Everyone has a plan, Mike Tyson famously said, until they get punched in the face. The endurance athlete鈥檚 version of that dictum might be: everyone has a great VO2 max and an efficient running stride until they鈥檝e run 20 miles. How you fare in those final miles depends, in large part, on how steeply these factors have declined over the course of the race.

This is the fundamental premise of 鈥渇atigue resistance,鈥� an idea I first wrote about back in 2021 that is currently one of the hottest topics in endurance science. The old view was that you could run some lab tests to determine an athlete鈥檚 VO2 max, lactate threshold, and running economy (or an equivalent measure of efficiency for other sports) and calculate their predicted finishing time. The new insight is that these factors change as you fatigue鈥攁nd crucially, they change more in some people than others. Having good fatigue resistance, then, is the 鈥�fourth dimension鈥� of endurance.

So far, most of the research on fatigue resistance鈥攚hich is also called 鈥渄urability鈥� or 鈥減hysiological resilience鈥濃�攈as focused on demonstrating that it plays a role in determining who wins races. What we really want to know, of course, is how to improve it. That鈥檚 the question a pair of new papers tackles.

The Case for Strength Training

The first study, by Michele Zanini and his colleagues at Loughborough University in Britain, tests a twice-a-week strength training program in 28 well-trained runners with an average 10K best of 39 minutes. Half of them added the strength routine to their usual training for ten weeks, while the other half just carried on with their usual training.

The performance test was a 90-minute run at a pace near lactate threshold, followed by an all-out time-to-exhaustion test that lasted about five minutes. Every 15 minutes during the 90-minute run, they measured running economy, which quantifies how much energy you burn to sustain a given pace. They expected running economy to get worse as the runners fatigued, but wanted to find out whether strength training could counteract this deterioration.

The results were encouraging. Before strength training, running economy got 4.7 percent worse after 90 minutes of running; after strength training, it only declined by 2.1 percent over the same period of time. Here鈥檚 how running economy changed over the course of the run, with white circles showing the baseline test and black circles showing the post-strength-training test:

Note that a positive change (i.e. the line drifting upward) means that the runners were burning more energy to maintain the same pace as time went on. In the baseline test, running economy starts getting significantly worse after about an hour. After strength training, this drift is less pronounced.

The strength training program in the study consisted of a mix of heavy weights and explosive plyometrics. The resistance exercises were the back squat, single-leg press, and seated isometric calf raises, typically with around three sets of six reps. The plyometrics included vertical exercises (pogo jumps and drop jumps) and horizontal exercises (hops and bounding). It鈥檚 not clear from this study whether the heavy weights or the plyometrics provided the magic, though Zanini that both methods have produced similar results in previous studies of strength training and running economy.

Why does strength training improve fatigue resistance? Here we鈥檙e limited to speculation. It may have something to do with making fast-twitch muscle fibers more efficient, or making tendons stiffer and springer, or improving strength sufficiently to maintain good running form for longer.

Other Options for Boosting Fatigue Resistance

The other new paper is by Andy Jones of the University of Exeter in Britain and Brett Kirby of the Nike Sport Research Lab. Jones and Kirby played key roles in Nike鈥檚 Breaking2 Project in 2017, where they encountered what you might call the Zersenay Tadese Problem. Tadese had exceptional lab values, including the best running economy ever measured, but repeatedly struggled at the marathon distance, while his teammate Eliud Kipchoge had relatively modest lab values but turned out to be the dominant marathon runner of the decade. The difference, presumably, was that Kipchoge had better fatigue resistance.

The new paper sums up their thoughts on fatigue resistance, including some speculation on how to improve it. Strength training, they note, is one option鈥攖hough they point out that few of the East African runners who currently dominate international marathoning do structured strength training.

Overall, their view seems to be that the best ways of improving fatigue resistance are mostly the things that endurance athletes already do to get better: high mileage, especially accumulated over many years; long runs, including some sections at close to race pace; intense interval sessions; following a pyramidal training distribution. There may also be some more subtle effects from, for example, doing some fasted training or living at high altitude. None of these are uniquely targeted at fatigue resistance.

Jones and Kirby do mention one other possibility: put on some supershoes. There鈥檚 likely an instant effect, since the heavy cushioning reduces muscle damage and enables you to keep striding smoothly through the later stages of a marathon. And there may also be a chronic effect: the cushioning allows you to absorb and recover from higher levels of training, enabling you to safely rack up higher mileage and thus improving your fatigue resistance over time.

The overall impression, then, is more evolution than revolution. All these years, we鈥檝e been training to maximize VO2 max, running economy, and threshold. Now we鈥檝e got a new target鈥攆atigue resistance鈥攂ut so far the best ways of improving seem to be mostly the things we鈥檙e already doing. Even Zanini鈥檚 strength-training routine is the kind of thing coaches and scientists already recommend. But if you have the sense that fatigue resistance is one of your weaknesses, you now have extra motivation to move strength training and plyometrics from the 鈥淚 should do this鈥� column to 鈥淚鈥檓 doing it.鈥�

For more Sweat Science, join me on and , sign up for the , and check out my forthcoming book .

