this is in large part due to exercise economy. However, this is also seen when somebody has more effectively trained their lactate threshold despite not having the same max oxygen-consuming ability. In other words, having a slightly lower V02max that’s good enough, and a very highly trained LT can allow you to beat a competitor with a higher V02max.

V02max is the ceiling, and we want to max it out, and then get our LT as close to it as possible to be at our best!

Does strength training improve ones’ lactate threshold?

In our previous article, we showed that while V02max may not improve with resistance training, exercise economy (in the right way, for the right athletes) does.

Lactate threshold can be improved by several things. Interval running and tempo runs trigger an accumulation of lactate, which in turn can trigger adaptations at the muscle and cellular level which make us less likely to accumulate lactate, and better equipped to get rid of it.

Another way we become less likely to accumulate lactate is if we become more economical at a given effort. It’s not about muscle cells accumulating more things (like mitochondria) that make us better at handling lactate. Instead, it’s about establishing new ways to get free energy, such as developing an Achilles tendon that is more springy.

As we established in my previous articles on running and cycling economy, strength work spikes them both in the right setting. So, if economy improves, you should be faster at your lactate threshold, right? Once again, there’s nuance.

The Science:

There are many studies out there that show adding resistance training doesn’t work to boost LT, such as here and here.

Then there are some that show it has a minimal positive effect, such as here, while there are still others that show it has a major effect such as here.

Without getting into the weeds of these articles, general conclusions can be drawn that parallel what we saw with my first two articles. Resistance training won’t help stuff that enhances your lactate accumulation at the cellular level. So that side of LT won’t change with resistance training.

However, since under the right conditions strength training can enhance exercise economy, it can proportionally impact LT- and this is what we (very broadly) see in the above studies.

Practical applications:

So, you may or may not see a spike in your LT with strength training- so what do we do? Here are some general concepts that may help you make a more educated decision.

– Highly trained runners and cyclists are less likely to see the boost in LT with resistance training
– Women will be more likely to see a spike in LT than men
– Masters athletes are more likely to see a benefit
– Runners are probably more likely to see a spike in LT than cyclists with introducing heavy strength training
– Go with heavy, low rep vs. high rep or plyometrics

Your biology as an athlete

All of that aside, I think it’s also important to try to consider what your individual biology and training history is like. For instance, it’s well established that in highly trained athletes in stop/start sports like hockey, the athletes’ LT is a relatively high percentage of their V02max. On the other hand, a high-mileage marathon runner who does not do high-intensity run training will typically have an LT that is a lower percentage of a very high V02max.

In this example, the hockey player most likely will have way less to gain from strength training if the goal is to be a faster 5K runner compared to the marathoner who could benefit from a little spike in LT and running economy that strength work might provide.

Learn as you go
Strength work, if done in the right way with the right athlete, might improve your LT in a relationship that closely mirrors exercise economy.

At the end of the day, all of this information might confuse you rather than clarify anything! I think it’s important in all of this to stay curious, keep learning and eventually all of these little pieces start to come together to create the full picture.

I believe we should strive to optimize all aspects of training based on what the science shows (if your goal is to maximize your potential), but at the same time to not wait to act in the meantime…because if that was the case, we’d never start!

So, start with the basics: do safe key exercises like squats, lunges and deadlifts (8-10 reps, 3 sets). Make sure it’s fairly hard. Frequency: 2x/week for 8-12 weeks. Make sure it’s not taking away from other aspects of your training.

So, are you a responder? Do these things, see how it goes, keep learning in the meantime based on your understanding of the science AND your experience. The perfect training plan isn’t a thing that will ever be achieved, but making sure you learn from past mistakes and constantly evolve is the best we can ask for.

Will strength training spike my LT?

In summary, the accumulation of these 4 articles show that heavy strength training over other types like plyometrics is the way to go. It also shows that while it does not improve your ability to consume oxygen, it will have a positive impact on your economy and likely your LT if you are a responder and you execute the regime in the right way.

