I have been switching my phrasing from "strength" to "sturdiness" lately because I think it's a better way of thinking about muscle fitness under the broader umbrella of General Fitness - what we call Fitness For Life.
For example, I'd like to deadlift 300 lbs, but it's not overly important to me. Doing 5 reps of 175-200 will be enough to indicate that I am not frail, not fragile.
The problem I'm sure our fitness readers have with strength training (resistance training, or sturdiness training) is time. If we aim for 6-7 hours weekly for fitness, with 2 of those HIIT and endurance cardio and 2 of them calisthenics, how can we fit in all of the strength building or strength maintenance?
Maybe by condensing resistance things and mixing them up. For example, there are several basic back exercises. Three of them are fundamental (ie, must be done at least once weekly): deadlifts (a total body exertion - The King of Exercises), rows, and pullups/chinups or pull-downs.
Each of those can take 15-20 minutes of your time with 6 sets, with 90-120 sec. rest between sets. So you can schedule, say, deads once weekly, pullups/chinups/pull-downs once weekly, and some type of row once or twice weekly (eg inverted row, seated row, dumbell bent-over row). Mix them up week to week). And because those make good arm demands too, there is less need for pure arm exercises.
Other than the deads, the key to back exertions is to clench your scapulae. Squeeze them. Make the back do them bulk of the work, not your arms. With chinups and pullups, you thrust your elbows down to power the movement.
Some ideas below the fold -
How is this programming for the heavy resistance component of general fitness? Nb: I do not do shoulder-specific resistance exercises because I need a new shoulder due to sports injuries. Also, there are many exercises I put in the calisthenics category - kettlebell swings, sled pushes and pulls, pushups, planks, lunges, etc etc so they are not usual for my resistance days. I sometimes throw in some jump rope on resistance days, just to loosen up.
Mainly total body:
Deads 1/wk
Squats 1/wk
Military press 1/wk or Clean and Press if you can do it
Chest:
Bench press 1/wk
Dumbell bench 1/wk (inclined or not)
Back:
Pullup/chinup/pull-downs 1-2/wk
Row 1/wk
Worth adding when time permits:
Arms: curls, tricep push-downs, skullcrushers, dumbell tricep extensions, dips
Legs: Leg press, calf raises
Chest: Chest press
