Most of the time when you see a post about the need for strength training, it is focused on the older population, and the benefits.
Strength training helps older folks with improved density, mobility, metabolism, etc.
Here at Tier 1 Civilian, our focus is a bit different.
Strength training is a critical component of self protection.
“The stronger you are, the harder you are to kill.” Mark Rippetoe, Founder of Starting Strength.
Strength will not only help you survive a criminal assault, it can help you survive major illnesses and accidents.
It goes without saying that the bigger and stronger you are, the less likely you will be a target of crime.
And, there is no doubt that you have a significant advantage in a fight if you are bigger and stronger than your opponent.
With that said, within the self defense community, there is not enough emphasis on legitimate strength training.
That is somewhat interesting to me, because most of the legitimate instructors I see appear to be quite strong, if not exactly large in stature.
Yet, when they do shift their attention to fitness, they tend to focus on more functional or performative type exercises to mimic what we do in a fight.
For instance, throwing punches with the use of resistance bands is supposed to help you punch harder.
I would argue that going from 160 pounds and reasonably fit to 200 pounds with a 400 pound squat and 300 pound bench press will help you punch really hard.
Therefore, the foundation of any fitness program for people interested in self protection should be legitimate strength training, which involves training with barbells.