The downside

So yes, there is the potential of this strength work to make you faster, but is there a downside? How can strength work make us slower? That is what I’ll be looking at with my next article!

The path to achieving sporting excellence requires more than talent alone. For many athletes, progress through the years of this journey is often nonlinear and subject to a number of unexpected opportunities, bumps in the road, and setbacks. It takes incredible passion, determination, confidence, and resilience to travel this “rocky road to success.”

In my last article for SimpliFaster, I described the realities of training a young female short track speed skater who was also a full-time med school student, and the programming strategies we used while she was completing various internships. Here, I would like to share the story of another full-time med school student—Maïté Bouchard—whose training I have been supporting for almost three years now. Not only does Maïté have to maintain academic excellence with classwork, exams, and internships, she also competes in one of the fiercest track & field events in Canadian Athletics: the 800m.

Maïté’s coach is responsible for putting together her annual training plan and programming the different running-specific sessions. She works with him three times a week on the track and completes the remaining weekly running sessions on her own. My responsibility, as a member of Maïté’s Integrated Support Team (or IST), is to oversee her physical preparation. On a weekly basis, we usually meet for 1-2 training sessions in the weight room, depending on the time of the year. Communication with Maïté’s coach at the start of each training cycle is important so that I can adjust our training objectives to ensure that both training and running objectives remain in sync.

I will provide a detailed look at some of the programming strategies that we have used until recently during her physical preparation while she concurrently trains with her coach on the track, completes different internships, and travels the world to participate in meets. This way, it is possible to share some aspects of a coach’s decision-making process and how it aligns with current practices.

Needs Analysis of the Event and Targeting an Approach

The process of performance training starts with a thorough understanding of the sport and athlete that you’ll be working with. In 2018, at the beginning of this new collaboration, I was still mainly involved with Canadian football players and knew little about track and field and the 800m. It was therefore crucial for me to get as much information as I could about Maïté’s event, her training and competition background, and her current physical competence.

Middle-distance running events such as the 800m are complex and require a varying blend of (1) aerobic, (2) anaerobic, and (3) neuromuscular performance to perform at a high level.¹ Speed is without a doubt an important performance factor, but relative contribution of the aerobic system is estimated to be around 55-65% aerobic². From an athletic development perspective, our focus was to prepare the different structures (muscles, tendons, bones) for the demands imposed on the body while letting her coach take care of the sport-specific sessions. By examining the research on sprinting—and in line with the suggestion that neuromuscular and mechanical qualities related to maximal sprinting speed and anaerobic speed reserve can enhance performance in middle-distance events¹—I identified three main elements to our approach:

1. 1. Force application and orientation into the ground
   2. Posture
   3. Skill acquisition and refinement

There are obviously many more pieces to the performance puzzle, but I like to keep things simple and identify key principles around which I can design a flexible framework. When combined with a physical competency assessment (flexibility, single-leg squat, forward lunge and return, double-single leg landing), this brief task analysis served as our foundation for choosing the different exercises and methods that would constitute the training program.

Consideration of prior training experience and injuries was also important. We eliminated exercises that would cause unnecessary delayed onset muscle soreness (e.g., barbell reverse lunges supersetted with lying leg curls), as those would prevent her from completing high-quality sessions on the track. We also eliminated exercises that put high loads on the lumbar spine (straight-bar deadlift, for example). After all, the most specific training sessions were to be done on the track, and athletic development would act as support for her performance.

These choices were necessary to facilitate the transition from one training philosophy to another. At first, exercises using mostly her body weight and dumbbells such as squats, lunges, step-ups, and various pushing and pulling exercises were included 1-2 sessions per week to focus on developing general strength. Simple plyometrics such as box jumps were progressed over time and adjusted according to her running volumes and periodization of training. Olympic weightlifting variations such as jump shrugs and high pulls were performed using dumbbells. The why behind including Olympic weightlifting movements was:

1. 1. To apply force into the ground by developing lower body muscular power by overloading the triple extension movement.
   2. To work on the optimal, sequential recruitment (coordination) and timing of the ankle, knee, hip, and shoulder.

