A colleague and I were recently discussing the importance of strength training, aka weight training or resistance training. What’s great about strength training is that it can be done in several ways: with resistance machines, free-weights (dumbbells, barbells, kettle bells), rubber tubing (more effective than you might think), or your own body weight as in push-ups, squats or abdominal crunches.

Strength training is an important subject for me as osteoporosis runs in my family and it is a condition I refuse to have. Strength training can increase bone density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis so I make strength training a regular part of my workout routine. There are several other benefits including  increasing lean muscle mass and burning calories more efficiently.

My colleague told me about a terrific web site from the Mayo Clinic. TheHealthy Lifestyle section of the web site has excellent information, written in plain English, on exercise, nutrition, weight loss, stress reduction, and more. The articles are written by credentialed professionals in their respective fields. If you weren’t sure why you should strength train, here is an excellent reason from Edward Laskowski, M.D., a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., and co-director of the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center:

Muscle mass naturally diminishes with age. If you don’t do anything to replace the lean muscle you lose, you’ll increase the percentage of fat in your body, but strength training can help you preserve and enhance your muscle mass — at any age.”

So, no strength training = the Stay Puft Marshmellow Man (or in my case, woman).

I don’t know about you, but increasing my body fat percentage is something I want to avoid. I know some woman think strength training will make them look like a bodybuilder. Well, it won’t. Unless that is your goal and those ladies train very hard to get that way. There’s a world of difference between muscle tone and competing in the Ms. Olympia contest.

I normally use a combination of the methods mentioned above and do three sets of 15 reps. As someone who is pressed for time (aren’t we all), there are times when I need to leave the gym before I can complete all of the strength training exercises I would like to. Imagine how excited I was to find out that I could cut down on the amount of time I spend strength training and still get all of the benefits of my normal routine.

The Mayo site features a podcast by Dr. Laskowski who explains why multiple sets are not necessary/productive. You can listen to it here (approximately eight minutes in length): Podcast: Weight training for busy people — 5 timesaving tips.

I went to the gym last night and gave it a try: only one set for each exercise. This knocked nearly 30 minutes off of my typical strength training workout and allowed me to do several more exercise and even add a few extra minutes of cardio. It did feel a little strange not to do all those sets and reps, but I did feel good about getting to do more exercises.

For more information on strength training or related topics, I encourage you to visit Mayo Clinic’s Healthy Lifestyle web site. They have a Q&A section, podcasts and even exercise videos.