How necessary is strength training?

BettyM1017

I do strength/resistance/balance work mostly to prevent injury and to make activities of daily living a lot easier. I prefer to run for my cardio, but I also do at least 3, sometimes 4, 30 minute strength workouts a week. I've lost 45 pounds and have been running injury-free for 2 years. I've fixed posture issues, which means no more backaches and no more chiropractor. I have great range of motion and flexibility for a 50-year-old woman, and I don't have any joint issues, in spite of the fact that I'm a server on my feet all day hoisting heavy trays of plates and food over my head.

Think outside the box for your workouts. Compound moves like a front lunge with a shoulder press or a side lunge with a sword pull work a lot of muscles along with your core. A single-leg squat to a knee up or kick also works balance. Body weight moves like push ups, pull ups, planks, and bear crawls work a lot more than you think. Work smarter, not harder, and you'll accomplish a lot in a short time.

To me, resistance training is important for weight loss, but it's even more important for quality of life.

cwolfman13

As a matter of general fitness, I'd say some form of resistance training is essential...it doesn't have to be your life...you're not wanting to be a body builder, so you don't need to be in the weight room doing 5x per week splits and whatnot.

I primarily cycle and that's where my fitness passion really lies...but I realize the necessity of doing resistance training to help preserve my muscle mass as I age...bone density, etc. I'm not old, but I'm also no spring chicken either. A solid bonus has been that lifting has made me a better cyclists and it's basically my main form of cross training.

I typically run a full body program a couple of times per week. Occasionally I'll throw in a third day, but it's usually 2x per week and right now it's a pretty basic full body horizontal/vertical push/pull kind of deal. I spend about 45-60 minutes a couple times per week.

I spend a bit more time in the winter lifting, but that's because it's cold outside and I hate the cold...

AnnPT77

I'd second those suggesting targeting strength training that helps you achieve better skateboarding performance. (I do an analogous thing, using my desire to row better as a motivation to cross-train in health-improving ways that also help improve my rowing, like weight training & swimming (I really don't enjoy swimming, but a rower's gotta swim)).

Or, since you enjoy skateboarding, you might want to consider some bodyweight training that leads you into some parkour stunts (Google it if you don't know what it is) or so-called "street workouts" (check out the competition videos on YouTube).