It’s hard not to be a shill for strength training. It’s the closest thing to a sure thing in terms of outcomes it produces for joint health. Investments rise and fall with no rhyme or reason. Real estate may give you bad neighbours and terribly designed and built buildings. Even medical interventions can be hit or miss. Governments will make bad decisions. Insurance companies will make tyrannical decisions that make King Joffrey look kind. But the elegance of a well designed and well executed strength training program borders on a magic trick. Some form of squatting, single leg or double leg, will give you stronger knees and leg muscles that can produce more force. Push ups or pushing work will produce stronger, more stable and healthier shoulders.Time and again, I see this. As do other coaches.

Takeaway

There is a caveat. Planning and execution needs some degree of simple thought and mindful follow through. And there needs to be some degree of adherence to the basic rules:

1. Proper exercise selection

2. Sufficient volume

3. Challenging intensity

4. Ample load without execution suffering

5. As much range without compromising stability

6. Moving a joint in every possible plane and range of motion with control. Muscles don’t get confused. But they most certainly adapt distinctly when you move in different ways.

7. Giving every type of muscular contraction some attention: eccentric, concentric and isometric. Throwing, jumping needs to go hand in hand with squatting and pushing.

8. Training adherence measured in years not weeks

For there to be a notion of enlightened training, we all need to objectively agree on some idea of admirable and desirable capacity for physical hardship.