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When John Orth, a violin maker from Colorado, set out to break his own world record for the most pull-ups in 24 hours, he had no idea he was competing against a college kid from Virginia. And that kid, Andrew Shapiro, didn’t know Orth had his eyes set on the same number鈥�10,000 pull-ups. No one had previously thought such a feat was possible, and as the two men grabbed their respective bars and started to pull, they would find a new limit to human endurance.

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What are your biggest running goals for 2025? Have you started training yet? Do you have a plan or a coach to guide you?

OK, I know, 迟丑补迟鈥檚 a lot of questions as the year winds down, but now is the perfect time to find some answers.

We all get excited about chasing running and fitness objectives in the new year鈥攔unning your first or next marathon, aiming for a new half-marathon PR, taking on the challenge of a rugged trail race, or simply just getting into the best shape of our lives鈥攂ut too often we wait until New Year鈥檚 Day鈥攐r even sometime in the early springtime鈥攖o get started.

Yep, I鈥檝e been guilty of that, too, a few times! But this year, I started chasing my next-year running goals on November 1. My goals are diverse and personal鈥攇etting optimally fit for a 50K trail race in June, running a fast mile on the track in August, and running the Chicago Marathon for the fourth time in October, not to mention spending a summer of doing long adventure runs in the mountains. Starting early and adding structure now will make a big difference in how I鈥檓 able to achieve those goals. Yes, if you live in a climate where winter makes running more challenging like I do, it will take some additional effort and sacrifice to get started. But no matter where you live, the juice is worth the squeeze that it will take to get started sooner than later.

After a rough injury-filled year of running in 2024, I decided to put myself through a month-long training camp by focusing on honing core strength and low-key, consistent running during November. Now, with the guidance of a coach, I鈥檒l get into a base-building phase in December with a slightly higher volume of mileage and hit the ground running in January. I鈥檓 not there yet, but I know I鈥檝e put myself on the path for a year filled with fitness, fun, and (relatively) faster times.

So, how do you start building momentum for your 2025 goals? Here are some tips to get you moving:

1. Start Today

Don鈥檛 waste time waiting for January to roll around to chase next year鈥檚 running goals. Start today. Even if you鈥檙e not fully focused on what you want to do鈥攜ou might not have specific goals set or a plan on how to get there鈥攇et started by planning out a week of easy to moderate running, cross-training, and strength training. You 诲辞苍鈥檛 have to go full throttle, but plotting out a few days can kickstart your training.听 You can prescribe yourself a few easy runs or make it a mix of 4- to 10-mile runs, a couple of days working on core strength at the gym, and maybe a weekend bike ride and a couple of swimming sessions to mix things up a bit or take you out of your comfort zone. (If you鈥檝e already started, good for you! Move on to the next point and keep your train rolling.)

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2. Don鈥檛 Make Resolutions

Look at the new year like a blank canvas or a book of blank pages that you get to fill with whatever you want to accomplish in 2025. Just 诲辞苍鈥檛 fall into the trap of making New Year鈥檚 resolutions, which typically fail by the third week in January. Instead, build a structured plan based on or have a coach develop a program specifically for you. My only advice is to not set the bar too low. No matter if your goal is to get fit and run your first or next 10K, marathon, or ultra-distance race, make your goals specific so you can adapt along the way. If you鈥檙e consistent with your training, there鈥檚 a good chance you鈥檒l be able to surpass your initial goals as you develop a solid level of fitness. Believe in yourself, do the work, trust the process, and results will follow.

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3. Make Plans

To accomplish anything, you need to have a plan. That might start by signing up for a race or two, but 迟丑补迟鈥檚 the easy part. Getting there and running well takes time and maybe some help. If your goal is to run your fastest marathon sometime next year, how are you going to do it? What training plan are you going to follow? Does it make sense to hire a coach? And does an online or an in-person coach better suit your needs? Who will you run with for your long runs or your hard workouts? Training alone and doing it without guidance can work for some people, but most runners benefit from all the help they can get.

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4. Be Consistent But Flexible

Mixing training with life is a difficult juggling act and always unpredictable. Even if you鈥檝e meticulously planned your week and have anticipated some of the things that come up, unexpected challenges like work, family, friends, or weather can still disrupt your running routine and throw off your training flow. Being consistent requires a three-part approach in which you鈥檙e diligent, flexible, and reasonable. If a work meeting goes long and eliminates your lunchtime run, be prepared to log those miles in the evening. (Or better yet, if you鈥檙e able to run before work, you will not regret the early wake-up.)

If inclement weather makes it impossible to do your planned track workout, reconfigure your schedule and do it later in the week or modify your workout to do it on the roads or the treadmill, but 诲辞苍鈥檛 just give in and take a day off. Be relentless about your pursuit as much as is reasonably possible. Don鈥檛 knock yourself out鈥攊f you get sick, rest may be what you need. But prioritize running so you keep heading in the right direction. Here鈥檚 where a coach can help ensure you are getting the work in at the proper times in the correct order without you having to do mental gymnastics to keep your training safe and on track.