In addition, these movements are time-efficient and provide variety. The other parameters, such as load, number of reps, rest intervals, and order of the exercises (single exercise, superset, circuit, etc.) were manipulated to fit the objectives of the session. Nothing fancy—a simple progression over time that allowed us to establish a solid training foundation and for Maïté to perform her sessions on the track without any muscle soreness. Our goal was also to help her improve on her 2017 result of 2:03.91 at the Abidjan Francophone Games and reach the standard to qualify for the Olympic Games.

This simplicity was necessary, especially with the different internships that were part of her predoctoral training. At the Université de Sherbrooke, where Maïté is enrolled, medical school students have to complete 2.5 years of predoctoral training divided into three phases. It was important for us to account for the demands and schedules of these internships, and how they can impact training. For example, in April 2018, during the second phase of predoctoral training, she had to complete two full weeks of medical training in Victoriaville, which is a 75- to 90-minute drive from Sherbrooke. That distance prevented her from driving back to Sherbrooke on a daily basis, except for two weekly sessions with her coach on the track.

From a resistance training standpoint, during such times, we often came back to identifying the exercises that provided us with the most bang for our buck, and that Maïté felt comfortable doing without any supervision. In this case, we would choose some sort of plyometric exercise, an Olympic weightlifting derivative, one or two lower body exercises (either double-leg or single-leg), an upper-body superset, and a core stability exercise.

After this month (April 2018) came a number of competitions in both America and Europe. At that time, most training sessions were performed on the track with her coach and were specific to her event. In the gym, the first weekly session again mostly focused on enhancing strength and power qualities by progressing the demands of plyometrics exercise and by transitioning from double-leg lower body exercise, such as hexagonal bar deadlift, to single-leg movements like split squat and step-ups. The second session mostly consisted of circuit training focusing on coordination and postural strength.

At the end of her summer 2018 outdoor competition season, she had achieved a personal best of 2:01.95 in Belgium. She concluded her season with confidence, and the team felt that we all were on the right track for the next season. But we know that life does not always go according to plan…

Learning to Adapt: School Demands and Performance Setbacks

Fast forward a few months—we found ourselves in winter 2019 preparing for the Pan Am Games. Training had gone well over the fall, which served as a general preparation phase with higher running volumes and more general work in the weight room. We certainly did not expect that January and February 2019 would be heralds of the months to come.

From an academic standpoint, Maïté was about to start her clerkship (or rotation) in different departments at the hospital. Her first rotation, at the emergency, included day and evening shifts and was pretty intense; her second rotation in radio-oncology, a month later, was a bit more relaxed. This stretch also followed the holidays, during which quality training is always a challenge.

Due to her rotations and two indoor competitions early in January, we only had two training sessions in the gym before her first competition (in Boston). Nonetheless, she was able to offer a solid race and a first-place finish at 2:04.64. The following week she flew to France to participate in another meet, but her time of 2:08.70 was a huge disappointment. Encouragingly, she bounced back with a solid race at the end of February with a 2:03.59, breaking the indoor 800m record for Quebec.

All in all, during those two months she completed a total of six resistance training sessions in addition to her track sessions with her coach, which were given priority. This would be a lesson for us in the future, as we came to realize that maintaining training frequency was very beneficial and allowed her to have a mental break from work and studying and continue with a very organized schedule. It was also during that period that we came to find a time-efficient structure to the training session in the gym. Within 60 minutes, we came up with the following exercise order for the first resistance training session of the week:

1. 1. Olympic weightlifting variation (jump shrugs, power clean from the hang)
   2. Single-leg lower body exercise (step-up variations)
   3. Foundational strength (e.g., Gambetta leg circuit)
   4. Upper body pushing-pulling superset (e.g., chin-ups and overhead pressing)
   5. Core stability

While the first session focused on force production, the second session focused on coordination and postural strength. At this time, we also started experimenting with different variations of the hip lock and other coordinative strength exercises from Frans Bosch³.

