Introduction to muscle strengthening


What is muscle strength?


Strength relates to how strong the muscles in our body are.

Every movement a person makes requires muscle strength. Muscles contract in order to make our body move, allowing us to do everyday activities.

Muscles also protect our joints by reducing the load put through joints.

A person is standing, chopping vegetables

Four people are talking during a meal

Question

Which of these activities require muscle strength?

Select all that apply.

  •  a. Walking
  •  b. Eating
  •  c. Talking
  •  d. Breathing
  • e. Playing sport
  • f. Riding a bike

All are correct.

All of these activities require muscle strength.

Reduced strength

Describing someone as having reduced strength means that they have muscle weakness. Someone may have reduced strength due to periods of inactivity, illness, injury, ageing, disability or other factors.

 

People with reduced strength may have limited function and difficulty performing everyday activities.

Person assisting another person to stand up out of a chair.]


Why is it important to assess muscle strength?

Assessing muscle strength helps you to identify muscles with reduced strength and limited function.

How muscle strength is measured

Muscle strength is measured by the amount of resistance a muscle is able to match or move (lift, push, pull):

The weight of an object

a woman is sitting, doing a bicep curl with small weight


Applied by another person

A woman is doing a bicep curl against clinician’s resistance


When assessing individual muscle strength, the clinician applies resistance to the moving body part.


Learn more about how to measure muscle strength in Lesson 2.