Most of us will know that doing some form of strength training is a good idea; there are many resources that offer recommendations on which exercises to do, but what is tricky is how much, how often and when to do it.

Let’s start with “how much?”

The volume or amount of training you do is a key factor in designing and planning your training. The goal is to do enough to promote positive change without burning out!

The minimum effective volume differs between muscle groups, but it is a great place to start if you are starting a new plan. For smaller muscles like the biceps or shoulders, this could be 8-10 sets a week, but for bigger muscle groups like the quads, this may be as few as 4-6 sets per week. This is important early on to prevent plateaus in training, but it becomes crucial when recovering from an injury. You scan slowly, work up to the maximum recoverable volume over weeks and months, which will ensure progression without burnout. Working with a physiotherapist to help guide you on this will take the guesswork away from training.

Signs you may have reached the upper end of recoverable volume might be persistent soreness, lack of progress or declining performance.

How often ?

The research shows that even strength training once per week shows significant benefits for most people, but 1-2 sessions a week will allow you to spread the volume into more manageable chunks.

When should I strength train?

Consistency is more important than perfection, but timing does matter, especially if you are also doing any other form of training, like running or biking. Ideally, you would do these on separate days from your strength days to maximise recovery, but if this isn’t an option, try to keep the sessions at least 6-8 hours apart, so a morning and evening session on the same day. If you are more pressed for time, then place the priority session first when doing things back-to-back.

Why should you care about strength training ?

The research shows that engaging in a structured and progressive strength plan can reduce your injury risk by 30-50%

It does this by improving tendon capacity and resilience, improving running efficiency, increasing your overall load tolerance (ability to handle training) and reducing your risk of overuse injuries.

Final thoughts !

Start at low volumes, slowly progress over many weeks, monitor for signs of burnout, and make strength training part of your weekly plan, not an afterthought.

Injury doesn’t happen purely because of weakness alone, but because the total stress you put on the body is more than it can handle. Strength training will improve your ability to safely handle almost all other forms of exercise.