In March, Maïté was away in Quebec City for another rotation in gastroenterology—she described that period as very intense, with 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. shifts and a drive through traffic to get to Laval University to have access to the indoor track and weight room. Her training was initially divided into two resistance training sessions:

1. 1. Lower intensity, which she could complete the day after a high-quality session on the track.
   2. A second session of higher intensity in the gym after a lower intensity day.

Instead of going back to simpler exercises and methods, we decided to stick with our recent training routine. We had worked on perfecting her technique on the Olympic lifts for a few months by first using dumbbell high pulls and snatches and gradually introducing the barbell. This emphasis on teaching the why, perfecting technique, and progression allowed her to feel competent and confident in using the lifts by herself without supervision. Even though the initial plan seemed manageable, we came to a decision that it would be better for her to perform only one resistance training session considering her academic workload. Depending on how she felt, she had the option of completing one of the two sessions.

The next two months (April and May 2019), Maïté’s schedule included a number of competitions in California. Again, the emphasis at this time was on her specific running workout, with resistance training sessions supporting her preparation for those meets. Given the uncertainty of having access to the right equipment, resistance training sessions were designed to include some plyometrics, some dumbbell work, and postural strength exercises. During these congested competition schedules, DB complexes and variations of the Gambetta leg circuit⁴ were valuable tools. Then, at the end of these two months, we took advantage of 14 days without competition to lift some heavier loads using complex training, which alternated biomechanically similar high-load exercises with lighter-load exercises.

Figure 1. Examples of DB complexes and Gambetta leg circuit from Vern Gambetta (2007). A tempo of one repetition per second is a must for the leg circuit.

June and July mostly consisted of specific workouts on the track and extensive traveling in the U.S., Italy, and Canada to participate in different meets. After some disappointing performances, self-doubt started to creep in. Time was starting to run out to qualify for the World Championships, and the Pan Am Games were also fast approaching.

The 2019 Pan Am Games were held in Peru—with a reignited fire, Maïté ran her semifinal race according to the plan designed by her coach. With 150 meters left, she was in a good position to attack the runners ahead of her when she got tripped from behind and fell hard on the track. This 2019 outdoor season was obviously disappointing at many levels, but we were hopeful she would bounce back.

On the Rise

Interestingly, looking back at the design of the training sessions performed in preparation and during the 2020 indoor season, there were no major differences compared to 2019. The first session of the week still focused on improving the muscular qualities associated with sprinting, while the second session focused more on the coordinative and postural aspects of performance. At times we would alternate the performance of those sessions during the week based on how she felt on the track. Regular subjective feedback about her energy, soreness, and overall mood was essential to adjust training considering the absence of more objective feedback that you can find in the sport science literature.

She had resumed her monthly rotations at the end of August 2019 (planned rotations in internal medicine, cardiology, and pediatrics), but you could tell that there was something different at this moment in her preparation. Our most objective feedback were her times on the track, and we could see that we were heading in the right direction. Maïté and I started to have discussions prior to our weekly meetings about how she felt on the track during certain training sessions and what we could do in the weight room to enhance those sensations. Some of the content of the training sessions was decided at the start of each one, depending on whether she felt she needed strength work or more “pop” when sprinting on the track.

It was also at that time that we jointly decided to fully commit to using step-ups as her main lower-body strength building exercise. Essentially, the start of an 800-meter race is not as important for her as it might be if she were competing over shorter distances, and she felt that the vertical force application and posture associated with the step-up might provide a better potential for transfer later during the race. Maïté was thus more involved in the decision-making surrounding her training, and I believe this proved beneficial in adjusting to her reality as a med school student-athlete.

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We all know that exercise is good for us and that being fit can lower our risk of heart disease and possibly help us to live longer, but what amount and type of physical activity can change a person’s fitness level? New research led by investigators at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Boston University and published in the European Heart Journal provides some specifics.