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5. Get Stronger

If you want to chase new goals and up-level your running in 2025, you need to make sure your body is strong enough to hold up through the rigors of the miles you鈥檙e logging. Working on general and running-specific strength will help you run more efficiently for longer durations and also help reduce the chance of overuse injuries. No matter how fit we are, we gradually lose muscle mass and strength in our late 30s to early 40s. That doesn鈥檛 necessarily mean you鈥檒l be getting leaner, but it probably means you鈥檙e getting weaker. I made it a point to do 30 minutes of strength work every other day in November. Plus, I added on the other days and lap swimming two days per week when I could.

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6. Make Sure You鈥檙e Having Fun

No matter if you鈥檙e a new runner or a sub-elite speedster, one of your top priorities should be making your running fun. That doesn鈥檛 mean you shouldn鈥檛 be diligent about training, make necessary sacrifices, and be serious about the goals you鈥檙e chasing. It just means that you should enjoy the journey. Because afterall, what鈥檚 the point of any of this if it鈥檚 not fun? Keeping running fun could look like linking up with friends for early morning runs or hard workouts, joining a local running store or pub run group, planning a post-long run brunch with friends on a weekend morning, listening to your favorite podcasts while clocking easy miles, or going out of your way to discover off-the-beaten-path trails. Not only do those actions add intention to your running, but they also add camaraderie and accountability, too.

For me, the simple notion that I鈥檓 doing something for my short-term health (namely moving my body and clearing my mind) and long-term well-being (ideally offsetting long-term health issues from being sedentary) are inherently inspiring and motivating. And the more you get into it, you鈥檒l find that running a few miles with friends at a conversational pace (or entirely alone where you鈥檙e letting your mind wander) is one of the purest forms of fun imaginable.

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7. Keep Going

Every year of dedication to consistent fitness is like a deposit into your future well-being that not only builds increased aerobic capacity and efficiency but also generates lifelong enthusiasm and long-term health. I was oblivious to that concept in my late 20s and early 30s when my attention span was mostly concerned with the here and now. But I鈥檝e come to realize that my running journey has never been only about training for races on my calendar or what I鈥檓 doing in a particular season of a particular year鈥攊t鈥檚 tied to extending my physical, mental, and emotional longevity.

So, just because there鈥檚 a new year on the horizon and you鈥檙e all excited to reach specific goals in 2025, remember that you鈥檙e on a journey that doesn鈥檛 end at the finish line of a goal race or after a certain amount of time. Approach the new year as an investment in your wellness that will (hopefully) extend through the next several decades of your life.

Related Training Plans to Follow聽

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Every Sunday afternoon I sit down in my home office prepping for next week鈥檚 clients directly in front of one of my favorite quotes:

鈥淲e 诲辞苍鈥檛 stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.鈥�

While George Bernard Shaw has many famous expressions, the words 鈥済row old鈥� in this particular quote could be replaced by any number of phrases directly relevant to a triathlete.

We lose motivation when sessions get long or boring. We aggravate old niggles when our training is out of balance. We plateau with a lack of variability. I have found few in this sport who aren鈥檛 striving to remain youthful, vibrant, and competitive as they age. So if you鈥檙e one of these athletes, now鈥檚 your time.

is when we incorporate play, or 鈥済eneral athleticism,鈥� into work to promote durability (resistance to fatigue/injury), enhance mobility (muscular tension, length, and coordination in movement), and reestablish stability (control). The spontaneity and variability of play help to recondition, stretch, and strengthen your muscle fascia 鈥� that super suit of connective tissue that supports every muscle and organ in your body. Healthy fascia gives us fluidity in movement (free watts) and that proverbial 鈥渟pring鈥� in our step (free speed) we all search for as the racing season hits full stride.

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Make Strength Training More Fun in the Off-Season with Play

Here are a few components I think about when planning strength sessions for my athletes that incorporate play, yet are still sport-relevant and excellent use of precious time.

1. Keep it fun

You might like skipping! I do not. It reminds me of warming up for high school track meets with an aggro coach wearing a whistle straight out of the military (literally). I avoid it even as a 鈥渇un鈥� . Incorporating play into your strength routine should invoke light-hearted, positive feelings or memories. Find those activities that cause you to lose track of time, make you smile, or give you that much-needed social component.

2. Give it a little structure

I work with very few endurance athletes who feel comfortable without some simple boundaries or confines 鈥� even when the schedule calls for unstructured training. For example, adding a time limit (AMRAP 鈥� as many rounds/reps as possible) or building in a community component for support can mentally refresh the most mundane but necessary mobility workouts. I participated in several challenges for vertical feet this summer, which had me chasing some very steep Strava segments while hiking on my local Boulder trails. They were also incredibly effective, non-traditional strength workouts that replaced one of my weekly lower-body gym sessions.

3. Be creative, not reckless

I love a good Instagram highlight reel from a celeb or pro athlete doing something physically impressive in the gym. Just remember that juggling dumbbells while standing on a stability ball represents a fraction of the actual work that athlete has already put in to master it. Instead, try something that is a step or two away from movements you are already proficient in and then gradually add creativity. For example, I often have my triathletes warming up with throwing and catching this time of year, which can be elevated with movement, increased specificity, and gamification. Yup, even dodgeball.

