Strength training doesn't require fancy equipment—cans, water bottles, and shopping bags work well.

Explore how to safely start 'strengthmaxxing' with body weight—not actual weights.

Watch this how-to video series on how to start strength training.

How to carry more than your own bodyweight

Those images showing a villager carrying an enormous bundle on their back, or balancing a basket of fish on their head—how's that possible? This article dives into the clever tools and habits of strength training some cultures employ as part of their labors, from the springy bamboos used by Vietnamese farmers to the headbound burdens of Himalayan sherpas.

Official recommendations state that healthy adults should perform progressive resistance training that increases weight and repetitions over time.

Adults need 2 days of muscle-strengthening activity weekly—yet most of us aren't doing that.

Resistance training can help fight osteoporosis, especially in menopausal women.

Arnold Schwarzenegger fueled a lot of the interest in strength training, beginning in the 1980s.

Discover how strength training may help your brain and what happens inside your cells when you work out with this original '1440 Explores' podcast.

Strength training appears to make for a healthier, youthful-looking brain.

How endurance athletes can build resilience

Long-distance runners and other endurance athletes can improve their performances using tips explored in this article. Findings from two recent studies show that strength training, high-altitude training, and intense interval sessions are all potential methods for ameliorating long-term athletic capabilities.

Exercise can lead to muscle microtears, but the body's repair systems cause those fibers to grow back larger.

The Greeks weightlifted using massive stones and admired strength—but they viewed muscles differently

The exercise sweet spot is shorter than you'd think—and longer workouts aren't generally better.

Explore 1,800+ exercises with an interactive muscle map that lets you click any muscle to see targeted exercises, including video tutorials and written instructions.

Astronauts exercise on the International Space Station

Astronauts maintain bone, muscle, and cardiovascular health with physical activity. It's crucial that they make time to exercise for approximately two hours per day. This resource offers a behind-the-scenes look at how high-intensity workouts help prevent muscle atrophy, bone density loss, and aerobic decline during monthslong space missions.

Resistance training is linked to better memory and cognitive function in older adults.

Microgravity environments reduce muscle mass and bone density

Muscles that assist with balance and resistance to gravity are not subjected to their usual workload on the International Space Station. See the type of exercises that astronauts must complete for roughly two hours daily, and learn why these movements are necessary to preserve astronauts' muscles, bones, and cardiovascular health.

Modern bodybuilding evolved in the 19th century.

Health officials recommend at least 150 minutes of aerobic exercise per week and 2 sessions of resistance training, targeting each major muscle group.

Some athletes warm up with equipment from other sports

Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani uses a cricket bat; his teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws a javelin. Quarterback CJ Stroud shoots free throws. The reasons are partially physical (it's good to exercise different parts of your body) and partially mental (it's nice to take the pressure off with someone else's game).

Using fitness wearables to track muscle wasting in astronauts

All that exercising, and astronauts still are likely to lose a large amount of muscle mass while in microgravity. Astronauts can lose up to 20 percent of their muscle in as little as five days in space. Currently, tracking muscle loss means waiting until astronauts land to remeasure their muscle density post-trip. This article explains a NASA-backed fitness wearable that may be able to track muscle atrophy as it happens.

Hysterical strength allows someone to lift a car off their child

When the body responds to an acute crisis—say a family member trapped under a car—people can sometimes perform seemingly superhuman feats. This is more than an urban legend: In 2012, a 22 year-old-woman lifted a vehicle off her father, and seven years earlier another man lifted a vehicle off a trapped cyclist. Yet scientists are still unraveling details about why this can occur.

How does muscle memory work?

Muscle memory is less about remembering how to ride a bike and more about what's happening in muscle cells. Increasing the cells' size, say by working out, leads to an increase in nuclei, which increases the production of mitochondria. When your fitness regimen falls to the wayside and you decide to re-enter the gym, these gains-based nuclei are already present to quicken muscle cells' adaptation to exercise.

Endurance art strains and exhausts the body

Artists like Marina Abramović are known for testing the limits of human endurance. Endurance art can involve carrying heavy objects or posing uncomfortably for long durations. (This resource contains some artistic depictions of violence.)

World records are often broken later in the day—and scientists wonder if muscle clocks explain the difference.

Adults may lose roughly 3% of their muscle mass each decade after 30.

Stein-holding competitions are popular at American Oktoberfests

Participants must hold out a full stein of beer—weighing at least 3 pounds—for as long as possible without spilling any or bending their arm. Seems simple enough ... at first.

Exercise helps make your arteries more elastic.

Developing adaptable brain-body systems lets athletes thrive beyond 30

Success in high-level sports after age 30 relies on physical fitness and building brain resilience through deliberate training, recovery, and stress regulation. This creates a feedback loop where body and mind reinforce each other.