The research looked at cardiorespiratory fitness, or the capacity of the heart and lungs to supply oxygen to the body’s muscles during physical activity, in 2,070 participants from the Framingham Heart Study, a long-running multigenerational study designed to identify factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease. Participants underwent tests of physiologic parameters during exercise and wore physical activity trackers for a week at one point, then again nearly eight years later.

In this analysis, investigators found that people who increased their steps per day, participated in a greater amount of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, or reduced their sedentary time between the two exams showed improvements in distinct aspects of cardiorespiratory fitness throughout exercise sessions, from warm-up to peak exercise to recovery. These findings were largely consistent regardless of participants’ baseline activity level, age, sex, weight, and risk of heart disease.

For each minute of increase in average moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, more than 3 minutes of intermediate cadence walking or 14.6 fewer minutes of sedentary time would be required for the equivalent changes in fitness. Increasing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity by 17 minutes per day, taking an additional 4,312 steps per day (approximately 54 minutes at 80 steps per minute), or reducing 249 minutes of sedentary time per day between the two exams corresponded to a 5 percent higher peak VO₂, or peak oxygen uptake.

Researchers also found that individuals with higher than the average number of steps or higher than the average amount of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity among the study participants also had above average peak VO₂ values regardless of how much sedentary time they had during the day.

“We conducted this analysis to understand relative effects of changing sedentary activity, low-level physical activity, and moderate-to-vigorous activity on multiple domains of exercise capacity as objectively measured by cardiopulmonary exercise testing,” says senior author Gregory D. Lewis, who is director of the Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing Laboratory at MGH and medical director of MGH’s Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplantation Program. “The results offer adults equivalents of how much reduction in sedentary time, walking, or moderate-to-vigorous exercise will translate to changes in exercise capacity, which in turn are known to strongly predict long-term health status.”

“The most surprising finding of our study was that individuals with higher-than-average steps per day or moderate-to-vigorous physical activity had higher-than-average fitness levels regardless of how much time they spent sedentary. This would indicate that much of the negative effect that being sedentary has on fitness may be offset by also having higher levels of activity and exercise,” says the study’s first author, Matthew Nayor, the Aram Chobanian Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Sections of Cardiovascular Medicine and Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology at Boston University Medical Center.

“Physical activity is a cornerstone for modern cardiovascular disease prevention,” says study co-senior author Ravi Shah, director of Clinical and Translational Research in Cardiology at Vanderbilt. “These results support ongoing efforts to improve activity as a means to improve overall cardiometabolic health.”

Co-authors of the study include Ariel Chernofsky, Nicole L. Spartano, Melissa Tanguay, Jasmine B. Blodgett, Venkatesh L. Murthy, Rajeev Malhotra, Nicholas E. Houstis, Raghava S. Velagaleti, Joanne M. Murabito, Martin G. Larson, and Ramachandran S. Vasan.

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Whether your goal is to become a stronger athlete or build bigger muscles, lifting weights not only helps you look great in your favorite jeans and T-shirt, but it can support healthy joints, improve your heart health and promote weight loss.

It’s tempting to hit the squat rack every single day if you’re seeing (or seeking) these gains, but like all things, too much of a good thing can be bad. If you don’t allow your muscles time to recover, lifting weights every day can backfire.

Here’s exactly what happens to your body when you lift every day and how you can strength train safely to reach your goals.

Any lifting routine, daily or otherwise, depends on your training goals. For example, if you want to be able to lift heavier weights, your strength-training program will look different from someone’s who wants to grow visibly bigger muscles, also known as hypertrophy, or develop muscle endurance to complete more reps before they fatigue.

“Before I give anyone a strength plan, I always tackle what their goal is,” says Prince Brathwaite, a National Academy of Sport Medicine (NASM)-certified personal trainer and owner of Trooper Fitness.

For example, are you lifting to build tank-worthy biceps or to hit a new bench press record? “There will be some overlap in rep schemes and phasing, but for the most part, the programs vary in three different ways: volume, effort/intensity and rest,” Brathwaite says.

