BookAustralia's physical activity guidelines ask adults for muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days per week, as well as aerobic activity. At Adapt, personal training and small group classes build the strength work in, with cardio fitted around it.
Australia's physical activity guidelines ask adults to do muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days per week, plus functional activities targeting mobility, balance, and coordination on 3 or more days, plus aerobic activity. Strength is a separate recommendation.
A 2022 meta-analysis of 16 cohort studies (Momma and colleagues) linked muscle-strengthening activities with a 10 to 17 per cent lower risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, total cancer, diabetes and lung cancer.
These associations cannot predict what lifting does for one person. Coaches write the strength work into your week on the gym floor, with cardio around it.
The guidelines list strength on 2 or more days per week alongside aerobic activity, so strength days go in first.
| Strength work | Aerobic activity | |
|---|---|---|
| What the guidelines ask for | Muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days per week | Aerobic activity as its own category, not a replacement for strength |
| What it looks like | Coached lifts in personal training or a small group class | Cardio kept in the week around those strength days |
| Who plans it at Adapt | Coaches write and run the strength sessions | You keep aerobic activity in the week rather than swapping it for lifting |
| How they sit together | Strength days are booked first so they actually happen | Cardio fills the remaining days, or sits after the lifting session |
Yes. Australia's guidelines for adults 18 to 64 ask for muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days per week, including if you have never trained. A coach starts from what you can do now.
Start personal trainingJames Bowen and Teal Kilbride coach the strength week, and Dr Carla Sullivan-Myers leads clinical care when a niggle needs a plan.
Sets the strength days in your week and fits cardio around them.
Coaches the lifts in personal training and small group classes.
Director & Head of Clinical Delivery
Chiropractor, Master of Chiropractic, PhD
Dr Carla Sullivan-MyersLeads clinical delivery when a niggle needs assessing first.
If a niggle is limiting how you move, book a physiotherapy assessment rather than guessing which exercises to skip. The coaches keep your week going from that plan.
A physio appointment adjusts the lifting rather than replacing it with cardio, and the plan is rewritten around what you can load now.
No. The guidelines ask for strength on 2 or more days per week, and your coach fits that around the rest of your week. Gym time on your own can sit around the coached days.
Gym membershipYes. Australia's guidelines ask for muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days per week as well as aerobic activity, so walking does not cover strength. Coaches put strength days in and leave walking around them.
Yes. Momma and colleagues (2022) found combined strength and aerobic activity was associated with lower all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality than doing neither. Your coach can plan lifting first and leave cardio around it.
It depends on whether you start with personal training, small group classes or gym membership, and the team confirms the fee before you begin. Training is not claimed on extras. Send a message through contact to check what applies.
Book a physiotherapy assessment when pain or an old injury is limiting how you move, so the coaches can work from that plan. If you are well and want a program, start with personal training and tell your coach anything that still niggles.
Not necessarily. Personal training and small group classes are booked as coached sessions, and gym membership is for training on your own program during staffed hours. Ask the team which mix fits the week you can keep.
No. Momma and colleagues reported associations from 16 cohort studies, which cannot say what lifting will do for one person. The guidelines still ask for muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days per week, and Adapt coaches plan that work with you.
British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2022
Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care, n.d.