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When you’re a fitness newbie, there are a lot of terms to learn—rep, set, volume, AMRAP, EMOM—I can’t blame you if you’re wondering what it all means. When it comes to the names of types of training, it’s easy to get them confused, too; particularly resistance, strength, and weight training.
These three types of training “are very interchangeable,” says Shannon Will, PT, DPT, CSCS, a sports performance specialist and owner of Will Power PT. They all involve lifting weights to build muscle and get stronger. Even though they overlap, there are some tiny nuances to note that might benefit your workout routine.
Meet the experts: Shannon Will, PT, DPT, CSCS, is a certified strength and conditioning coach, USA weightlifting coach, sports performance specialist, and owner of Will Power PT in Baltimore, Maryland. Gabrielle Savary, CPT, is a professional bodybuilder, head coach at Grow With Gab Fitness, and a member of the WH Strength in Diversity class of 2024.
Ahead, find out the similarities and differences between resistance, strength, and weight training—and which one to add to your workout routine, per fitness experts.
Resistance Training
This type of training occurs when “the muscles have to contract and relax against some type of resistance force,” says Will. It’s basically the umbrella that strength and weight training fall under.
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For this type of training, you can use any type of resistance, like bands, kettlebells, body weight, sandbags, TRX cables, and machines (yup, even a Pilates reformer counts!). You can use resistance training to reach a number of fitness goals, like muscular endurance, hypertrophy (growing the size of your muscles), rehabilitation, or even strength, adds Gabrielle Savary, CPT, a professional bodybuilder and head coach at Grow With Gab Fitness. Speaking of…
Strength Training
This trains the “ability for your muscles to produce a force,” using any type of resistance, like weights, bands, body weight, and machines, says Savary. It’s a type of resistance training, but it’s more goal-focused; the goal being to “improve your muscular strength,” adds Will.
Performing different rep schemes trains different muscular adaptations. To target strength specifically, you’ll lift heavier weight and do fewer reps, like 6 to 10, Savary says. (If you’re doing more, your goal might be improving muscular endurance. If you’re doing less, your goal might be increasing power.)
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Essentially, “all strength training is basically resistance training, but not all resistance training is focused on building your maximum strength,” says Savary.
Weight Training
And then there’s weight training, which is a method you use to achieve your goal (perhaps strength), by using “additional weight other than potentially body weight,” says Will. So, you could grab dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, or hop on a weight machine—it all counts—except for resistance bands, TRX cables, and sandbags.
Weight training is also usually more structured than general resistance training or strength training, Savary says. You usually have a goal for training, like reaching a certain number of pounds lifted with specific reps and sets. “Weight training is more specific, goal-tailored, and measurable over time,” she adds.
In summary, resistance training is the umbrella term, strength training is a goal that you can reach with resistance training, and you can use weight training as your method to reach said goal. For example, if you’re doing a bodyweight squat, it’s technically resistance training. If you add a barbell, it’s weight training, and if you do it for heavier weight and lower reps, you’re also strength training, Will says.
Which Form Of Training To Try
In any holistic workout routine, you should include more than one form. If you work out for general health and longevity, you should do a blend of all kinds, “because that would help with [building] muscle and bone, posture, mobility, injury prevention,” Savary says. “They would benefit from a little bit of everything with those approaches.”
Will recommends starting with a cardio warmup on a stationary bike or rowing machine, which is resistance training. Then, she’ll go into bodyweight movements before incorporating weights, and next, she might add a heavy resistance band and barbell—which is weight training. And if she does 6 to 10 reps, that’s strength training.
So basically, you can’t go wrong with any of these forms of training. All of them will lead to a healthier, stronger you.
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