Is weight training best for building strength?
This is a text about the simplest question and the most important answer.
Is there a form of exercise that best builds strength and muscle mass in real school life – so that every child, not just the “athletic” ones, can feel the progress?
The answer is strength training. Not because we think so, but because it allows us to precisely dose the stimulus, scale it for everyone, and measure the effect week after week.
It's the foundation of health: for the heart, bones, nervous system, and psyche. And it's the foundation of justice: because everyone can start where they are today and move forward, taking small steps.
1. What are we really asking about? A foundation, not a hobby.
We're not asking about "what's cool in PE." We're asking about the foundation of lifelong health.
Every person, without exception, needs muscles that can tense and relax, maintain posture, stop movement and start again.
Strength is a biological currency: we use it to buy joint protection, spine stability, better blood and glucose circulation, confident movement and a sense of agency.
If school is supposed to teach things that will stay with us for decades, strength is one of them.
2. Why Strength Training Builds Strength Best (A Tale of Three Wheels)
Imagine three knobs. The first is the resistance: weight, band, lever. The second is the number of repetitions. The third is the speed of the movement.
When we teach children movements and gently turn those dials each week, something beautiful happens: the nervous system learns to recruit motor units more decisively, tendons organize their fibers, bones respond by thickening, and muscle fibers slowly increase in diameter.
This is exactly the adaptation we are looking for when we say "we want to be stronger."
The key difference is that in strength training, we can plan a future lesson today. If this week a student performed two sets of six repetitions of bench squats with a "medium" band, next week we'll plan two sets of seven or switch to a "strong" band.
Progress is small but sure. This is how habit and strength are built.
3. Comparison with other forms of exercise - not shortcuts, but humanely
Let's contrast three worlds: strength training, running/endurance, and team sports. Not to detract from them, but to honestly answer the question about building strength and muscle mass.
Running remains on the program—because of the heart. Games remain—because of the joy and relationships. But the foundation on which it all works better is strength.
First, the effect on muscle strength and mass. In strength training, the stimulus is targeted—muscles must overcome resistance. The result is increased maximum strength and gradual mass gains.
In running, the force stimulus is too small and in games too random to push the entire class to a higher level.
Second: transfer. Stronger legs mean a faster takeoff, higher jump, and safer landing; a stronger core means a more stable throw and less "pulling in the lower back" at the desk.
Third: dose control. In strength training, we know how many sets, what pace, and what resistance. In games and races, the load "fluctuates"—it's easy to overdo it before the tendons and bones mature.
Fourth: measurability. In strength training, we see the numbers on a student's card every week. In games, the result depends on the weather, the field, the lineup, and the opponent.
Fifth: inclusiveness. Every strength move has an easy and a hard version—so everyone can beat themselves.
4. A rhythm that works: three lessons a week, all year round
If we're going to form a habit and see real results, we need frequency. One or two lessons a week are often just a "touchstone"—especially since the school calendar includes breaks and vacations.
The Monday-Wednesday-Friday rhythm creates a bridge: lesson, recovery day, lesson, break, lesson. Children know that on Wednesday, "position number 2 goes up a notch," and on Friday they'll try a new version of the lunge.
After a month, you can see the difference: the squat is deeper and more stable, the landing after the jump is quiet and controlled, and the backpack on the stairs seems to be lighter.
5. What a Good Strength and Health Lesson Looks Like (and Why It's Not Boring)
The class lasts 45–60 minutes. We begin with a short warm-up that activates the hips, shoulders, and core. Then we move through 5–6 stations that cover the entire body of movement: squat, push, pull, hip hinge, single-leg movement, and calf raise.
Each station has a clear difficulty level: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Finally, we add a few simple power stimuli (low jumps, ball throws) and two minutes of calm breathing.
The classes aren't monotonous because progress is built into the plan. We don't "do the same old thing over and over again"—we improve it gradually.
6. Economics: cost of effect, not just the cost of equipment
In the real world of school, it's not just about money, but what you get for it. A sports hall is necessary because it provides space for games and celebrations, but it's expensive to build and maintain.
The School Dream Gym means a smaller space, lower operating costs, and—most importantly—high throughput for meaningful work. More children will complete the appropriate stimulus in the same hour, and the results can be entered on a progress sheet. This system wastes no minutes. We don't queue for the ball—we all work.
The key category is the "cost per point of progression." If a student today performed three sets of six repetitions in the medium version, the cost of moving to three sets of seven is small, and the benefit is real and documented. This cannot be achieved cheaply with equipment without progression.
That's why SSM assumes modular expansion: we start from scratch, but quickly move to positions that allow for micro-steps throughout the year.
7. Big and small school: same DNA, different scale
In a large school, we build a work track between stations and divide the class into small groups (3-4 people) so that each child has their turn and their moment of the teacher's attention.
In a small school, fewer stations are sufficient, as long as they cover all movement patterns. The principles are the same: technique over weight, small steps, and consistency. Staff learn to focus on three key points of safety: a neutral spine, knee over foot, and active shoulder blades.