That’s because the muscle fibers you engage and how you do so differs by goal.

First, a refresher: You have two main types of muscle fibers: type I (slow-twitch) and type II (fast-twitch), according to the American Council on Exercise (ACE). Type I muscle fibers require steady oxygen intake to activate during endurance exercises, like running, biking and swimming. Type II muscle fibers are used during explosive movements like heavy lifts when the task at hand is more than type I fibers can handle alone.

Following a higher rep range at a lower intensity will help you train your type I muscle fibers. A lower rep range at a higher intensity will help you train your type II muscle fibers for hypertrophy, explains Kristen Lettenberger, PT, DPT, a certified sports and conditioning specialist (CSCS) at Bespoke Treatments in New York City.

Source: American Council on Exercise. (2014) “How to Select the Right Intensity and Repetitions for Your Clients”

While lifting weights every day will help you reach your strength and power goals, it’s important to make sure you let your muscles properly recover, so it’s best to avoid training the same muscle group every day.

If your goal is to build muscular endurance, recover at least 24 hours between workouts. If you’re seeking hypertrophy, rest for 24 to 72 hours. Take 48 to 72 hours off if you’re training for strength and power, according to the ACE.

“When you strength train, you tear muscle fibers, but that is part of the growing process,” Brathwaite says. “You shouldn’t lift the same muscle group every day because the muscle needs to heal in order to rebuild.”

For example, you can focus on training your lower body, including your quads, hamstrings, calves, hip flexors and glutes, every Monday, and then your chest and back muscles on Tuesdays. “This way one muscle group is recovering while the other is experiencing duress,” Brathwaite says.

Lifting weights every day can support your weight-loss goals by helping you burn calories and reducing overall body fat. Although you can’t spot-reduce specific areas, like your belly, strength training promotes body fat loss by building lean muscle and increasing your metabolic rate.

“Muscles burn more calories at rest than fat and will burn calories even after the workout is done, [potentially] for up to 48 hours,” Lettenberger says. “With people who consistently weight train, they will have physiological changes that include decreased percent body fat, increased lean body mass and increased bone density.”

The extended calorie burn Lettenberger refers to is due in part to a process called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), also known as workout afterburn, according to the ACE, a measure of the oxygen it takes for your body to recover. Taxing your body during resistance training means you need more oxygen afterward to restore normal metabolic function, and this process burns calories.

Good news if you love to lift: Research suggests that resistance training may have superior EPOC-enhancing perks compared to steady-state aerobic training.

A very small June 2015 study in men published in the Journal of Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport found that resistance training (as well as interval training) produced a higher resting metabolic rate 12 hours and 21 hours after exercise than steady-state aerobic exercise.

To increase the afterburn effect in your everyday lifts, add some compound exercises, which challenge multiple muscle groups and joints at once, and make your rest intervals in between sets shorter.

If you’re lifting weights every day and not making ample time for a healthy diet, recovery and sleep, you may be setting yourself up for overtraining and injuries, which can lead to a strength and/or weight-loss plateau, Lettenberger says.

She recommends resting one to two days in between weight-training sessions and varying the muscles you’re targeting in each session to allow for enough recovery time.

“Hitting a plateau in weight training may be that you are overtrained or burned out. This can be caused by little to no rest, which is crucial for your body to repair itself and heal,” Lettenberger says.

“If you find yourself hitting a wall, it may be time to re-look at your program,” she says. “Some ways you can prevent hitting a plateau are taking your rest days seriously, keeping your programs simple and focusing on the main lifts and concepts of push, pull, hinge and carry.”

During your recovery days, make sure to truly rest. Light stretching, mobility work, foam rolling and yoga are great ways to ease sore muscles and promote healing, while still staying active.

Paying careful attention to your diet is also key. Make sure you’re refueling your body with adequate amounts of protein, carbs and healthy fats to heal and power upcoming workouts.

To truly break through a plateau, eventually you’ll need to up the intensity — and you’ll be better prepared for new challenges with proper rest.

