Summarized History of Strength Training

When did Strength Training started? No one knows the exact time when strength training was developed, but the only documented fact about it is that in the early 20th Century it was known as “weight lifting” and was considered a sport. “Strength training” is sometimes called “resistance training”.

Free weight is the oldest method of strength training. Weight lifting that use dumbbell can be dated to the 2nd Century CE, while the larger barbell was first used throughout the second half of the 19th Century.

From the 1960’s on, machines that use weights and a system of pulleys for resistance became an accepted method of resistance training. Such machines are common in gyms or health clubs.

In the 1980, where bodybuilding gained popularity, a wide variety of machines were developed for use at home, and subsequently presented into the marketplace. Up to this day, the machines remained popular, even with new versions and inventions released every year.

Today, almost all health clubs and traditional gyms got mechanical device for resistance training, and many workout centers have lots of it. They are collectively known as “universal weight machines.” It makes possible for the entire muscle group to be exercise in a single machine.

Power lifting , or weight lifting that aims to increase the size of all muscles, is usually done with free weights like barbells and dumbbells. Power lifters sometimes use common weight lifting machines as part of their overall training program.

Perhaps, one of the most known ways in lifting weights is through the use of these universal weight lifting machines, with free weights (barbells and dumbbells), holding the second spot.

Circuit training is a combination of endurance training and strength training. Aerobics is performed with “rest periods” wherein participants use small dumbbells in performing a series of exercises to increase their strength. People who are into circuit training got the best of both worlds since they improve both the intensity and the effectiveness of their workout.

Maybe it has something to do the fast-paced lifestyle of the world today. Elastic bands or pulley systems had become one of the well-liked methods of strength training. These methods doesn’t use weight as it deals with resistance.