Sticking with it is what counts.
The most important thing about strength training is that you do it at all and do it regularly, according to a comprehensive review study published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise on March 16 (2026).
A team at Canada’s McMaster University in Hamilton analysed 137 studies on the effects of strength training involving more than 30,000 participants, 17 years after the last stocktake of this kind, and said it included more different people and training types than ever before.
The finding is simple: “The best resistance training programme is the one you’ll actually stick with,” said study author and professor in kinesiology Dr Stuart Phillips.
”Training all major muscle groups at least twice a week matters far more than chasing the idea of a ‘perfect’ or complex training plan.”
Whether using dumbbells, resistance bands or just body weight, consistency can build muscle and increase strength and endurance, the authors said.
Going to the gym is not necessarily required.
More specific exercise plans make sense for professional athletes and very highly-trained amateur sportspeople, but for the average adult the message is clear: Find a type of strength training you enjoy and stick with it.
The biggest positive effects are seen when people move from doing no strength training at all to doing some form of strength training, the authors wrote.
The study also challenges some widespread assumptions.
It is not necessary to train to absolute exhaustion to build strength and muscle, it said.
In fact, doing so could increase the risk of injury.
Frequently varying a training plan is also less important for average exercisers than previously assumed.
In the long term, strength training also has clear positive effects on quality of life, the analysis found.
Walking speed, balance and sleep quality improve and the risk of cardiovascular (heart) disease falls. – dpa