Whether you incorporate the five D鈥檚 (dodge, duck, dip, dive, dodge) into your off-season, try an on-demand core class, or throw around a frisbee at the end of a gym workout, remember that off-season is the time of year to move differently. We want to bend, pull, turn, and twist in ways that are not strictly swim, bike, and run. Becoming more mobile, total-body durable, and generally athletic now in ways that are mentally refreshing (play!), will only ensure that we are healthy, well-rounded, and ready for our high quality, specific workouts to ramp up this spring.

has specialized in endurance training in both functional strength and conditioning, as well as technical program creation for cyclists, runners,聽triathletes, and multi-sport endurance athletes for well over a decade. She is a NASM cPT in addition to a NASM CES (corrective)聽and PES (performance) specialist.听

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If you鈥檝e ever been sore after a yoga class or felt your muscles aching while holding Warrior 2, you鈥檙e familiar with the strengthening benefits of yoga. Although many of us associate yoga with primarily increasing flexibility and calming one鈥檚 chaotic thoughts, yoga does build muscle. But how effective is it? Does yoga count as strength training?

Does Yoga Count as Strength Training?

The short answer is, it depends.

According to the , adults should accumulate a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise per week plus at least two total-body strength training workouts per week. Strength training increases muscular strength and muscular endurance, which are two of the five components of health-related fitness.

Strength training, also known as resistance training, involves exercises that load your muscles. This not only builds muscle but and helps stabilize joints to prevent injuries. Lifting weights or using resistance bands are two common options for strength training.

But they鈥檙e not necessarily the only options. Bodyweight training, in which you use your own weight as resistance, is another type of strength training. Some styles of yoga can be considered bodyweight training and can be ideal for anyone who either doesn鈥檛 have access to a gym or doesn鈥檛 care for or have time for traditional strength training exercises.

That said, there are two factors that largely influence the response to does yoga count as strength training.

1. Type of Yoga

Yoga is an extremely diverse practice with many different styles and ways to practice. Certain types of yoga and poses can strengthen muscles and potentially even build muscle.

2. Your Fitness Level

The other factor that plays a significant role in whether yoga functions as strengthening is your fitness level. Ultimately, it is more difficult to build muscle with yoga than it is with traditional resistance training using external implements such as dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, resistance bands, etc.

In order to build muscle, you need to overload your muscles鈥� current capacity enough to induce some amount of damage to your muscle fibers. This microscopic damage triggers a process known as muscle protein synthesis, which repairs and rebuilds muscle and helps make your muscles stronger over time.

While it is possible to strengthen your muscles and potentially build muscle exclusively through bodyweight exercises, most people reach a plateau of body strength where some external resistance is necessary to continue strengthening and increasing muscle mass. In general, practicing yoga is not as effective as lifting weights.

However, anything that challenges you is strengthening your muscles. For example, chair yoga can be an efficient strength-training workout. Don鈥檛 compare yourself to others and meet your body where you鈥檙e at. Also, never push your body beyond your current fitness level or to the point of pain or extreme discomfort.

What Are the Best Types of Yoga for Strength Training?

Beginners often assume that classes for more experienced practitioners are inherently more difficult and better for strengthening than . This isn鈥檛 necessarily true. These classes are often faster-paced and focus more on transitions between poses and less instruction from the teacher. This can increase the risk of injury for those who are still mastering the foundations and learning basic yoga poses. It can also shift the emphasis to the space in between the poses rather than the strengthening practice of holding the poses for a length of time.

It鈥檚 the style of yoga that plays a more important role in whether or not you will be strengthening your muscles or focusing on other aspects of fitness and health in your yoga class.

Some of the best types of yoga for muscle strength include:

• Vinyasa yoga
• Power yoga
• Ashtanga yoga
• Iyengar yoga

Aside from the style of yoga you practice, there are other ways you can ensure you鈥檙e building muscle with yoga and/or have yoga 鈥渃ount鈥� as strength training:

• Do a minimum of two per week in which you work all the major muscles of your body. This means your yoga routine should include yoga poses that strengthen:Lower-body muscles: (, hip adductors, hip abductors, hip rotators, and ankle stabilizers)Upper-body muscles (traps, rhomboids, lats, pecs, deltoids, biceps, triceps, and grip muscles)Core (diaphragm, abs, obliques, pelvic floor, and )
• Choose poses that require your legs, arms, or core to hold the position or support your body, such as the Warrior poses, or Revolved Lunge, , , and
• Hold each pose for at least 30 seconds and practice three sets of your strengthening poses. Alternatively, complete numerous reps in a sequence of several strengthening poses performed back to back. For example, perform 15 cycles of continuous flow between and .
• Finally, . That allows you to take advantage of the numerous benefits of yoga as well as more traditional resistance training exercises. Or, if you prefer to keep your yoga practice separate, supplement it with a gym workout or at-home strength training.

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Your core is, quite literally, at the center of everything you do. It鈥檚 what powers your paddle strokes, allows you to reach for a climbing hold, and makes hoisting a heavy pack and carrying it over miles of technical terrain possible. It also helps you avoid injury during all those pursuits. But to make it work for you, you have to incorporate core exercises into your training plan.

What Exactly Is Your Core?

Often, core work focuses on building the vanity muscles of the six-pack (also known as the rectus abdominis) through crunches, which can and lead to neck and lower back discomfort. A well-rounded core routine will target the entire core musculature, which also includes your diaphragm, pelvic floor, transverse abdominis (the deep core layer which provides postural stability), obliques, and some of your back muscles (erector spinae, multifidus).

