There are many different ideas as to how someone new to training should approach it. Some believe that you should first have a base of conditioning and then get stronger; others believe you should be strong first and then become conditioned if you are so inclined.
Getting strong first tends to be the better recommendation. I can tell you from personal experience when I was competing in gymnastics and crossfitting, although I could do pull-ups for days and had the lowest body fat I’ve ever had so far during my life, from an aesthetic perspective I looked like shit. Though I was lean and what some people might call ripped, I had not developed a solid base of musculature to resemble anything mildly impressive, to top it off I could hardly squat two hundred and twenty five pounds.
One of the main motivations for me wanting to make the people I coach strong first is the development curve. In order to become strong it takes months and years of consistent and hard training, the bonus is once you form a base of strength it takes a long time to go away, and if you ever do stop lifting, once you get back on it the strength you once had comes back at a rapid rate. On the flipside, it comparatively takes a very short amount of time to obtain a high level of conditioning, and it is lost very quickly. To get it back you will have similar challenges as to the first time you were attempting to reach that level of conditioning.
There are instances when working with an individual who is significantly overweight that they may already be somewhat strong, so an emphasis on conditioning may be needed, though strength training certainly would not be neglected. Of course the program the person is following should always be focused on the individual’s goals.
Getting strong and packing on muscle is almost always conducive towards someone’s aesthetic goals, most of us guys just want to look like monsters, whether you want to be a 265 pound monster or a 200 pound monster is really the decision that has to be made. For women I have yet to meet one that doesn’t want to look sexy, what girl doesn’t want nice curves with a conservative level of body fat? And strength training lends itself well to developing this type of appearance.
If you are someone that is involved with crossfit, you should get strong to. Think about how easy a 95 pound thruster will be if your front squatting at least 315 and pressing bodyweight? To excel at these types of metabolic conditioning workouts the weight needs to be so light for you that the only thing limiting your performance is your ability to breathe.
Plus, why not take advantage of the slew of positive health benefits strength training has? Stronger immune system, higher bone density, more musculature to support vulnerable joints like the knee thus reducing the likelihood of injury, and more sexual experience with the opposite (or same, who am I to judge) sex ?
In the end Strength is king. This is true for most everyone, particularly the older crowd. So, get to the gym, get under a barbell, and make a decision to become the person you have always wanted to be.
