Build Strength & Fitness
Building strength, muscle and endurance, starting to exercise and staying active through life.
General information, not medical advice. Each goal page shows what helps, what to avoid, the evidence and the safety points.
Goals in this category
10 goals
Build Muscle Strength
Building muscle strength means getting physically stronger so everyday tasks such as standing from a chair, climbing stairs and carrying shopping feel easier, and it sta…
Build Muscle Mass
Building muscle mass (hypertrophy) means making your muscles bigger, which mainly takes progressive resistance training, enough protein and enough food over several mont…
Maintain the Muscle You Have
This page is about keeping the muscle, strength and everyday ability you already have, so that stairs, shopping bags and getting up from a chair stay easy as the years p…
Improve Your Endurance
Endurance is the ability to keep going at a steady effort for longer, whether that is a longer run, ride, swim, hike or a full match. This page is about training and fue…
Start Exercising With Confidence
Starting to exercise is easier and safer than it feels: most healthy people can begin with gentle, regular movement and build up slowly. This page covers the first steps…
Build a Consistent Exercise Routine
A routine that you can keep up matters more than a perfect plan, and the methods that help most are simple: start small, decide when and where, pick activity you enjoy, …
Improve Your Physical Performance
Better physical performance means being able to run faster, lift more, last longer or move better at the activity you care about, and for most people it comes from stead…
Improve Coordination & Movement Skills
Coordination is the ability to make your body do what you intend, smoothly and at the right time, whether that is catching a ball, tying a shoelace, climbing stairs or s…
Return to Exercise After a Break
Starting again after weeks or months away from exercise is common, and for most healthy people it works best when the first sessions are easier than you remember, with a…
Stay Active Throughout Your Life
Moving your body regularly is one of the best-supported things you can do for health, and the amounts recommended are simple to understand and can be built up gradually …
Conditions
Foods, herbs, vitamins and supplements studied for this category
Strongest evidence first. Most evidence is low, so read each page's studies and safety points.
- Whey Protein Powder Formula
Muscle and strength gains when paired with resistance training
Safety first: Whey is milk: a milk allergy is a reason not to use it, and lactose can upset some stomachs - Rhodiola Adaptogens
Endurance and time to exhaustion
Safety first: Short-term safety looks acceptable, but the safety record is thin - Pre-Workout Supplements: What They Contain, Ingredient by Ingredient Supplement formula
Strength, power and repetitions in one workout (whole product tested)
Safety first: Most pre-workouts are mostly a caffeine product, and caffeine side effects are the usual problem - Ashwagandha Adaptogens
Muscle strength and size with resistance training
Safety first: Liver injury has been reported, and it can be serious - Rhaponticum (Maral Root) Adaptogens
Muscle size and strength (isolated ecdysterone)
Safety first: Hormone and "natural steroid" claims: read them with care - Creatine HCl (Hydrochloride) Creatine form
Strength and muscle size with weight training
Safety first: The big safety record is for monohydrate, not HCl - Asian Ginseng Adaptogens
Chronic and everyday fatigue
Safety first: Short-term studies in healthy adults look reassuring; long-term safety is not settled - Astragalus Tea Herbal tea
Heart failure: heart function, walking distance and heart-stress markers
Safety first: The tea itself has not been tested: treat the root cautions as applying