I have big news this week! The foundational recommendations about resistance training (in other words, the sports medicine guidelines that all your trainers, and your trainers’ trainers, have been using to build workout programs) have been updated for the first time in fifteen years.
The American College of Sports Medicine last published recommendations for resistance training in 2009. Research into resistance training has exploded in the last decade, though, and an update was long overdue!
(I had planned on writing this week’s newsletter about the parallels between exercise for your long term health and investing in a 401k. That will have to wait because this is breaking news — and it’s not every day I get to report on breaking news in my work!)
The updated recommendations provide better guidelines for healthcare providers and exercise professionals to use when prescribing exercise as an intervention. The report confirms that upwards of 70% of Americans are not resistance training at the previously recommended minimum of two times a week. And before you say, “But I’m really active,” let me point out that not all exercise has equal benefits.
Resistance training has significant and unique health benefits for metabolic function, cardiovascular health, and bone health that you won't get with cardiovascular exercise. Resistance training decreases overall mortality risk, cancer risk, improves sleep quality, and reduces rates of depression. It is important in the management of cardiovascular and metabolic disease such as diabetes.
In other words, resistance training is critical preventative healthcare.
So, with that background, here are the most important takeaways from the 2026 American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand:
What qualifies as “resistance training”?
You can use resistance bands, barbells, dumbbells, or machines — heck, you can even fill your backpack with rocks. The new recommendations say you just need to be able to apply enough resistance to movements that you get to 80% of your 1 rep max and work through your full available range of motion. Smaller doses of resistance can have more limited benefits to strength and hypertrophy (the fancy term for long-term muscle gain), but 80% 1RM will help you get the most out of your efforts.
What does 80% 1RM mean? It means that you feel close to failure when you set the weight down at the end of a set. When you are consistent, this value will change over time, so you can eventually lift more in the same amount of reps, or do more reps at that weight. This level of exertion is why body weight alone doesn’t count as strength training, and why riding a bike doesn’t qualify either, even if it is hard for your legs.
How much should you do?
Something is always better than nothing. The previous recommendations were long to read, let alone actually spend hours a week complying with in the gym. The new recommendations acknowledge that an individualized program that fits inside your busy life can be extremely effective at getting you the benefits of resistance training in limited time frames. They recommend at least two sets of each exercise that you do, with more being beneficial but diminishing returns for each additional set. In short: Aim for two days a week or more of this kind of activity. And, if you’re short on time, skip the last set — not the whole workout.
Worried about getting hurt while lifting?
You’re not alone. Many people are skipping resistance training due to fear of injury. You should know though that resistance training has no higher injury risk than cardiovascular exercise. It also has lower rates of cardiovascular events — like heart attacks — than cardiovascular exercise does. When people experience pain with resistance training, the guidelines reinforce that adjusting range of motion or changing the amount of resistance can often resolve the issue.
Which exercises?
The authors suggest that the categories of push, pull, upper, and lower body regions are sufficient to organize exercises. Previously, recommendations to hit ‘all muscle groups’ could be interpreted to mean that you needed to do A LOT of different exercises to hit the target. This new recommendation is much more approachable for someone who is just trying to get the minimal effective dose — and, honestly, are more in line with how I have been coaching my mountain athletes for years.
Which exercises DON’T matter?
There is no more benefit for strength, hypertrophy, or power when lifting to failure than there is to that 80% 1 RM. Other variables that the American College of Sports Medicine did not have sufficient evidence to recommend included periodization, blood flow restriction, fly wheel resistance exercises, and training on unstable surfaces (such as a Bosu ball).
My biggest takeaway on that front? Do the basics well.
It’s possible that some of you are still reading, but are not feeling more convinced about adding resistance training to your life. I’m imagining: “That’s all great, Katy, but I really just want to ride harder (or run faster) and I don’t care about long term health. YOLO!” To you I say: Resistance training reliably improves muscular endurance when done according to the recommendations above. And if you feel that power is more important than strength or muscular endurance in your sport? These recommendations also show that lifting to just 30-70% of your 1 rep max improves power. Which brings us back to this point: something is always better than nothing. You can improve performance and have long term health benefits.
In closing…
This update is based on a review of all the literature on resistance training, so nothing here is truly ground breaking. Evidence-based exercise professionals and providers have been saying this stuff for years and the research continues to build on itself. However, this new set of guidelines makes it clear that resistance training can look like a lot of different things and is uniquely important for your health. It’s also important that this updated information gets to health care providers who maybe aren’t designing workout plans, but are diagnosing and treating musculoskeletal injuries, cardiovascular diseases, and metabolic disorders in their office every day. If you have been working with your doctor to treat any of these conditions, share this summary with them and ask them how it might apply to you.
Warmly,
Katy
P.S. If you’re looking for a great program that helps you build strength and power and learn how to apply the concepts above, check out Grit Season! If you start now, you’ll be wrapping up the program just as your summer sports are picking up!