• Fitness & Health
• Sport & Exercise Science
• Physical Education
• Strength & Conditioning
• Sports Medicine
• Sport Management
• Dance

What are the benefits of lifting weights?

This is an excerpt from Foundational Strength by John Flagg.

Walking into the gym for the first time can bring on a lot of different feelings: excitement, joy, anticipation, and—let’s be totally honest here—fear, uncertainty, and intimidation. All of these feelings are completely normal and to be expected. Those feelings of fear and uncertainty are just your brain telling you that you may not have it all figured out. Spoiler: No one does. The important part is that you’re here now, and it’s time to learn.

I distinctly remember my first time walking into a weight room. I was terrified. It was in middle school, before the start of my eighth-grade football season. I didn’t even know what a barbell was, let alone any of the other stuff in the gym. I did nothing that day other than watch everyone else. I was too afraid to mess something up and have everyone laugh at me.

I didn’t actually start lifting weights until high school, and that was only with some dumbbells that my dad had gotten me (supplemented by the occasional trip to the local Powerhouse Gym). Still having zero clue what I was doing, I would go in and use every single machine there until I could barely move my legs. Then I’d struggle to drive home as my legs shook whenever I tried try to use the gas or the brakes. It was all trial and error until I found some real mentors and coaches to help me along the way.

I’ve worked in weight rooms at all levels for over 25 years—in high schools, in college programs from D3 to D1, with professional teams, and at elite powerlifting facilities. I’ve met some of the best coaches in the world, and I have picked their brains over. The one big lesson I’ve learned from all of them is this: Never underestimate the importance of the basics. The basics build the foundation needed to achieve success. The gym is the ultimate place for transformation. You will get stronger here. You will look better. You will gain confidence and discipline. To do all those things though, you need to lay a strong foundation. So we’re going to start with the absolute foundation of lifting. But first, let me introduce you to the main tool we will be using to build that foundation: the barbell.

Why the Barbell?

This is a barbell book, and I’m not shy about saying that. I want to make it clear that there are many tools out there to get stronger. Most of this book is going to focus on one tool: the barbell. Kettlebells, dumbbells, rubber bands, and Atlas stones are great (shout-out to my Strongman people out there), but not one of these measures up to the barbell. Why?

No tool is perfect, and the bar is no exception. With that said, the barbell is an easy tool to learn. Most people can snag a bar and learn how to squat, bench, deadlift, row, and press safely in under an hour. Will they be experts? No. They will be able to do it again tomorrow though. And the next day, and the next, and the next, and so on. That ease of learning makes it great for getting started, and we all know the hardest part is just getting started.

The barbell is also incredibly accessible and versatile. If you walk into most gyms in the country, you can find a barbell in a rack that can be used any number of ways. It is balanced, so you can do hundreds of movements with it safely ranging from the most basic, like a squat, all the way to some of the most complex movements, like a snatch. You can put one end of it on the ground and do single-arm work. It can be loaded with far more weight than other implements, making progress easier to measure. The options are fairly limitless.

Lastly, you can load it up. Using a squat as an example, there is a limit to how much weight you can hold in front of you with a kettlebell or a dumbbell. They make 135-pound kettlebells (61 kilograms), but handling them in a position to squat is cumbersome and difficult for most trainees. Even for those who can get that kind of weight into position, the barbell would still be a better option to overload that kind of movement. You could use the heaviest kettlebell or dumbbell you can find and just do more reps, but there is a limit to how long you can hold that weight in that position. With a barbell, you can increase the weight far beyond those other tools and hold the bar in a better position to get the most out of it. That gives you more options to progress by increasing weight in a manageable way. Figure 1.1 shows three different examples that highlight the versatility of the barbell.

---

Benefits of Lifting Weights

Now let’s look at the benefits of lifting weights. This is not going to be an exhaustive list—that would go on for way too long—but let’s hit the highlights.

Enhanced Athletic Performance and Physique

Let’s face it, many people start lifting because they want to look like they lift. There is another benefit to increased muscle: It’s functional weight. Your muscles are what move your body. The stronger they are, the more capacity you have to move the way you want to. Have you ever seen a sprinter who wasn’t jacked? Even marathon runners have begun to focus on strength training to supplement their running, leading to faster times, more muscular physiques, and healthier seasons. The key is that strength training puts stress on the body that it will adapt to, and those same adaptations carry over on the field, on the court, and even in everyday life.

Decreased Risk of Chronic Disease

Strength training can decrease your risk of chronic disease. It can also lead to decreased mortality and morbidity, increased bone density, decreased resting heart rate, and decreased blood pressure.

It is estimated that falls will cost the health care system 101 billion dollars by 2030 (NCOA 2023). How are falls relevant here? Falls result in bone fractures. As we age, bone density naturally decreases. The best way to slow down that process is to put stress on the bone, and it’s going to take more than going for a walk. An even better idea here is prevention; start lifting weights earlier in life and get ahead of that aging process. On top of that, resting heart rate and blood pressure have been shown to benefit from all forms of exercise, not just cardiovascular exercise. There is evidence that strength training alone can have a positive impact on heart health. Heart disease remains the number one killer in the United States, and strength training is another tool to combat that.

Increased Emotional Well-Being

It feels really cool when you can jump up from the couch really quickly and easily, or carry in all the groceries on your own. It’s great when you no longer worry about being able to do something because you know that you can based on what you do in the gym. These are some of the tangible and measurable benefits of strength training. The intangible emotional and psychological benefits are even more far-reaching.

Some of these benefits may be more important to you than others. Except for being more badass—everyone wants that. Either way, only you can determine the risk–reward ratio that you are happy with. The more you push the limits, the higher the risk but even then, the risk remains low. You can experience the benefits simply by starting and then staying consistent. Throughout this book, we will go over multiple ways to reduce risk further by making smart decisions and by having a solid foundation to build from.

Let’s flip the script for a moment. Outside of performance in the gym, lifting can change your life for the better. It can help you reduce injuries in other aspects of your life. Being stronger and having denser bones means you will be more capable. People will start asking you to help them move their couch, so there are some drawbacks. The fact is that your enhanced capabilities will give you the ability to live a fuller and richer life with fewer limitations.

More Excerpts From Foundational Strength

---