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What Does it Mean to be Strong?

Coach Bender

Strength: the capacity to produce or withstand great force.


Most people hit the gym because they want to get stronger and look better. The latter is quite easy to discern, while the former is a bit more vague. So how do you know if you’re really getting stronger? In this article we will break down what strength is, and it's different forms. It is important to keep in mind that strength is much more than the amount of weight on the bar.


Breaking Down the Definition

The capacity= our ability to. This is what we build in the gym. Different capacities to perform. Think of it like your car's engine. Our capacity is our engine. Produce= our ability to generate the force. One thing commonly overlooked is the time component to this part of the definition. If we think back to the engine analogy, how fast can your engine go 0 to 60? And lastly, withstand= to deal with external forces. This can be holding certain positions, lowering the weight, and absorbing forces in landings. After all, an engine is only good if it doesn’t blow up.


Ok last equation I promise. Remember Newtons 2nd law from physics? Force=mass x acceleration. So when we talk about force, understand there’s a mass component, and a time component!


What’s exciting about strength training, is that our ability to improve is massive. In fact, the trainability of strength is somewhere around 300%! What does this mean? It means that if you step into a gym and can only squat 100 pounds, after a few years of solid training, it is not uncommon to see that weight jump to 300-400 lbs. This happens often! But that doesn’t mean you don't have to put the work in.


When we compare the trainability of strength to that of other athletic qualities, it becomes obvious that it should be one of our big focuses in fitness. In contrast, the trainability of speed is only about 10-15% after puberty. Sure, people can improve their 100 m sprint times or their 40-yard dash, but you are not going to turn an Average Joe into a solid sprint athlete. That being said, Joe can turn into a decent power lifter at some point in his life.


Different Types of Strength:

  • Maximal or Absolute - this is what we most commonly think of. How much weight can be put on the bar? If Person A benches 300 lbs., and Person B benches 200 lbs., Person A is maximally/absolutely stronger than Person B.

  • Relative Strength- this takes into account size of person, or weight class. Given the example above, if Persons A and B weighed roughly the same, then Person A would still be relatively stronger than Person B. But if bodyweight is significantly different, relative strength changes. Another way to think about this is calisthenic exercises. Pull-ups, push-ups, and the like play much more into relative strength. Relative strength is a much better measure of strength, and that's why most competitions involve weight classes.

  • Strength Endurance- this is the ability to repeatedly express strength over time. Say you can perform an exercise once, but to have strength endurance, you would be able to perform that same exercise, at the same weight, multiple times. This usually looks like more reps at the gym.

  • Static Strength- this is the ability to hold a position for an extended period of time, without the muscle changing length. Instead of pressing a bar up and down, you would hold a weight (or yourself) in a specific position.

So what does all this mean? It means that even if you are not continually putting more weight on the bar, you can still be getting stronger. Perhaps your maximal strength isn't improving, but your relative strength or strength endurance may be. Strength is extremely specific to the way in which it is trained.


Don't be discouraged by numbers, but rather focus on progress. Look deep into your programs, how your body feels, and instead of looking at how far you have to go, look at how far you've come.


In Strength,

Coach B

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