Stress-induced adrenaline can trigger a 'hysterical strength' response

The stress response is a powerful ancient mechanism designed to maximize human survival—it can even result in superhuman strength. The adrenal glands are located just above the kidneys, and stress-induced adrenaline release causes more blood (and therefore more oxygen) to flow to your muscles, increasing performance.

Technologies developed for the ISS have brought benefits to people on Earth

About 93% of water used onboard the International Space Station is recycled through filtration and purification systems that have since been used in regions lacking access to clean water. Treatments to mitigate bone loss and muscle atrophy in astronauts can also help aging adults.

Ancient Greek gymnasium: where philosophy met fitness

In ancient Greece, gymnasiums were not just places of physical training, but centers of intellectual life. This article explores the ways in which exercise, philosophy, and education were deeply intertwined, reflecting a cultural belief that physical fitness was essential for mental development.

Muscles fatigue due to the loss of energy like ATP and glycogen

Adenosine triphosphate fuels muscle contraction, and with each contraction (like during exercise), the amount of ATP reduces. ATP helps potassium and sodium move across muscle membranes, generating ions and helping to contract the muscle.

Ten everyday NASA inventions (likely) in your home

As a public agency, NASA's goals aren't just in space, but for life on Earth, too. That's why so many everyday objects including memory foam, cordless tools, and golf balls are rooted in research first developed by space-faring engineers and scientists. Peruse this quirky list of some of those everyday objects destined for space that are also probably somewhere inside your home.

Grip strength, how firmly and securely you can hold onto things, predicts death better than blood pressure

A barbell investment strategy focuses on balancing high-risk and low-risk investments

Barbell investment strategies emphasize bypassing medium-risk investments in favor of combinations of high-risk and low-risk investments. The idea is that the stability on the low-risk side offsets the volatility on the high-risk side, and would look like a barbell with two large weights on either end of the bar.

Exercise improves brain blood flow, stimulates neural growth, and more.

Simple home improvements like proper insulation can reduce winter energy bills

To save money in the colder months, some experts recommend washing your clothes in cold water, using your dishwasher instead of washing dishes by hand, and more. This article lists even more winter money-saving tips.

How to form lasting, healthier habits

James Clear's "Atomic Habits" is a bestselling book about making small, realistic changes to create healthier habits. This brief piece breaks down three key lessons from the book as well as four simple steps toward adopting its approach.

A 15th-century university student documented a surprisingly detailed fitness plan.

Cold water swimming can induce positive stress

The tradition of cold water swimming (or taking a cold plunge, or even a cold shower) has been shown to release the same hormones triggered during a stress response. This can have the effect of increasing blood flow, improved mental acuity, and more.

Learn what the best foods are to survive on a limited diet

The human body can naturally synthesize 11 of the 20 amino acids needed to build the critical proteins required for function, but the nine missing ones can all be obtained from white potatoes. A bit of oatmeal can provide the molybdenum needed to process sulfites from potatoes, while other key vitamins and nutrients can be acquired from avocados, berries, milk, beans, and spinach.

Strengthening your butt muscles can help protect against running injuries

More than 28 million people may go running in the US every week, yet people often get hurt—especially with knee injuries—and this podcast explores the science on what happens to our bodies when we run and the effects on our muscles and joints. It also discusses safety tips, including the need to only add more distance to your runs in tiny increments, and that strengthening glute muscles via single-leg glute bridges may be particularly protective against injuries.

Relative to its size, the world's strongest animal is the dung beetle, which can lift over 1,100 times its body weight, though the African bush elephant can lift the most weight among animals.

Gladiator training is known mainly from art, not ancient texts

Since literary sources provide little information about gladiator training, scholars rely on visual evidence. This illustrated essay draws on artifacts from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, including an oil lamp from Cyprus showing a gladiator practicing against a wooden stake.

Explore a series of bedtime exercises to improve sleep

Low-impact, mindful movements can potentially help the body and mind relax before sleeping. Such exercises could be a helpful complement to regular exercise during the day.

Physiological muscle memory allows us to quickly regain lost musculature

The term "muscle memory" is most often associated with the neurological kind, which involves the development of strong and efficient neural pathways in the brain and spine. Physiological muscle memory also slows the loss of muscle mass, with both types affected by genetics and diet.

The best items to buy at dollar stores, according to a financial expert

Experts advise purchasing items like greeting cards, pregnancy tests, candy, gift and party supplies, and other items from the dollar store to maximize savings.

Learn how to build a retail investing toolkit

Retail investors may not have the same resources institutional players do, but thanks to the internet, they can access several free tools that provide a leg up. These tools do everything from recommending portfolio allocations to helping investors screen stocks.

Most Westerners don't need more protein, despite the protein boom

You can find the macronutrient in snack bars and pretzels, shakes, and more, even though most normal diets in the West are already protein-heavy with meat and milk. A mix of increased exercise culture and influencer sway has led to a market hungry for it.