“When you strength train, you are increasing muscle activation, which demands a constant supply of oxygen-rich blood, thus improving your cardiovascular endurance,” Brathwaite says.

Although lifting weights won’t improve your VO2 max — a measure of aerobic fitness — the same way that circuit training and HIIT workouts can, incorporating some strength training into these routines can help increase your aerobic capacity, Lettenberger says.

“Some ways you can integrate the two [HIIT and strength training] is by performing two to four exercises using a muscular endurance scheme of high reps and low weights with fewer sets and 30 seconds of rest in between exercises,” Lettenberger says.

Following this rep scheme will keep your heart rate elevated, allowing it to drop only slightly between sets, resulting in a strength-training interval workout. For example, Lettenberger says you can do kettlebell swings, push-ups and pull-ups back-to-back.

After the age of 30, you start to lose muscle mass by 3 to 5 percent per decade, a process called sarcopenia, according to Harvard Health Publishing. This loss in muscle mass leads to less mobility and an increased risk of falls and fractures. Sarcopenia is largely the result of changes in hormones due to aging.

The good news is that you can help prevent sarcopenia by lifting weights regularly (although days off are still important). Focus especially on strength-training exercises that stimulate your fast-twitch muscle fibers, because most of the muscle loss you experience from sarcopenia affects those type II fibers.

According to a May 2013 study in Experimental Gerontology, reduced muscle mass from aging is largely due to smaller type II muscle fiber size. Essentially, if you don’t use them, you lose them.

Based on Wolff’s law by German surgeon and anatomist Julius Wolff, your bones will adapt to the stress that they are placed under (read: load), so by gradually increasing the load, your bones will adapt to withstand more stress.

“One of the best ways to improve your mobility, which is the amount that a joint can move in space, as well as your flexibility — the amount that a tissue can extend — is by moving through a full range of motion with an external load, aka weights,” Lettenberger says.

Resistance training can become detrimental if you’re overdoing it or if you don’t address any muscle imbalances, Brathwaite says. Lifting weights every day, especially the same muscle groups and joints, can lead to muscle overuse injuries.

In fact, muscle overuse injuries, like biceps tendinitis, don’t just happen from repetitive movements. They can happen from training too frequently and improperly loading the joint.

“Choosing the load is important, as well as recovery for the tissues. If you move too quickly into a heavy load without proper warm-up and progression, you can risk injury,” Lettenberger says. “It’s important if you’re new to weight training to clear it with your health care provider or a physical therapist.”

Lettenberger also advises working with a certified trainer to ensure that you’re lifting weights with good form and are addressing any imbalances that might lead to injury.

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Ultimately, whether you should lift weights every day comes down to your goals and what muscle groups you’re targeting. Training the same muscle groups every day simply doesn’t allow for adequate recovery.

“Lifting weights every day is safe so long as you are resting other muscle groups,” Brathwaite says. Split routines, where you train different muscle groups on different days, are great for this.

If you don’t, you run the risk of an injury or a plateau. Lifting weights every day can exacerbate the overall impact on your body, making it harder to adapt to the strain.

“Breaking through plateaus is as simple as resting and taking time off,” Brathwaite says. “If you have been aggressively strength training for three months, I would take one week off and let my body heal.”

“For beginners, I would say one to two days in between sessions,” Lettenberger says. “If you are more advanced and are training four to six days a week, I would recommend hitting different muscles on your back-to-back days, still allowing one to two days between sessions working the same muscle group.”

You finally committed to an exercise routine. You’ve got cushy sneakers and cool new leggings. You’re huffing and puffing your way to wellness. Then your health tracker mentions needing to hit your target heart rate and you’re not sure what that means.

No need to feel like an exercise newbie. Exercise physiologist Chris Travers, MS, explains heart rate zones — and if they really matter when you’re working out.

What are exercise heart rate zones?

Heart rate zones are a percentage of your maximum heart rate (heartbeats per minute). Exercise too close to your maximum HR (Mhr) and your heart and body will struggle to keep up with the demands. 