While much of traditional core training involves exercises like planks (a static movement), you also need to train for dynamic stability. 鈥淏eing in the outdoors is sometimes very unpredictable,鈥� says , a San Diego-based strength coach.听Being able to engage your core during movement better prepares you to prevent falls or to catch yourself if you do fall.

That鈥檚 particularly important as you age and balance and stability become more challenging. Gaudreau notes that core strength training 鈥渃an give you the confidence that you 诲辞苍鈥檛 have to start living a smaller life because you鈥檙e afraid of feeling less quick, less reactive, less strong.鈥�

Building muscle memory through core strength training allows you to act faster in a potential injury situation. 鈥淭he body is going to do what the body does,聽but the more practice we give it, the more it鈥檚 going to adapt,鈥� says Gaudreau.

The Moves

Core work can be part of a warm-up, cool-down, or an active recovery day. Including it in a dynamic mobility warm-up can prepare your body for your workout. Single-leg Romanian deadlifts, for example, are great before a hike because they can 鈥渨ake up your balance,鈥� says Gaudreau. Suitcase carries can prime climbers for unilateral movements.

Instead of doing all these movements at once, choose three or four to group together, mixing different types of movements. A Pallof press, dumbbell windmill, and Russian twist will allow you to train your rotation and anti-rotation patterns while also working in multiple planes of motion.

Since your priority is likely your outdoor sport, start off slow with core training and add more reps or sets as you become more comfortable with these moves. 鈥淎nytime you start anything new, the thing that makes you sore is novelty,鈥� says Gaudreau.

1. Side Plank with Rotation

What this move does: Improves balance; works the muscles in your hips, core, and shoulders; protects your spine

How to do it: Begin by lying on your right side, legs extended and stacked on top of one another. Prop your torso up on your right elbow, with your arm stacked directly under your shoulder, and palm flat on the mat. Inhale and engage your core, squeeze your glutes, and raise your hips and knees from the floor until your body is in a straight line.

Raise your left arm and exhale as you reach your left hand under your torso. Pause before bringing your left arm back to the starting position, keeping your hips elevated until you have completed all the repetitions. Move through a straight-arm plank to switch sides.

Volume: Two sets of 8 to 12 reps per side, with one minute of rest in between. As you progress, you can advance this movement and increase the following exercises to three sets.

2. Bird Dog

What this move does: Works the core, shoulders, and glutes; challenges balance and stability; improves hip and shoulder mobility

How to do it: Begin on all fours with your hands directly under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Maintain a neutral spine. Inhale to engage your core and exhale as you raise your right arm in front of you and left leg behind you until they are parallel to the floor, keeping both limbs straight. Slowly return to the starting position.

Keep your body from tilting or collapsing to one side to engage your core more efficiently. Repeat this movement for all repetitions on one side before switching sides.

Modified version:聽If being on your knees is challenging, you can put a mat under your knees or perform a Dead Bug, which flips this movement upside-down. Lie on your back and raise your arms straight into the air, directly over your shoulders. Raise your legs with bent knees, keeping your knees directly above your hips. Engage your core and slowly lower your right arm toward the floor behind you and extend and lower your left leg toward the floor in front of you, hovering both limbs for a moment just above the floor. Return to the starting position and repeat this movement for all repetitions before switching sides.

Volume: Two sets of 8 to 12 reps per side, with one minute of rest in between.

3. Pallof Press

What this move does: Works your deep stabilizer core muscles; challenges you to limit rotation of the spine while building core stability

How to do it: Attach a light resistance band to an anchor point (e.g., a rig at your gym or a door frame at home). Grip the other end of the band with a hand-over-hand grip and step away from the anchor point until there is no slack in the band. Standing with the right side of your body in line with the anchor point, hold the band at chest height with bent elbows. Exhale as you slowly press your arms out straight in front of you. Pause, then slowly return.

Repeat this movement for all repetitions before turning around so your left side is in line with the anchor point. The goal is to avoid any twisting in your torso. If you find your body twisting, step a little closer to the anchor point to lighten the load.

Volume: Two sets of 8 to 12 reps per side, with one minute of rest in between.

4. Resistance Band Roll-Down/Roll-Up

What this move does: Strengthens back and transverse abdominis muscles; helps you stabilize through a full range of motion

How to do it: Sit on a mat and loop a light-to-medium resistance band around the soles of your feet. Extend your legs in front of you and grip the other end of the band with elbows bent and shoulders drawn back. Inhale to engage your core and exhale as you slowly lower your torso back toward the mat, hovering slightly above the floor for a moment before slowly rising back to a seated position. If you start to lose core engagement or stability on the way down, 迟丑补迟鈥檚 a good stopping point, and you can start to rise back up from there.

Volume: Two sets of 8 to 12 reps, with one minute of rest in between.

5. Dumbbell Windmill

What this move does: Challenges your body through all planes of motion for greater mobility and flexibility; challenges rotational stability; works core (with an emphasis on obliques) and shoulder muscles

How to do it: Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in your left hand. Bring the dumbbell to your left shoulder and then extend your left arm up to raise it directly overhead. Turn your gaze toward the weight and exhale as you slowly slide your right hand down your right leg until you reach your ankle. Then, slowly rise to a standing position. Repeat this movement for all repetitions before switching sides.

