AN ARTICLE BY ALLY TAYLOR

If you’ve spent any time on the internet lately, or worse, scrolled through a fitness
“influencer’s” feed, you’ve likely been told that if you aren’t lifting a specific
percentage of your one-rep max while standing on one leg and chanting in Latin,
you’re essentially wasting your time. Even so called strength and conditioning
“experts” on Insta are spouting this line whilst getting fundamental anatomy and
biomechanics wrong.

It’s exhausting, isn’t it? The goalposts for what constitutes “effective” exercise seem
to move faster than a car haring down Ockham Road at twice the speed limit (we’ve
all seen them, usually while we’re just trying to cross to the shop).

But here’s the good news: the science has finally caught up with reality. Actually, the
science has existed for a long time… it’s the governing bodies of Sports, Strength
and Conditioning who have finally caught up!

The American body of sports medicine (ASCM) recently released it’s 2026 Position Stand on resistance training, and it is, to put it mildly, a total game-changer for regular people. This isn’t just one study conducted on twelve university students in a basement; this is a massive analysis of 137 systematic reviews, covering over 30,000 participants. It is the gold standard of evidence.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recently released its 2026 Position Stand on resistance training, and it is, to put it mildly, a total game-changer for regular people. This isn’t just one study conducted on twelve university students in a basement; this is a massive analysis of 137 systematic reviews, covering over 30,000 participants. It is the gold standard of evidence.

And the verdict? You can stop overthinking it… the 2026 manifesto is clear: almost everything works, provided you actually do it.

The Death of the “Perfect” Rep Range

For decades, we’ve been shackled to the idea that there are very strict “zones” for training. You want strength? You must lift heavy for 1-6 reps. You want bigger muscles? You must do 8–12 reps. Anything else? Perish the thought.The 2026 update has effectively taken those rules and tossed them out of the window. The research shows that strength training and hypertrophy (muscle growth, which includes toning) occur across a massive spectrum. While it’s true that lifting heavier loads (80% of your maximum and above) is the most efficient way to get “strong-strong,” the data proves that significant strength gains happen at almost any load and quickest in novices.

More importantly, for muscle growth, the load matters far less than the effort. The ACSM now confirms that growth happens across all ranges, from 30% to 100% of your max. If you prefer lifting lighter weights for more repetitions, your muscles will still grow. If you prefer heavy sets of five, your muscles will still grow. The “secret sauce” isn’t a magical number of reps; it’s the 10-set rule. The evidence suggests that performing 10 or more sets per muscle group per week is the sweet spot for muscles to adapt and thrive. How you split those sets up across your weekis entirely up to you and your schedule. And that doesn’t have to be 10 sets of one exercise either. You can do multiple exercises, across multiple planes of motion and as long as the overall volume equates, you’ll hit the 10 set bulls eye. So for example, doing Group Power at Amovida twice a week, or Group Active once and Move for life once, will hit that target. At home, picking up a resistance band every other day and doing some presses, pulls and whatever else, even just for 10 minutes, will accrue the volume in a different way. One big session a week would also hit it, but is probably not ideal if it can possibly be helped!

Power: Your Functional Safety Net

One of the most interesting shifts in the 2026 guidelines is the renewed focus on Power. In the fitness world, “power” often conjures images of Olympic athletes or people throwing heavy medicine balls at walls. But for the rest of us living in Surrey, power is our most vital survival tool.

In scientific terms, power is just strength multiplied by speed. It’s moving a mass, usually your own body, quickly. Why does this matter? Because life doesn’t always happen at a controlled, 3-second-up, 3-second-down tempo.