This is the common language for the entire school.
8. Weather and calendar: regularity wins over November
Imagine a week in November. Rain, a slippery pitch, part of the class on antibiotics. The usual "we run outside" plan just fell apart.
It's not a strength lesson. Classes take place in the same room, at the same time, with the same stations. Children enter, check their progress sheets, and know what they'll be "up a notch" on today.
The repetition here is no accident: it protects the effect from the weather and the chaos of the calendar. Thanks to it, after three months we see a steady, academic wave of progress, rather than a "spurt and a lull."
9. Inclusion: From "Present but Absent" to "I Am and I Can"
The greatest injustice of PE isn't that someone doesn't show up. The greatest injustice is "present but absent": a child is left on the sidelines, feeling slow, insecure, "not good enough." After three such lessons, the mind starts to search for excuses: sick leave, a sprained ankle, "I forgot my uniform." And so, those who need the exercise most disappear.
The Dream Gym aims to reverse this scenario. The colorful stations and bright graphics say, "This is where you step, this is where you grab, this is how you breathe." Multimedia reminds you of two or three steps of the technique. Each exercise has a starting version, so your first victory is within reach. TYTAX provides guidance and support—it's not an "obstacle course," it's a track of success. The child sees their numbers and understands what they'll do tomorrow. "Present, but absent" becomes "I am and I can."
It works not only for "athletic" kids. It works for "healthy but weak" kids—those who "don't run fast or jump high." It works for girls who avoid competition—because instead of the pressure of a match, we have our own progress chart. It works for overweight students—because short bursts and breaks reduce breathing costs, and the joint-relieving versions protect knees and ankles. It works for young people on the autism spectrum and with ADHD—because the structure is consistent, the volume predictable, and the time is measured by a timer. It works for people with injuries and mobility disabilities—because we have seated and lying versions, belts, and guides. Everyone is doing "the same thing," but at their own level.
The thrill? It's the moment when a child who used to "disappear" in PE class finishes two sets in a stable position and says, "I can add one." It's the smile of a girl who hated matches when she sees her score rise for the third week in a row. It's the peace of a parent who finally hears, "It hurts less."
10. 12 Week Example: What Does "Best in Time" Mean?
Let's take a class of 24 people. Three 45-minute lessons per week. The main part consists of 5 stations, usually 2–3 sets of 6–8 repetitions.
Each student accumulates approximately 90–120 quality "strength" repetitions per week. In 12 weeks, this adds up to 1,000–1,400 controlled repetitions distributed throughout the body. During this time, we learn patterns, shift the resistance by two or three increments, and the muscles and tendons have time to respond with adaptations.
By comparison, 1-2 lessons a week provide only 40-60% of that stimulus—often not enough to get you above maintenance. This is math, not opinion.
11. What about "liking"? Will kids love it?
Children like what they understand and what makes sense to them.
A strength trainer quickly teaches both: the child sees how to position their back, what their knees are doing, where they feel their muscles; then they see the number grow. The phrase "I can do it" appears.
When the number of "I can do it" students in a class increases, the atmosphere changes. The jokes about those who "can't keep up" disappear, because everyone has their own track and their own table.
A strong body means more freedom and less pain. And people like that.
12. The answer to the title question is clear and definitive.
Is strength training the best way to build strength? Yes, because it's the only one that combines the ability to precisely dose the stimulus, scalability for the entire class, measurability from lesson to lesson, transferability to any sport and everyday life, and an inclusiveness that attracts children typically excluded from physical education.
That's why at the School Gym of Dreams , strength is the foundation. Games and races are important—but they're the crown, not the foundation.
We build the foundation three times a week, calmly and consistently.
Bibliography
1. Stricker PR, Faigenbaum AD, McCambridge TM. Resistance Training for Children and Adolescents. Pediatrics. 2020;145(6):e20201011 (reaffirmed 2024).
2. Lloyd RS, et al. Consensus statement on youth resistance training. Br J Sports Med. 2016;50(7):e1.
3. Lesinski M, et al. Effects and dose–response of resistance training on strength and jump in youth. Br J Sports Med. 2016;50(13):781–95.
4. Behringer M, et al. Effects of resistance training in children and adolescents: a meta-analysis. Pediatrics. 2010;126(5):e1199–e1210.
5. Behm DG, et al. Strength and power training in youth: systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Physiol. 2017;8:423.
6. Lauersen JB, Andersen TE, Andersen LB. Exercise to prevent sports injuries: systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs. Br J Sports Med. 2014;48(11):871–7.
7. McQuilliam SJ, et al. Free-weight resistance training in youth athletes. SportsMed. 2020;50:1311–32.
8. Chaabene H, et al. Health- and performance-related benefits of youth resistance training. SportsMed. 2020;50:2193–220.
9. World Health Organization. Guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behavior for children and adolescents. 2020.
10. US Department of Health and Human Services. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. 2nd ed. 2018; updates 2024.