Note: You can also do this with a light kettlebell, soup can, or a聽bottle of water.

Volume: Two sets of 8 to 12 reps per side, with one minute of rest in between.听

6. Kettlebell Good Morning

What this move does: Challenges the muscles of the lower back as well as hamstrings and glutes; trains the hip-hinge pattern,聽which is crucial for lifting heavy things off the ground

How to do it: Grip the handle of a kettlebell with both hands and bring it to chest height. Stand with feet hip-width apart, with a soft bend in the knees. Inhale to engage your core. Keeping a flat back and neck in line with your spine, exhale as you hinge at the hips and send your butt back. Lower your torso as close as you can to parallel with the floor. Pause, then inhale as you slowly rise back up.

Note: You can also use a dumbbell held horizontally or even a jug of water.

Volume: Two sets of 8 to 12 reps, with one minute of rest in between.

7. Kettlebell Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift

What this move does: Works one limb at a time,聽which can help identify and correct muscle imbalances; challenges the core as well as the glutes and hamstrings; promotes stability in the standing position

How to do it: Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding a kettlebell in your left hand. Pull your left shoulder back and inhale to brace your core. Allow a slight bend in your right knee and exhale as you slowly hinge at the hips, sending your left leg back behind you with your foot flexed. Your left hand holding the kettlebell lowers toward the floor. Maintain a flat back and neutral neck throughout the movement. Rise back to standing and lightly tap your toes to the ground before repeating the movement. Finish all reps on this side before switching.

Note: You can also do this movement with a dumbbell.

Volume: Two sets of 8 to 12 reps per side, with one minute of rest in between.

8. Dumbbell Russian Twist

What this move does: Works rotation and anti-rotation patterns; challenges obliques and transverse abdominis

How to do it: Sit on a mat with bent knees and hold a dumbbell at your torso with bent elbows. Inhale to engage your core and hover your feet slightly above the floor. Twist your torso to the right, then back to center, then to the left. That鈥檚 one rep.

Volume: Two sets of 8 to 12 reps, with one minute of rest in between.

9. Dumbbell Suitcase Carry

What this move does: Challenges dynamic stability to prepare for carrying uneven loads; works entire core musculature; helps with anti-rotation pattern

How to do it: Hold a heavy dumbbell in one hand and slowly walk the length of the room or gym, trying to avoid leaning or rotating toward the side with the dumbbell. Before turning back, switch the dumbbell to the opposite hand.

Volume: Two sets of 8 to 12 reps per side, with one minute of rest in between.

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Earlier this year, I wrote a column on the 鈥�minimal effective dose鈥� of strength training. Remarkably, newbie lifters can make gains with as little as one set of six to 15 reps per week鈥攐n average, at least. But average results 诲辞苍鈥檛 tell the full story. Some people will gain more than average; others will gain less. If you鈥檙e a typical endurance-focused Sweat Science reader, there鈥檚 a good chance you鈥檙e in the second category. What does it take to put on muscle for those who 诲辞苍鈥檛 respond to the minimum?

A , from researchers at the University of Sao Paulo and other institutions in Brazil as well as the University of Alabama at Birmingham, fills in some details about this question. By assigning volunteers to do different lifting routines with each leg, they eliminate a bunch of the individual variations that usually cloud the results of strength training studies. The results offer hope for those who might initially be classed as 鈥渘on-responders鈥� to resistance training, and suggest that the best way to turn on muscle-building adaptations is straightforward: add more sets.

To start, it鈥檚 worth unpacking this idea of 鈥渘on-responders.鈥� Starting in the 1980s and 1990s, explored the role of genetics in exercise response. Give a bunch of people the same training program, and their genes will explain about half of the variance in how much their fitness improves, the studies found. Some people, it turned out, didn鈥檛 seem to get fitter at all, even after several months of training. This idea of exercise non-responders got a lot of enthusiastic attention (鈥淪o 迟丑补迟鈥檚 why I鈥檓 not as fit as I want to be!鈥�)鈥攁nd some pushback. that if you took the non-responders from a study and had them train harder or at higher volumes, they would indeed get fitter.

The studies above focused on aerobic exercise, but you鈥檇 expect similar results with resistance training. The new study, which was led by Hamilton Roschel of the University of Sao Paulo, was designed to see whether adding extra sets would turn non-responders into responders. They recruited 85 volunteers (41 men, 44 women), all over the age of 60 and not currently doing any strength training; older adults are generally less responsive to the anabolic stimulus of strength training, making non-response more likely. The exercise program involved two workouts per week for ten weeks, consisting of sets of between 8 and 15 reps of single-leg knee extensions with the weight chosen to reach failure in each set. Each volunteer did one set per workout with one leg, and four sets per workout with the other leg.

Muscle size was measured by MRI, and as expected, the one-set routine produced plenty of non-responders. Sixty percent of the subjects failed to gain more than 3.3 percent in the cross-section of their quadriceps (a minimum threshold for statistically significant improvement based on the repeatability of the MRI measurement). With four sets, the proportion of non-responders dropped to 19 percent, and those who responded to one set had bigger responses to four sets. The conclusion: doing more sets leads to greater muscle gain, even among those who 诲辞苍鈥檛 seem to gain initially.

