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Something That Really Irks Me About Strength Training Messaging (Especially for Women)
Hey yoga friends,
Yoga is my main love. But strength training is what keeps my yoga sustainable.
So today I want to talk about something in the strength training world that really irks me – because it’s intimidating, discouraging, and honestly… not supported by the science.
Here’s the message I’m talking about:
We’re constantly told that to see results from strength training, we must lift HEAVY weights.
Barbells. Big plates. “If it’s not heavy, you’re wasting your time.”
That message is everywhere.
This turns into what I’d call weight or load shaming:
“You’re lifting light weights?”
“Then it doesn’t count.”
“You won’t build muscle.”
“You won’t build bone.”
That messaging is not only discouraging – it’s scientifically inaccurate.
An abundance of research now shows this clearly:
You can build both muscle and bone density using
• heavy loads
• moderate loads
• light loads
It’s simply not the case that only heavy weights will work (Lees et al., 2025; Currier et al., 2023; Wang et al., 2023; Carvalho et al., 2022; Lopez et al., 2021; Souza et al., 2020; Schoenfeld et al., 2017).
Here’s the deal, though:
All of these varying loads will work IF effort is high.
The load itself isn’t the magic variable.
What actually matters is EFFORT.
Muscle growth happens when you lift a weight to or close to momentary muscular failure.
In other words:
It has to feel hard.
Light weight + high effort
= effective stimulus ✅
Heavy weight + high effort
= effective stimulus ✅
For example, a new study in The Journal of Physiology (Lees et al., 2025) compared:
• Heavy loads (70–80% 1RM, 8–12 reps)
• Light loads (30–40% 1RM, 20–25 reps)
• All sets taken to volitional fatigue
The result? Muscle growth was the same. Load didn’t determine hypertrophy – effort did.
What About Strength Training for Bone Mineral Density? 🦴
When it comes to bone mineral density, the literature on bone adaptations is less clear about how close to failure you need to train.
It may be the case that you don’t need to lift close to failure – future research will hopefully tell us more on this front.
But on a practical level, we should still train close to failure anyway – because those of us who are interested in improving our bone mineral density will also obviously benefit hugely from muscle growth as well! ☝️
Take-home message:
When we “load shame” and say “it needs to be heavy weights or you’re wasting your time”:
• People feel intimidated (especially yogis!)
• People feel “not strong enough”
• People opt out entirely
We create unnecessary barriers to strength training!
And that’s the real problem. Because strength training – with any load – is incredibly beneficial for our health, bones, and quality of life.
Let’s stop shaming the size of people’s weights. Let’s start emphasizing effort.
Here’s a simple guide:
-
Lift weights you feel comfortable lifting.
-
Lift them enough times in a row that it becomes hard. 😬
-
Progress over time.
And voila! You’re experiencing the benefits of strength training!
Lighter weights aren’t “wasted reps.” They’re effective training – when effort is high!
If you’d like some guidance putting this into practice, this is exactly why my collaborator Travis Pollen, PhD and I created Strength for Yoga Remote Group Training – to make strength work feel approachable and directly supportive of your yoga practice.
Learn more and start your free 7-day free trial of our strength program for yogis!
References:
Carvalho, Leonardo, et al. “Muscle hypertrophy and strength gains after resistance training with different volume-matched loads: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism 47.4 (2022): 357-368.
Currier, Brad S., et al. “Resistance training prescription for muscle strength and hypertrophy in healthy adults: a systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis.” British Journal of Sports Medicine 57.18 (2023): 1211-1220.
Lees, Matthew J., et al. “Resistance training load does not determine resistance training‐induced hypertrophy across upper and lower limbs in healthy young males.” The Journal of Physiology (2025).
Lopez, Pedro, et al. “Resistance training load effects on muscle hypertrophy and strength gain: systematic review and network meta-analysis.” Medicine and science in sports and exercise 53.6 (2020): 1206.
Mitchell, Cameron J., et al. “Resistance exercise load does not determine training-mediated hypertrophic gains in young men.” Journal of applied physiology 113.1 (2012): 71-77.
Schoenfeld, Brad J., et al. “Strength and hypertrophy adaptations between low-vs. high-load resistance training: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 31.12 (2017): 3508-3523.
Souza, Daniel, et al. “High and low-load resistance training produce similar effects on bone mineral density of middle-aged and older people: a systematic review with meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.” Experimental gerontology 138 (2020): 110973.
Wang, Zhenyu, et al. “Comparative efficacy different resistance training protocols on bone mineral density in postmenopausal women: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.” Frontiers in Physiology 14 (2023): 1105303.
