sun and start to exercise with purpose.
Every exercise, reps, sets, and rest period in my plan was there for a reason to help me get stronger.
If you’d like to discuss what strength training looks like in more detail, chat with me! :)