This may seem painfully obvious, but the same isn鈥檛 true for strength as measured by one-rep max. Doing four sets didn鈥檛 produce notably bigger strength gains than one set, which seems both surprising and unfair. This result is consistent with previous studies, though; in fact, I wrote about a study from Brad Schoenfeld鈥檚 group back in 2018 that found exactly the same thing in young experienced lifters: five sets was better than three sets, which in turn was better than one set for muscle size; but all three options were basically the same for bench press strength. Strength is a function of muscle size and of the complex signaling process between brain and muscle. The two 诲辞苍鈥檛 always go hand in hand.

In fact, there are more nuances in the individual (rather than average) data from Roschel鈥檚 study. Among those who responded to one set, only 51 percent got significantly bigger muscle-size results from four sets, and 15 percent actually did worse on four sets. Normally when I see results like that, I鈥檇 assume that those 15 percent had some other life stress going on during the four-set part of the study that tanked their results. But in this case, the one-set and four-set parts of the study were taking place simultaneously in different legs. That suggests that, while four sets are better than one for some people, they really are worse for others.

So the superficial takeaway from this study is that you can get away with fairly minimal one-set training if your main goal is to get stronger, but you鈥檒l probably benefit from more sets if鈥攍ike many aging athletes鈥攜ou鈥檙e more concerned with gaining or simply maintaining muscle mass. That echoes the earlier results from Schoenfeld and others. The deeper and more interesting takeaway, though, is that this rule isn鈥檛 true for everyone. The resulting uncertainty is inconvenient and a bit annoying, but it means we have to fall back on a simpler rule: if what you鈥檙e doing isn鈥檛 working, even if it follows the latest research, try changing it.

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To keep fit, , women should try 鈥渢he imaginary motion of lifting a piano鈥� and the real-life challenge of pulling a cork from a bottle. 鈥淗old the bottle between your knees and pull and pull at the tightly driven cork,鈥� the writer advised. Sadly, she didn鈥檛 specify how many sets and reps of cork-pulling one should aspire to, but she did promise that it would firm up the abdominal muscles and reduce the hips.

It鈥檚 worth keeping this sort of patronizing and nonsensical advice in mind as we contemplate what exercise advice women need these days. After leaving the imaginary-piano period behind, researchers moved on to assuming that men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 training should be more or less the same, or at least that training for women could be extrapolated from studies conducted almost exclusively on men. More recently, the pendulum has swung back. Women, many experts now believe, need advice that takes into account menstrual cycles, menopause, pregnancy, body composition and hormonal profile, differing hydration needs, and so on. It鈥檚 not always clear, though, which differences matter or whether training advice really needs to be changed.

That鈥檚 the background for a new systematic review of research on resistance training in healthy young women, by scientists from Brazil, Portugal, Italy, and Australia. Their goal was to figure out how women respond to resistance training, and what training variables are most important for determining whether you gain strength and muscle mass.

In theory, this is a pretty basic and well-studied question. The American College of Sports Medicine, for example, a generic prescription of 1 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 repetitions at 70 to 85 percent of your one-rep max weight for novices hoping to gain strength and muscle. This is based on a huge pile of research: the ACSM position stand cites 280 references. The problem is that the subjects in these studies are mostly men, and where there are female subjects they鈥檙e simply mixed in with the male subjects, so it鈥檚 impossible to know if there are any systematic differences in response.

The authors of the new review were able to gather the results of 40 different studies including a total of 1,312 women between the ages of 18 and 35. Most of the participants were untrained or sedentary; a quarter of the studies included 鈥減hysically active鈥� participants, and just one had subjects with prior strength training experience. On average, the studies lasted for ten weeks, typically with two to three workouts per week. The median number of total sets per week was 72, with a typical weight of 80 percent of one-rep max.

The main outcome was that鈥攚ait for it鈥攕trength training worked. The improvements in both strength and muscle size (measured with a variety of techniques, including MRI, CT scans, ultrasound, and so on) were statistically significant. In order to compare between studies, the results were expressed as 鈥渟tandardized mean differences.鈥� An SMD of 1 means that the average increase in the outcome measure was equal to the standard deviation of values seen in the entire experimental group. Overall, muscle mass increased by 1.2 SMD, which means that the vast majority of subjects saw at least some increase. Strength, on the other hand, only increased by 0.4 SMD, meaning that roughly a third of subjects saw no improvement.

From a practical point of view, studies with more workouts per week produced bigger increases in muscle mass, and studies with a higher total number of weekly sets produced bigger increases in strength. Given that median number of 72 sets per week in the meta-analysis, it鈥檚 perhaps mildly surprising that the highest volumes seemed to produce the best results鈥攁fter all, 72 sets is already a lot! It works out to three sets each of eight different exercises, three times a week, significantly higher than the minimum thresholds for effective strength training. The authors note that prior research has hinted that women have higher fatigue tolerance (that is, their performance at a given relative intensity drops off more slowly) and faster recovery capacity than men. Perhaps 迟丑补迟鈥檚 why women might benefit from higher volumes of training than men.

