Weight training. Strength training. Resistance training. Lifting. Whatever you choose to call it, Len Kravitz, associate professor of exercise science at the University of New Mexico, says it should be called the "fountain of youth."

Here is just a sampling of research findings on resistance training:

A 1988 University of Illinois, Chicago study had runners and cyclists strength train for 10 weeks, three times each week. Results showed that leg strength improved by 30 percent.

Aerobic fitness of the athletes didn't change, but their running times improved by 13 percent. And the cyclists were able to ride 85 minutes to exhaustion versus the 71 minutes they could ride before the training.

A study done at the University of Maryland shows that resting metabolic rate, or the rate at which the body burns calories, increased by about 7 percent after six months of very intense weight training. So, if a person eats 2,000 calories a day to maintain weight, that would mean the body would burn 140 or more calories a day after muscle mass is increased.

A 12-month study conducted on postmenopausal women at Tufts University found 1 percent gains in hip and spine bone density, 75 percent increases in strength and 13 percent increases in dynamic balance with just two days a week of progressive strength training. The control group had losses in bone, strength and balance.

Research conducted in the College of Health Sciences' Department of Health, Leisure and Exercise Science at Appalachian State University showed that resistance training has some similar effects as aerobic exercise in lowering a person's blood pressure.

The study looked at changes that occurred to arteries and blood flow after 45 minutes of moderateintensity resistance exercise using machines like those found in gyms. Resistance training resulted in as much as a 20 percent decrease in a person's blood pressure, which is as good as or better than the benefit of taking anti-hypertensive medication.

'Train movement'

Society has increasingly engineered inactivity into our lives to the point where our muscles don't have to work very hard most of the time.

Think of all the chores we used to do by hand - from chopping firewood to washing clothes - that can now be done by machines.

In addition, our aerobic activity has dropped with increased use of motorized transportation, elevators and parking that is accessible to the front doors of most stores we frequent. We don't have to walk as far in our everyday lives.

That means we are left to create ways to work our bodies. And experts have figured out what it takes these days to "stay in shape." One such group of experts, the American Collegeof SportsMedicine, recommends adults participate in aerobic activity three to five days a week for 20 to 60 minutes and resistance training of one set of eight to 10 exercises that condition the major muscle groups two or three days a week. Yet almost two-thirds of American adults don't get the recommended amount of exercise. Local experts say it really isn't as complicated as it sounds.

Jon Pier, who has a master's degree in human performance and injury prevention and owns the Albuquerque-based corporate wellness business Advent Health & Wellness, says strength training isn't about making big muscles. That went out long before Arnold Schwarzenegger made his transition from bodybuilder to politician.

"Exercise guidelines don't mean much to the average person," Pier says. "We should think about working the muscles, ligaments and tendons to move in the way they were meant to. In other words, train movement.

"As we get older, we find it's harder to go up stairs and it's harder to get out of a chair. So, let's train the movement with lunges and squats."

Kravitz says fitness professionals haven't done a very good job of promoting the benefits of strength training. "A lot of the marketing has been product-based as opposed to results-based," he says. "And the recommendations from the ACSM intimidate a lot of people." Get started

So, how can you start strength training when you may or may not know much about it? You can hire a personal trainer for a few sessions and have him or her set up a basic program for you; you can join in group classes at a gym that focus on strength training; you can go it alone.

"The best thing you can do is to find a good trainer," Kravitz says. "Interview some before you sign up. Check on their certifications."

Good credentials for trainers to have are from national organizations such as the National Strength and Conditioning Association, the American Collegeof SportsMedicine, the American Council on Exercise, and the National Exercise and SportsTrainer Association.

Kravitz says you can hire a trainer for a few sessions to get a program set up for you and to learn proper technique for those exercises. Have the trainer include exercises in your program you can do at home.

"Keep it simple," Pier says, adding that people can research proper squat, lunge, push-up and row form. "If you just start with those, and your own body weight, you can do a lot."

After you've been doing basic body weight work for a while, Kravitz recommends working in a progression: "After body weight, move up to resistance bands or cords," he says. Bands and cords are readily available and aren't very expensive, and it's possible to make simple movements more challenging with the resistance.

Finally, move to machines or free weights as you become more comfortable with training. And, women, don't worry about "bulking up."

"Women just don't have the testosterone to build up that kind of muscle mass," Kravitz says. Heavy weights

While most people use resistance training as a way to gain muscle to make everyday tasks easier, there are athletes whose sport is strength training, or Olympic weight lifting.

Also called Olympic-style weight lifting, participants in these competitions attempt a maximum-weight single lift of a barbell loaded with weight plates. Olympic weight lifting uses explosive strength because the lifts are executed faster and with a greater range of motion during the lifts.

The athletes in the photos accompanying this story train in Albuquerque at High Desert Athletic Club and participate in competitions sanctioned by USA Weightlifting.

For information about Olympic weight-lifting training in Albuquerque, contact coach Joaquin Chavez by e-mail at joaquin.highdesert@gmail.comForm help online

If you are new to strength training or need a reminder about proper form for one of the best strength training moves around, squats, go to abqjournalfit.com/2011/01/09/knowing-squat/ for photos and descriptions.