What is strength training and why does everyone need it?
Strength training is any training where your muscles push or pull against resistance. That can be a barbell with plates, a kettlebell, a resistance band or just your own bodyweight. You do it to get stronger at everything you do in daily life: carrying the shopping, taking the stairs, lifting a child. And it's good for your health, at any age.
Maybe you've tried before. A few weeks at the gym, wandering past the machines, not really knowing what to do. Then after work the sofa wins again. I get it. Strength training is actually pretty simple once you know where to start.
You don't need to know how to start. You just need to show up.
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Updated: 2026-11-09
What strength training is (and what it isn't)
Strength, put simply, is how much force your muscles can produce. CrossFit counts strength as one of the ten basic skills of fitness, next to things like stamina, flexibility and balance. Strength training is everything you do to get better at that skill.
Strength has a little brother: power. That's the same strength, but used as fast as possible. Think of jumping, throwing a ball far or getting a weight to your shoulders in one smooth move. First you build strength. Then you learn to use it quickly.
Where the resistance comes from doesn't matter that much. Your muscles don't know if it's a dumbbell or a backpack full of books. They just feel that they have to work. Each type does have its own advantages, though.
| Type of resistance | Examples | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Your own bodyweight | Push-ups, squats, lunges, pull-ups | Works anywhere, a great start |
| Kettlebells and dumbbells | Swings, squats holding a kettlebell, pressing overhead | Easy to build up, training each side separately |
| Barbell with plates | Squat, deadlift, press | Adding weight step by step, lots of muscles at once |
| Resistance bands | Band rows, assisted pull-ups | Home, warm-ups, extra support |
| Machines | Leg press, chest press | One muscle group on its own, little technique needed |
Strength training isn't the same as bodybuilding. Bodybuilding is about how your muscles look. Strength training is about what you can do with them. And it's not just for people who want to lift as heavy as possible.
Never held a weight? That's fine. You start light or with your own bodyweight. Good strength training feels hard, but controlled. You're in charge of the weight, not the other way round.
What strength training does to your body
When you start strength training, the first changes happen in your head. Literally. Your nervous system learns how to run a movement. Your muscles start working together better and the movement gets smoother. That's why you often get stronger in the first weeks, before your muscles have really changed.
CrossFit makes a handy split here. Strength, stamina and flexibility improve through training: your body actually changes. Coordination, balance and accuracy improve through practice: your nervous system learns them. With strength training you need both. First you learn a movement well, then you make it heavier.
After that, your muscles adapt. You give them a challenge that's just a bit harder than they're used to. In the rest afterwards, they get stronger. So rest matters as much as the training itself. You don't get stronger while you lift. You get stronger in the days after.
Strength training can also help a little with losing fat. That's well researched. On its own, though, the effect is modest. Combine it with eating a bit more mindfully and the effect is clearly bigger. So I'm not going to promise you any kilos. Getting stronger is what strength training is about.
The best part shows up outside the gym. Lifting your suitcase into the overhead rack. Playing on the floor with the kids and getting back up easily. Carrying a crate up the stairs. Those are all strength movements. The stronger you are, the less effort they take.
Is strength training healthy?
Yes. People who do strength training regularly have, on average, a lower risk of heart disease, diabetes and some types of cancer. They're also less likely to die early. That comes from large studies with a lot of people.
The good news: you don't need to train for hours. The biggest benefit already shows up at around half an hour to an hour of strength training a week. More can be fun and will make you stronger. But for your health, it doesn't clearly add much extra. So you don't have to live at the gym.
One honest note. This kind of research shows that strength training and better health go together. People who lift often live healthily in other ways too. Still, the picture is clear enough to just get started.
Got pain or an injury, are you pregnant or on medication? If you're unsure, check with your GP or physio first. A good coach will then adapt the exercises to you. We don't take over the role of your doctor or physio.
Strength training or cardio: which is better?
You don't have to choose. The best health shows up in people who train both strength and fitness. Your heart and lungs need conditioning. Your muscles and joints need strength. Together they make you fit for real life.
CrossFit is built exactly like that: strength, conditioning and gymnastics mixed together. If you want to know how that works, have a read of what CrossFit is. We also have Hybrid Endurance on our timetable.
My advice: short on time and only want to pick one thing? Start with strength. And make sure you walk or cycle a lot for the rest of the week. In Amsterdam, that last bit isn't too hard.
What is functional strength training?
Functional strength training means you train movements you also do in real life. So not one muscle on a machine, but a whole movement with your whole body. A squat is getting up from a chair. A deadlift is picking something heavy up off the floor. Pressing overhead is putting a box on the top shelf.