Think about that heart-stopping moment when you need to suddenly sprint across the road because a car is flying down Ockham Road much faster than it should be. Or, perhaps most importantly as we age, the ability to catch yourself when you trip on an uneven pavement or have to avoid a pothole suddenly. That “catch” requires power. It requires your nervous system and your muscles to fire right now.The ACSM update suggests that training with moderate loads (30–70% of your max) but moving them fast is the key to maintaining this “safety net.” It’s not about being an elite sprinter; it’s about ensuring that when life asks you to move quickly, your body actually has the capacity to say “yes.” This is why we weave specific mobility training and reactive drills into our classes and one to one at Amovida, it’s functional insurance for the real world.

Consistency Beats Complexity (Every Single Time)

Perhaps the most freeing part of the 2026 update is the acknowledgement that the “mode” of exercise, whether you use fancy gym machines, free weights, resistance bands, or even home-based bodyweight routines, all produce measurable results.

The science is shouting from the rooftops: “Perfect is the enemy of done.”

We often see people paralyzed by the “all-or-nothing” trap. They think that if they can’t make it to a 90-minute “hardcore” session, there’s no point in going at all. But the 30,000+ participants in this review prove otherwise. The most successful people aren’t the ones with the most complex, scientifically optimised programs; they are the ones who are consistent.

The goal is to find a way to make movement “meaningful” to your life. If you enjoy the social aspect of a boutique studio, do that. If you find peace in a quiet home routine with bands, do that. If you love a busy noisy gym, do that. We are all different and thankfully many options are available.

The best workout in the world is the one you actually show up for on a rainy Tuesday in November when you’d much rather be on the sofa with a hot chocolate.

Why This Matters for the “Normal” Person

Let’s be honest: most of us aren’t training to step onto a bodybuilding stage. We’re training so we can carry the heavy bags of compost from the garden centre without our backs “going.” We’re training so we can keep up with our grandkids. We’re training to manage the symptoms of menopause or to keep our metabolism humming along as the birthdays add up and most importantly, to slow down the cognitive decline that’s comes with advancing age. 

Exercise, especially exercise which involves learning a new or complex skill and is done in a social setting has the absolute biggest bang for buck when it comes to keeping your grey matter alert. That’s why we include a healthy dose of ‘brain training’ into our unique classes at Amovida… you might hate it when something is scrappy at first, but it’s that exact scrappiness which is keeping your brain young. 

The 2026 ACSM position stand confirms that strength training is the ultimate multi-vitamin. It helps with:

• Bone Density: Vital for preventing fractures later in life.
• Metabolic Health: Helping manage blood sugar and weight.
• Mental Well-being: Reducing anxiety and improving cognitive function.
• Pain Management: Particularly for chronic issues like lower back pain.

By simplifying the “rules,” the ACSM has removed the barrier of entry. You don’t need to be an expert. You don’t need to spend hours on Chat GPT researching the best strength programme. You just need to pick things up, put them down, and occasionally do it with a bit of speed.

Bringing it Home to East Horsley

At Amovida, we’ve always been a bit “science-lite” in our delivery but “science-heavy” in our programming. We’ve watched the 2026 updates with a sense of “we told you so” (in the friendliest way possible, of course).

Our approach to fitness has always been built on the foundations this update highlights: making it fun, making it consistent, and making it relevant to your life. 

The takeaway from the 2026 Fitness Manifesto is simple: You have permission to start where you are.

Heavy weights are great. Lighter weights are also great. Fast movements are essential for safety. But the only thing that is truly “wrong” is doing nothing at all.

So, next time you’re walking down Ockham Road, feeling the breeze of a speeding car and thinking about your health, remember: you don’t need a perfect plan. You just need to move. Whether that’s in our studio, in your garden, or even just taking the stairs a bit faster, the science is on your side.

Let’s stop worrying about the “optimum” and start focusing on the “often.” Your future self, the one who can still catch yourself when a tree trunk trips you in Sheeplees and dodge the Surrey speedsters, will thank you for it.

References:

1. https://acsm.org/resistance-training-guidelines-update-2026/

2. https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/fulltext/2026/04000/american_college_of_sports_medicine_position.21.aspx