Episode Details

Episode 158: Strength Training Principles

Future Dr. Hasan explains the importance of adding muscle strength exercises to our routine physical activity. Dr. Arreaza asked questions about some terminology and reminded us of the physical activity guidelines for Americans.    

Written by Syed Hasan, MSIV, Ross University School of Medicine. Editing by Hector Arreaza, MD.

You are listening to Rio Bravo qWeek Podcast, your weekly dose of knowledge brought to you by the Rio Bravo Family Medicine Residency Program from Bakersfield, California, a UCLA-affiliated program sponsored by Clinica Sierra Vista, Let Us Be Your Healthcare Home. This podcast was created for educational purposes only. Visit your primary care provider for additional medical advice.

An Introduction to Strength Training Principles.

Arreaza: Hello, everyone. Welcome to episode 158. [Introduce myself]. We are recording this episode right before Christmas but by the time you listen to this episode it will be 2024, so Happy New Year! It has been a busy time in our residency, we had lots of interviews, parties, and, of course, lots of learning and teaching. I apologize for our absence in the last few weeks, but we are back for good. We have Syed today, hi, Syed, please introduce yourself.

Syed: Hi Dr. Arreaza, and hello everybody. My name is Syed. I am a fourth-year medical student at Ross University School of Medicine. I’m also a lifting enthusiast. One of my many goals in life is to look like I lift. Until I reach that goal, I will take solace in the fact that at least I sound like I lift. 

Arreaza: You are getting there, keep going! Give us an intro for today’s episode. 

Syed: (laughs) Thanks! Well, today, I want to present a framework with which to approach resistance training. The benefits of weight training are well-known, and a quick Google search gives us plenty to learn about them. But a clear framework for resistance training is a bit more difficult to come by. So, in this podcast, I will attempt to provide you, the listeners, with such a framework. By the end of the episode, my goal is to get most of you to start thinking about strength training seriously. 

Arreaza: I’m excited to hear it. I’m ready to learn more. I exercise, but I have to confess that I need to add more lifting to my routines. I enjoy cardio exercise, especially if I’m listening to my favorite music or watching a Netflix show. So, today I will go to bed being a little wiser. I have low gym literacy, but I think many of our listeners will appreciate my silly questions. 

Syed: (laughs) If you’re thinking it, it’s not a silly question, Dr. Arreaza! Before we begin though, some housekeeping. Because there is some technical stuff like names of muscles, their function, and exercises to target them, we will add a quick glossary at the end of the attached transcript. I will also include sources for the information I present. As well, a lot of other sources on hypertrophy training and exercise science. 

Arreaza: So, let’s start with the definition of strength training, Syed. 

Syed: Yeah. So put simply, any exercise where you produce force against a resistance can be thought of as a resistance training exercise. Doing this kind of exercise over a long period of time is what causes strength and muscle gain. By the way, strength and muscle gains are like chicken and eggs. Scientists are not sure which comes first, just that both are correlated. Practically, it means that when we look at two people, the person with bigger muscles is probably going to be stronger.

Arreaza: On the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, available online at health.gov, we find that it is recommended that adults engage in “muscle-strengthening activities of moderate or greater intensity… [involving] all major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week,” and that’s ON TOP of the