CrossFit describes functional movements as movements that use several joints at once. They start in your core and move out to your arms and legs. They're natural movements your body handles well. And you can move a lot of weight with them, over a decent distance, and fast.
Machines aren't bad. They're easy to learn and you can target one muscle with them. But in daily life you're never locked into a rail. You have to keep your own balance and brace your own core. You only learn that by moving freely.
| What matters | Machines | Functional strength training |
|---|---|---|
| What you train | One muscle group at a time | Whole movements, many muscles together |
| Balance and core | The machine does a lot of the work | You keep everything stable |
| Technique | Barely needed | Important, and a coach helps you with it |
| Use in daily life | Limited | Big, because you train the movements themselves |
| Handy when | You want to give one muscle extra attention | You want to get stronger at everything you do |
So functional strength training isn't more complicated. It's actually simpler. A handful of basic movements that you keep getting better and stronger at. That's really all it is.
The five basic strength exercises
CrossFit names a handful of big lifts as the foundation of strength: the deadlift, the squat, pressing overhead and, later on, the clean and the snatch. On top of that come gymnastics moves with your own bodyweight, like pull-ups and push-ups. If you're a beginner, I'd start with these five.
- Squat. You bend at your knees and hips to go down, then stand back up. Heels stay on the floor, chest stays up. It trains your legs, glutes and core. Start by sitting down on a bench and standing up, then hold a kettlebell in front of your chest. More on that in our guide to the squat.
- Deadlift (lifting a weight off the floor). You pick a weight up off the floor with a flat back and stand up by driving your hips forward. It trains your whole back side: glutes, hamstrings (the back of your thighs) and back. Start with a kettlebell between your feet.
- Press (pushing overhead). You push a weight from your shoulders straight up until your arms are locked out. It trains your shoulders and arms, and your core has to stay tight. Start with two light dumbbells or an empty bar.
- Push-up. You push yourself up from the floor in a straight line from head to heels. It trains your chest, shoulders, arms and core. Too hard? Put your hands on a bench or against a wall.
- Pull-up or row. You pull yourself or a weight towards you. That trains your back and arms, and it balances out all the pushing. Start by rowing on rings or a bar at hip height, or do pull-ups with a band for help.
With these five you basically cover everything: pushing, pulling, squatting down and picking something up off the floor. The clean and the snatch are technical lifts from Olympic weightlifting. They come later, once the basics are solid.
Technique before weight. Always. Moving a light weight well gets you further than moving a heavy weight badly.
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What a strength session looks like
A good strength session has a fixed structure. If you're starting on your own, this is how I'd do it:
- Warm-up. Five to ten minutes of easy cycling, rowing or skipping. Then do today's movements without weight. Your body warms up and your head gets in the game.
- Practise technique. Do the main exercise a few times with a light weight. Focus on one thing at a time, like keeping your heels down in the squat.
- Strength part. Two or three exercises, each for a few sets. A set is a run of reps (repetitions) in a row, say eight squats. Then you rest for a bit and do the next set.
- Something for your fitness. Optional. A short workout of around ten minutes that gets your heart rate up properly.
- Wrap up. Move around easily for a bit and write down what you did. That way you know where to pick up next time.
My advice for a beginner: two to four sets of six to twelve reps per exercise. That's not a law, but it's a good starting point. Rest a minute or two between sets. Then you can do the next set properly again.
How often and how heavy as a beginner?
Start with twice a week. That's often enough to make progress and little enough to recover well. It also fits in a week with work and a family. After a few months you can go more often, if you feel like it.
A session doesn't have to be long. An hour including the warm-up is plenty. Twice a week a solid strength block of half an hour, and you're right in the range where your health benefits most.
How heavy? Pick a weight you can move cleanly, where the last reps feel tough. At the end of a set you should feel you had one or two more in you. If your technique falls apart, it's too heavy.
Then you build up. That's really the whole secret of strength training: each time a little more than last time. One extra rep, a couple of kilos more, or the same session with better technique.
| Phase | What it's about | How you notice it |
|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1 and 2 | Learning the movements, light weight | You know what a good squat and deadlift feel like |
| Weeks 3 and 4 | A few more reps or a bit more weight | It flows better and feels less strange |
| After that | Steadily getting heavier | You lift things that didn't work before |
Plan your rest too. Don't do the same heavy exercise two days in a row. Sleep enough and eat enough. Sore muscles in the first weeks are normal. Sharp pain in a joint isn't: stop and ask a coach.
How quickly will you see results?
Honest answer: it differs per person. The first gains usually come from learning the movements. Exercises feel easier, your technique gets better and you dare to pick up a bit more weight.
