When you get sick of running on the treadmill and tired of training on the same machines, consider adding a session of strength & conditioning training to your weekly training routine.

Strength and conditioning exercises are engaged in to build skills in mobility, stability, strength, endurance, power, speed and more. If you’re looking for a ‘home gym’ training routine, add strength and conditioning to your training schedule.

A lot of strength and conditioning exercises can be performed at home using just your body. Other tools include medicine balls, dumbbells and kettlebells, making it a convenient method of training if you have an at-home set-up or limited equipment. 

Strength and conditioning can effectively be performed anywhere. Bring an exercise mat to your local park and get some fresh air, or set up in the garage. Do it at the gym if it makes you more motivated, but don’t overlook the value of strength and conditioning training.

 

What is Strength and Conditioning Training?

Let’s get straight to the point so that you can get straight into training. Strength and conditioning training is designed to improve physical performance, developing every area of your body and improving the way you move.

Often referred to as strength and resistance training, or just resistance training, this form of exercise improves your strength and tone while lowering the risk of injury over time. These exercises work to increase your strength and endurance and usually involve using a form of resistance like weights, bands or body weight to work against gravity (LeMarco, N. 2022). 

Incorporating strength and conditioning into your training routine at least twice a week, while training all major muscle groups twice a week will help you achieve results. Doing at least one set of each exercise with a weight or resistance that will start to fatigue your muscles after 12-15 reps is a great way to start building improvement (Mayo Clinic. 2021).

 

Benefits of Strength and Conditioning Training

Strength and conditioning training can improve your health, well-being and physical performance across a number of contexts. These programs can help you maximise your capabilities across technical, tactical, physical or mental areas. The combination of strength training, HIIT, plyometrics and cardio conditioning can support a positive increase in cardiovascular health and muscular, skeletal and mental health (Chaplin, B. 2019).

In addition to improving your overall performance and health, strength & conditioning training can play a role in injury prevention. Strength training and resistance can increase your bone density because the stress applied to them pushes bone-forming cells to react. It also strengthens your joints by reinforcing your ligaments, tendons, cartilage and more while increasing ligament flexibility, thus reducing the risk of strains and tears (Core Physiotherapy).

Applying strength and conditioning allows you to strengthen important muscles, balance your muscles and improve your posture, mobility, strength and endurance. This form of training will enable you to improve your muscle strength, power and speed and may facilitate fat loss, helping you work towards building your desired physique (Long, P. 2014).

While these exercises help you build muscle and improve endurance, it is essential to fuel your body with the right nutrients to ensure all that hard work pays off. That means fuelling yourself with a good protein. Evolve WPI is a rapid-releasing whey protein formula, which is exactly what you need after a sweaty strength and conditioning session. With low lactose and fat, this rapid-absorbing formula promotes lean muscle growth, strength and recovery. Pair it with Evolve Creatine Monohydrate to help you improve your performance, endurance and muscle growth. This pharmaceutical-grade formula supports ATP production and helps to create bigger, fuller muscles.

 

Who uses Strength and Conditioning Training?

If you’re going to ask if you should do strength and conditioning training. Stop. The answer is yes. Strength and conditioning training is beneficial for everyone, no matter the age, no matter the shape.

Strength and conditioning training isn’t just about bodybuilding and is effective for people of all fitness levels and lifestyles. Regularly incorporating this form of exercise can prevent the natural loss of lean muscle mass and can benefit people with chronic heal conditions like obesity, arthritis, or a heart condition (Iliades, C. 2021).

 

Essential Strength and Conditioning Exercises

Strength and conditioning exercises are easy to perform, don’t require big gym machines, and can be performed at home. Here are some of the best exercises that you can perform at home.

• Squats
• burpees
• Romanian deadlifts
• Deadlifts
• Reverse lunges
• Bulgarian squats
• Glute bridge
• pull-ups
• Lateral lunges
• Push-ups
• Kettlebell swings
• Dead bugs
• Planking
• Bear crawl hold
• Medicine ball slams

These exercises can be performed at home with your body, with some free weights, kettlebells, medicine balls and more. You don’t need a gym membership to get the best out of your health, but if you are a frequent gym-goer, these exercises can help you get the best out of your training so that you can keep shattering your goals.

 

The Bottom Line

If you’re trying to improve your strength, endurance and healthy while reducing the risk of injury, try adding strength and conditioning sessions to your weekly gym regime. Combining this with the right supplements can help you maximise your muscle growth, power output and recovery, giving you the best chance to achieve your fitness goals. 

These exercises can be completed anywhere, at any time, so there are no excuses to ignore them. Don’t just push weights at the gym; take care of your body with strength and conditioning exercises.

 

References

Chaplin, R. 2019, ‘What is Strength & Conditioning?’, Strength & Conditioning Education, accessed 27 March 2023, https://strengthandconditioningeducation.com/what-is-strength-conditioning/

LeMarco, N. 2022, ‘What Is Resistance Training and Why Is it Important?’ VeryWellFit, accessed 27 March 2023, https://www.verywellfit.com/what-is-resistance-training-3496094

Core Physiotherapy. ‘Strength Training to Reduce the Risk of Injury’, accessed 27 March 2023, https://corehealthcare.com.au/strength-training-to-reduce-the-risk-of-injury/

Long, P. 2014, ‘Increase muscle strength with conditioning’, U.S. Army, accessed 27 March 2023, https://www.army.mil/article/122705/increase_muscle_strength_with_conditioning#:~:text=Strength%20conditioning%20will%20allow%20you,the%20appearance%20of%20your%20muscles.

Mayo Clinic. 2021, ‘Strength training: Get stronger, leaner, healthier’, Mayo Clinic, accessed 27 March 2023, https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/strength-training/art-20046670#:~:text=Do%20strength%20training%20exercises%20for,about%2012%20to%2015%20repetitions.

Iliades, C. 2021, ‘8 Ways Strength Training Boosts Your Health and Fitness’, Everyday Health, accessed 27 March 2023, https://www.everydayhealth.com/fitness/add-strength-training-to-your-workout.aspx#:~:text=Regular%20strength%20or%20resistance%20training,arthritis%2C%20or%20a%20heart%20condition.