Or perhaps not. What鈥檚 missing, aside from simply having more data, are direct comparisons of men and women doing the same exercise routines under the same conditions. Only with apples-to-apples comparisons will we be able to determine whether men and women benefit from different strength training approaches. Even the vastly larger literature on men leaves open endless debates about very basic questions like, say, how many sets you should do of each exercise. For now, the new meta-analysis reaffirms that the generic strength training guidance offered up in documents like the ACSM position stand does work for women. Whether there are some subtle tweaks and adjustments that might work even better remains to be seen.

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To be a maximalist, you must first be a minimalist. That鈥檚 an aphorism I first heard , the Mayo Clinic physiologist and human performance expert, and it resonates. To truly reach your potential in one or a few areas, you have to be disciplined about all the other ways in which you could fritter away your valuable time and energy. Excellence requires tough choices.

All this is to say that when it comes to strength training, I鈥檓 not ashamed to admit that my number one question is 鈥淗ow little can I get away with?鈥� I鈥檓 fully convinced that strength training has important benefits for health and performance, and I recognize that lifting heavy things can be a source of meaning and self-mastery. But I鈥檝e got miles to run before I sleep and, metaphorically, a bunch of errands to run before my kids get home, so caught my eye. An international group of researchers, led by David Behm of Memorial University of Newfoundland and Andreas Konrad of Graz University in Austria, sum up the existing research on minimalist resistance training: how low can you go and still get meaningful gains in strength and fitness?

For starters, let鈥檚 acknowledge that making meaningful gains is not the same as optimizing or maximizing your gains. There鈥檚 a general pattern in the dose-response functions of various types of exercise: doing a little bit gives you the biggest bang for your buck, but adding more training leads to steadily diminishing returns (and eventually, for reasons that aren鈥檛 as obvious as you might think, a plateau). Those diminishing returns are worth chasing if you鈥檙e trying to maximize your performance. But if your goal is health, more is not necessarily better, as we鈥檒l see below.

In a perfect world, you鈥檇 like to see a systematic meta-analysis of all the literature on minimalist strength training, meaning that you鈥檇 pool the results of all the different studies into one big dataset and extract the magic training formula. Unfortunately, the resistance training literature is all over the map: different types of strength training, study subjects with different characteristics and levels of experience, different ways of measuring the outcome. That makes it impossible to meaningfully combine them in one dataset. Instead, Behm and Kramer settled for a narrative review, which basically means reading everything you can find and trying to sum it up.

Their key conclusion is that 鈥渞esistance training-hesitant individuals鈥� can get significant gains from one workout a week consisting of just one set of 6 to 15 reps, with a weight somewhere between 30 and 80 percent of one-rep max, preferably with multi-joint movements like squats, deadlifts, and bench press. That鈥檚 strikingly similar to a minimalist program I wrote about a couple of years ago: that one involved a single weekly set of 4 to 6 reps, but the lifting motions were ultra-slow, which heightens the stimulus. You 诲辞苍鈥檛 even necessarily have to lift to failure, though you probably need to get within a couple of reps of it.

The data that Behm and Kramer looked at came from studies that typically lasted 8 to 12 weeks. One of the unanswered questions is whether such a minimalist program would keep producing gains on a longer timeframe. You鈥檇 clearly need to continue increasing the weight you lift to ensure that you鈥檙e still pushing your body to adapt. But do you reach a point where further progress requires you to increase the number of sets, or the number of workouts per week? Maybe鈥攂ut it鈥檚 worth recalling that we鈥檙e not trying to maximize gains here, we鈥檙e just trying to achieve some hazily defined minimum stimulus. For those purposes, the evidence suggests running through a rigorous full-body workout once a week is enough to maintain a minimum level of muscular fitness.

There鈥檚 another, less obvious angle to minimalist strength training that researchers continue to grapple with. Duck-Chul Lee of Iowa State and I-Min Lee of Harvard, both prominent epidemiologists, published called 鈥淥ptimum Dose of Resistance Exercise for Cardiovascular Health and Longevity: Is More Better?鈥�

The question echoes a debate that flared up a decade or so ago about whether too much running is bad for you, in which Duck-Chul Lee played a key role. Back in 2018, he also published a study of 12,500 patients from the Cooper Clinic in Dallas which found that those who did resistance training were healthier鈥攂ut that the benefits maxed out at two workouts a week, and were reversed beyond about four workouts a week. At the time, I assumed the result was a fluke. But the new article collects a larger body of evidence to bolster the case. The newer data suggests that about an hour of strength training a week maximizes the benefits, and beyond two hours a week reverses them. Lee and Lee hypothesize that too much strength training might lead to stiffer arteries, or perhaps to chronic inflammation.

Now, when Duck-Chul Lee and others produced data suggesting that running more than 20 miles a week is bad for your health, I was brimming with skepticism and . I鈥檓 similarly cautious about these new results, and have trouble believing that there鈥檚 anything unhealthy about doing three weekly strength workouts. But they do put the idea of minimalist strength training in a different light. Maybe you鈥檙e not maximizing strength or muscle gains, but it鈥檚 possible that you鈥檙e optimizing long-term health鈥攅specially if the reason you only hit the gym once or twice a week is that you鈥檙e too busy hitting the trails.

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