- The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recently updated its resistance training guidelines for the first time in 17 years.
- The new guidelines are based on higher-quality evidence from 137 systematic reviews involving thousands of participants.
- The 2026 Position Stand also debunks several outdated beliefs, such as training until failure, needing different equipment and variety, and beginners needing different regimes and programs than those with more advanced levels of training.
- The update emphasizes consistency, with heavy loads for strength and high volume for size.
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recently published as a Position Stand its new 2026 guidelines on Resistance Training (RT), updating its previous 2009 guidelines.
This update was a major overhaul of its previous views and advice, now based on data from 137 systematic reviews with over 30,000 participants.
It used umbrella review methodologies and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) framework rather than expert opinion.
The 2009 guidelines were often criticized for being very rigid and rule-based — focusing on variables like periodization, time under tension, and specific equipment types, which was confusing for many people.
Experts say the 2026 update is more flexible and show that these variables don’t matter as much as previously thought, and that consistency is key to achieving results.
Here’s a swift rundown of the new guidelines, what they replaced, and what experts think of the changes.
The new guidelines are centered on “Progressive Resistance Training” and offer guidance on achieving specific training goals — strength, hypertrophy, or power.
In this context, muscle strength is about how much weight a person can lift, power is about how fast a person can move that weight, and hypertrophy is about increasing the size and volume of muscles.
The 2026 guidelines give the following weight/resistance training advice for 4 different goals:
- For strength: Lift heavy weights (around 80% or more of your max load) for 2–3 sets for each exercise. Do these exercises at the beginning of your workout, and train at least twice a week. Also, make sure you complete the full range of motion.
- For muscle size (hypertrophy): Do more total sets (at least 10 sets per muscle group each week) and focus on the lowering part of the lift (eccentric overload), which will help muscles grow.
- For power: Use lighter to moderate weights (around 30% to 70% of your max load) and lift as fast as you can, like in Olympic weightlifting.
- For general health/better movement: Use fast lifting techniques (“Power RT”) to improve functions like walking speed and balance.
The update debunks several old beliefs from the 2009 Position Stand and simplifies training rules.
- The “Fatigue” Myth:
The old belief prescribed lifting until failure, where muscles burned and gave out, and it was not possible to do another rep. The new advice states that this is not necessary for muscle strength or size. - The “Fancy Gym/Equipment” Myth
The old belief advocated using different types of equipment (both machines and free weights) and constantly changing an exercise routine, with increasing complexity. The new advice states that for most healthy adults, equipment type or exercise complexity does not significantly impact results. - The “Beginners vs Advanced” Myth
The old belief was that beginners and more advanced trainers needed different exercises and routines. The new advice supports the idea that ‘basics’ are for everyone, and training experience has little impact on the effectiveness of a particular exercise.
Medical News Today spoke to two experts — Mark Kovacs, PhD, FACSM, CSCS, performance physiologist, sports science consultant, and researcher in human performance and longevity science, and Jason Sawyer, associate professor and exercise and movement science program coordinator at Bryant University — to see what the medical community thinks of this new update and learn their key takeaways.
Sawyer and Kovac both agreed that the new guidelines were a paradigm shift in the world of exercise medicine.
“The new ACSM resistance training guidelines represent a significant evolution in how we approach strength training,” Sawyer said.
He added that: “Consistency remains paramount, but what’s groundbreaking is the nuanced approach to program design, specifically distinguishing between training for strength, hypertrophy, and power. This matters because your workout should look fundamentally different depending on your goal. For instance, someone pursuing muscle growth will need considerably more weekly training volume than someone focused purely on strength.”
“The updated resistance-training guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine are both timely and necessary. Over the last decade, the science has become much clearer: resistance training is not just about building muscle, it is fundamental to healthspan, longevity, metabolic function, injury prevention, and long-term human durability,” Kovacs said.
“What I appreciate most about these updated guidelines is the broader recognition that resistance training (especially power training) should be a central component of lifelong Health, not just something reserved for athletes or younger populations,” he continued.
“In many ways, this shift has been long overdue. I have been advising and recommending safe and effective resistance and power training for all age groups for many decades, but for far too long, the emphasis of aerobic training while underutilizing strength and power as key drivers of healthy aging is now shifting.”
— Mark Kovacs, PhD, FACSM, CSCS
Sawyer said power training was particularly important for aging adults, and needs to be paid more attention to in this age group.
“Muscular power is one of the first physical capacities we lose as we age, yet maintaining it is critical for performing daily activities, reducing fall risk, and, remarkably, lowering all-cause mortality,” he said.
“Strength tends to decline gradually over time, but power declines much more rapidly, often beginning in the fourth and fifth decades of life. This has direct real-world implications. Power is what allows you to catch yourself when you trip, climb stairs efficiently, react quickly, and maintain independence,” Kovacs pointed out.
Kovacs said the main reason power lifting, or the ability to produce force quickly, is underutilized in aging adults is perception.
“Many people think power training is unsafe or only for elite athletes. In reality, it can be safely incorporated using simple movements like faster sit-to-stands, step-ups, medicine ball throws, or even brisk walking with intentional acceleration,” he said.
“While traditional power exercises like Olympic lifts can be intimidating and technically demanding, power training doesn’t have to be complex. Simple movements like jumping, throwing, or even explosive body weight exercises can be highly effective,” Sawyer continued.
“The key is not maximal intensity, it’s intentional speed of movement under control,” Kovacs added.
Kovacs underscored that training to failure is not required “to achieve meaningful strength and hypertrophy gains” as per the new guidelines.
“Progressive overload simply means gradually increasing the demand placed on the body over time. This can be achieved in multiple ways [such as by]: increasing resistance or load, increasing repetitions or sets, improving movement quality or control, reducing rest intervals, increasing movement speed or power output,” he advised.
“Training to failure frequently can increase fatigue and injury risk, particularly in aging populations or high-performing individuals with significant life stress,” Kovacs added.
Sawyer said the key was gradually increasing weight or repetitions every few weeks in a way that challenges muscles.
“The beauty of these new guidelines is their accessibility. You don’t need to spend hours in the gym. Microdosing resistance training, such as performing a few sets of body weight squats in the morning, afternoon, and evening, can meaningfully improve strength without disrupting your day,” he said.
“The easiest way to incorporate resistance training into daily life is to reframe it as movement, not just exercise,” Kovacs said.
Some strategies he suggested include: Performing body weight squats or lunges during daily routines, using stairs instead of elevators, incorporating short to medium strength sessions 2–3 times per week, and adding resistance bands or light dumbbells at home.
“Consistency is far more important than complexity. You don’t need a full gym setup to see meaningful benefits — you need regular exposure to resistance-based movement,” he added.
“If there is one key takeaway from these updated guidelines, it is this: resistance training is no longer optional, it is essential for long-term Health, performance, and independence,” Kovacs said.
“But I would take it one step further. We need to move beyond just strength and begin to emphasize strength plus power plus movement quality. That combination is what ultimately allows individuals to not only live longer, but to perform better, move better, and maintain a higher quality of life across decades,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sawyer focused on specific changes in advice on muscle growth and size.
“Perhaps the most significant shift is in the hypertrophy recommendations. We now understand that total weekly training volume, specifically around 10 sets per muscle group per week, is the primary driver of muscle growth. This is a major departure from previous guidelines and gives people a clear, evidence-based target for building muscle mass,” he said.