Visible changes to your body take longer. How much you see also depends on how you eat and sleep. I'm not going to promise you anything. I'm just going to measure it. Write down what you lift. Then you see in black and white that you're getting better, even when the mirror isn't saying much yet.
The most important thing is sticking with it. Twice a week for months beats three weeks of training every day and then quitting. Starting is something almost everyone manages. Keeping it up, that's where it goes wrong.
Common mistakes when you start strength training
- Starting too heavy. Your ego wants more than your body can handle. Start lighter than you think. You've got time.
- Only training what you see in the mirror. Chest and arms are fun, but your back, glutes and legs do the heavy work in daily life.
- Training without a plan. Wandering from machine to machine feels busy, but you don't know if you're improving. Pick the basic lifts and keep track of what you do.
- Skipping the warm-up. A few minutes of easy movement makes you looser and your first sets better.
- Not resting. Going all out every day feels tough, but you get stronger while you rest.
- Training through pain. Sore muscles are fine, sharp joint pain isn't. If it doesn't go away, get it checked by your GP or physio.
- Muddling on alone. You can, but it's honestly pretty hard to stick with on your own. After work the sofa wins, and next week turns into next month.
Strength training at home or in the gym?
Home works fine, especially at the start. Squats, push-ups, lunges and a plank (holding still on your forearms and toes) can be done anywhere. A kettlebell or a pair of dumbbells already makes it a lot more complete.
Training at home has two downsides. At some point you can't make it heavier without more kit. And nobody's watching your technique. So you don't know if your squat looks right or if you keep making the same mistake.
Know that feeling? You walk around a gym and you don't really know what to do. In a gym with coaching, you don't have to write your own programme or work out which weight to pick. You just show up and the coach helps you with the rest.
Strength training for women and later in life
Strength training is for everyone. Women get just as much out of it as men. I understand the worry about getting 'too bulky', but that doesn't happen by accident. You decide how you train and where you want to go. There's more on that in strength training for women.
Strength training is a good idea later in life too. You start at your own level and build up calmly. We have a dedicated CrossFit 60+ class on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10:00 to 11:00. Every exercise is scaled, and you're not treated as fragile.
How to start strength training with a coach
Want to learn strength training without figuring it all out yourself? Then coaching is the shortest route. At CrossFit Zeeburg on the Cruquiusweg in Amsterdam East, the session is ready when you walk in. There's a coach in every class keeping an eye on you. Every workout is scaled. Not pointlessly easy, but right for you and safe.
Our regular group class is called the WOD (workout of the day). We also have Weightlifting and StrongLifts on the schedule. Want to know more about those? Have a look at strength training in Amsterdam East.
There are two ways to start. Want to try it first? Then you can do two weeks of unlimited training. Want to start straight away with a clear build-up? Then there's Your Strong Start. For 28 days you train three times a week with coaching. It includes a body measurement and a fixed test workout, so you can see if you're making progress.
You don't need to be fit to start. You do need to be willing to train. We'll teach you the rest.
Get stronger without writing your own programme. Start here.
In Your Strong Start you train with a coach beside you and build up step by step. You show up, we handle the build-up and measure your progress. That way it doesn't stop at reading.
- 12 coached CrossFit sessions in 4 weeks, around 3 a week
- A personal starting assessment plus scalable Fit Test as your baseline
- A midway check, so one busy week doesn't break your rhythm
- Final assessment and repeat Fit Test: you see what changed
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Frequently asked questions
Can strength training help you lose belly fat?
Strength training can lower your body fat a little. On its own the effect is modest. Together with more mindful eating it clearly works better. I won't promise you centimetres. You'll definitely get stronger, though.
Do I need to be fit before I start strength training?
No. You start at your level, with a light weight or your own bodyweight. Every exercise can be made easier. You just need to be willing to train and keep showing up.
Is strength training good for your heart?
People who do strength training have, on average, a lower risk of heart disease. Combine it with conditioning and the picture is even better. Got heart problems or any doubts? Check with your GP first.
Can I do strength training with an injury or pain?
Often yes, but if you're unsure, check with your GP or physio first. Then tell the coach what's going on. They'll adapt the exercises so you can train what does work.
Is strength training the same as CrossFit?
No. Strength training is part of CrossFit. In CrossFit you combine strength with conditioning and gymnastics, so you get fit across the board and not just strong.
- CrossFit: What Is Fitness? Lecture, 10 physical skills
- CrossFit Journal: What Is Fitness? (2002)
- CrossFit Level 1 Training Guide
- Momma et al. (2022), muscle-strengthening activities and mortality risk, British Journal of Sports Medicine
- Lopez et al. (2022), resistance training and body fat, Obesity Reviews