Anatomy TUESDAY – How Exercise Shapes Your Body – Strength Training

Strength training at its core is about applying load. When you push, pull, or lift, you body experiences mechanical tension and responds by adapting the tissues responsible for producing and transmitting force. Let’s take a look at how different tissues adapt to strength training.

MUSCLE

Muscles primarily adapt by growing (hypertrophy). When you train with resistance, muscle fibers experience microscopic damage that triggers protein synthesis. Over time, fibers grow thicker and stronger. But strength training also improves motor unit recruitment and intramuscular coordination. This is why beginners get stronger before they look bigger.

Real World Application:

Lifting in the 6-12 rep range is recommended for hypertrophy, but truthfully, lifting higher or lower repetitions will still result in increased muscle strength as long as you are applying enough tension (working hard).
Compound movements, movements that involve multiple joints will increase the need for intramuscular coordination, resulting in a more functional strength pattern. Think push, pull, lift and throw (and don’t forget to work in all three planes of motion: sagittal, frontal and transverse).

TENDONS

Tendons connect muscle to bone and play a crucial role in force transfer. With strength training, tendons become stronger and stiffer, increasing load capacity and improving force transmission. Isometric contractions (held for 30-45 seconds) and high speed eccentric contractions (plyometrics). Tendon neuroplastic training (TNT), strength training combined with external pacing (metronome) has been shown improve nervous system coordination and decrease pain in people with tendinopathy.

Real World Application:

To strengthen tendons, perform isometrics, then slow eccentrics, then high eccentrics
Train exercises with a metronome to improve neuromuscular coordination

BONE

Bone adapts to strength training by increasing bone density. When you lift weights, mechanical stress stimulates osteoblast activity. Over time, bone mineral density increases (Wolff’s Law: Bone is laid down along lines of stress). Resistance training is one of the most effective strategies for preventing osteoporosis.

Real World Application:

High intensity lifting (5-12 reps at 50%-80% 1RM) is recommended for bone growth
Jump training (100 reps per day) has been shown to effectively stimulate bone growth

FASCIA

Fascia is the connective tissue that surrounds muscles, joints and organs. It respond to mechanical loading by improving tension handling (resilience). It also plays a role in force transmission across muscle groups.

While still developing, evidence supports that:

Strength is not isolated to muscles
It depends on how force is distributed through connective tissue networks

Real World Application:

Many injuries occur due to tightness in the fascia. Strength training that emphasizes lengthening of tissue improves fascial mobility
Incorporate strengthening yoga poses (chatarunga dandasana, warrior poses) and flow styles into strengthening programs

NERVOUS SYSTEM

Finally, we arrive at the hidden driver of strength, the nervous system. When starting an exercise program, some of the earliest strength gains are neurological as the body adapts:

Increased motor unit recruitment
Improved rate of force development
Better coordination

Real World Adaptation:

Introduce different movement patterns into strength training, remembering to work in three planes of motion
Incorporate different tempos to activities
Incorporate different stances, surfaces (BOSU, Airex pad) and offset weights to train nervous system coordination

Why does this matter?

Strength training works more than just muscles. Developing tension throughout the body affects the muscles, tendons, bones, fascia and nervous system.

Strength training is powerful—but it’s not complete on its own. It doesn’t fully develop: mobility (unless trained intentionally), cardiovascular capacity or endurance. Stay tuned for the next blog where we take a look at how endurance training shapes your body and takes us one step closer to a balanced exercise program.

Because nobody has time to be in pain.

Until next time…