“The goal of heart rate zones is to make you the most efficient, but to allow you to challenge yourself to improve cardiovascular fitness,” says Travers.  

Exercise heart rate zones are the training levels based on your maximum heart rate. As you increase your pace, cadence, and workload, you increase the demands on your heart. Travers breaks it down: 

• Lower-intensity zone: You’re exercising at 50% to 60% of your max heart rate. At this point, 85% of the calories you burn are fat. The downside? You’re burning fewer calories overall than you would if you were exercising at a higher intensity. You’re generally able to sustain this zone for the longest amount of time.
• Temperate zone: You’re exercising at 60% to 70% of your max heart rate. Roughly 65% of the calories you burn are fat.
• Aerobic zone: Working at 70% to 80% of your max heart rate puts you in the aerobic zone. About 45% of the calories you burn are fat. But you’re burning a higher number of overall calories compared to the other heart rate zones. You generally sustain this zone for the shortest amount of time. 

Why do you burn less fat the harder you work out? Travers explains, “Once your heart rate increases, you’re not taking in as much oxygen. You can’t oxidize fat fast enough. Your body turns to another, the more readily available energy source to provide fuel for you — glycogen, also known as carbohydrates.”

How do heart rates affect workouts?

Heart rate zones let you know how hard your heart is working and what energy source you’re using — carbohydrates or fat. The higher your heart rate gets, the more you’re relying on glycogen from carbohydrates for fuel.

“For endurance athletes, it’s best to exercise in the zones that mostly rely on fat for fuel,” says Travers. “Fat is a longer-lasting energy source and better for longer, intense workouts.”

Best heart rate zone for fat loss

You’ll burn fat at every exercise heart rate zone. If you’re just starting to exercise, aim for the lower-intensity heart rate zone. As you build stamina, push yourself into the next zone until you’re comfortably at the aerobic level. That’s your heart getting stronger.

Cardio exercise is designed primarily to improve heart and metabolic health, says Travers. It helps lower your:

• Blood pressure.
• Cholesterol.
• Blood sugar.

For fat loss, he recommends strength training to build muscle. Having more muscle mass boosts your metabolic rate (the number of calories you burn while at rest), helping you burn more calories throughout the day. 

“If you haven’t been active before, then cardiovascular exercise will help with weight loss in the beginning. But at some point, you’ll become aerobically fit,” Travers notes. “Then you won’t use as much energy (calories) to complete the same amount of exercise, so you’ll stop seeing significant weight loss.”

How do I find my target heart rate?

To find your target heart rate zone, you first have to know your max heart rate. The simplest way to determine that is to subtract your age from 220. That number is a general guideline for your max heart rate. Then multiply that number times the percentage listed in the exercise heart rate zone you want to be in.

For example, a 40-year-old woman has a max heart rate of 180 beats per minute (bpm). To exercise in the lower-intensity zone, multiply 180 times 50% or 60%. The target heart rate would range from 90 to 108 for a low-intensity workout. 

Some exercise machines like treadmills automatically track your heart rate for you. But you can also track it yourself by wearing a heart rate monitor or fitness tracker. 

What heart rate is too high?

Anything over your max heart rate is unsafe. But it’s also about duration, says Travers. You can do short bursts in a higher, more intense heart rate zone. Overall, though, it’s best to spend longer periods in a zone below your max heart rate.

Does the average person need to track their heart rate?

“If you have heart disease, it’s important to learn target heart rates and monitor them as you exercise. For everyone else, the talk test works just fine,” says Travers. “Can you talk and carry on a conversation when you’re exercising? Then you’re in a heart-healthy, moderately easy zone. Don’t stress about the numbers.”

What matters most is that you make an effort to move more. Any exercise, for any length of time, will improve fitness. If tracking your heart rate makes you happy, then go for it. But if heart rate calculations become a stumbling block, forget about it. Your journey to becoming stronger and healthier is too important to let anything get in the way.

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