Strength is an integral part of health.
It’s required for many tasks throughout the day, such as getting out of bed, carrying groceries, or pushing a broken-down car off the road. It’s defined as the ability to produce maximal force against a specific — and usually external — resistance (1Trusted Source).
Knowing how to build strength can be helpful — no matter if you’re an older adult who’s worried about safely getting up from a chair or if you’re younger and looking to perform a heavier bench press.
A recent study showed that greater strength is linked to decreases in all mortality causes. Another study found a link between strength training and improved physical function in individuals experiencing chronic pain (2Trusted Source, 3Trusted Source).
People perform resistance training for a variety of reasons. Some are interested in being the strongest they can be or avoiding injury, others are interested in sculpting a better physique with larger muscles, and some wish to perform better at certain sports.
No matter your goals, you may be unsure of the best way to increase your strength. It’s important to know that it takes long-term consistency to achieve results and that you must manipulate certain variables to challenge your body to lift heavier loads.
This can involve:
- increasing the weight
- varying the number of repetitions per set
- adjusting the number of days you lift
- changing how long you rest between sets
- adjusting how many sets you perform
Below are some ways to improve strength that address the topics.
