Benefits of Strength Training
Improved Health Benefits:
Strength training has been shown to increase life expectancy by as much as 7 years, with people who weight train on average living longer than those who don’t exercise at all.
The benefits of strength training are wide-ranging and may include the following:
Increased bone density for protection against osteoporosis.
Increased muscle strength can help you lead a more active lifestyle.
Reduced body fat will elevate your mood, improve cardiovascular health, boost self-esteem & confidence, decrease the risk of heart disease & cancer, increase resting metabolic rate so you burn more calories throughout the day.
Improved sleep quality through better breathing patterns. Improved balance helps prevent falls in elderly individuals or related injuries. Prevention of injuries that result from everyday, low-impact activities such as walking or climbing stairs.Improved mental health & psychological well-being.
2. Enhanced Athletic Performance:
Resistance training, commonly known as weightlifting is a highly effective way to improve performance for athletes of all types. A study conducted by the American College of Sports Medicine found that strength training improved running speed in elite soccer players and improved 40-yard sprint times. This restorative effect was maintained even after the conclusion of the study period and did not disappear once athletes returned to their normal levels of activity.
3. Weight Management:
Although it may seem counterintuitive, when you lift weights your metabolism stays elevated long after you leave the gym because muscle tissue requires more energy (calories) than fat tissue. Strength training also increases your lean muscle mass, which is more metabolically active than body fat. Thus, you burn more calories at rest all day long!
4. Injury Prevention:
As we age or if we have been inactive for a prolonged period of time, our muscular strength and endurance decline. This, in turn, can result in injuries to the lower back, shoulders, and knees because when muscles don’t work properly it puts undue stress on joints and connective tissues that attach to bones & ligaments creating a higher risk for injury.
Functional strength training exercises that work the major muscle groups will help stabilize your core while improving balance which in turn helps prevent injuries from occurring when daily tasks such as pulling weeds in the garden or carrying groceries up a flight of steps become part of your routine.
5. Improved Mood:
Strength training has been shown to increase the release of endorphins in your brain, creating a higher sense of well-being and reducing stress levels which are often associated with depressive symptoms such as sadness, low self-esteem, and lethargy.
6. Mental Sharpness:
A study published by the National Academy of Sciences found that just 12 weeks of strength training 3 days per week increased blood flow to important areas of the brain responsible for memory and learning.
7. Prevent Bone Loss & Osteoporosis:
By strengthening muscles around bones you create a protective effect on bone health because when muscles contract they pull on bones creating tiny microfractures in the bone which stimulates new bone growth.
8. Enhance Sexual Health:
Lifting weights has been shown to increase blood flow to sexual organs resulting in higher testosterone levels, stronger libidos, better erections & improved sexual function. The American Council on Exercise reports that studies have shown as many as 40-60% of men over age 40 suffer from some degree of erectile dysfunction (ED) that can be remedied with weight training and exercise.
9. Improved Fertility:
Studies show strength training can improve testosterone levels for both women and men which may play an important role in fertility issues according to a study published by Cornell University’s medical school Life Science department showing reproductive cells move faster after periods of strenuous exercise such as resistance training (weightlifting).
10. Lower Blood Pressure:
A study published in the Journal of Human Hypertension found that 16 weeks of strength training twice a week for 30 minutes decreased systolic blood pressure by an average of 12 points and diastolic by 8 points in participants with hypertension and high normal blood pressure resulting in a reduced risk for heart disease and stroke. Strength Training:
As you can see there are many benefits to be gained from consistent participation in weight lifting & bodybuilding exercises which is why I encourage everyone to consider taking up weightlifting or at least doing some form of workouts such as push-ups, pull-ups, squats, lunges, weights are not just for men, women should also incorporate strength training into their regular fitness routines to reap all of the same benefits.
Strength Training is not something that happens overnight, you have to consistently push yourself every time you perform your weight lifting routines so do not expect immediate results but rather focus on making gradual improvements over time. I recommend starting off with a couple of full-body workouts per week and working up from there once you become more comfortable with frequency & intensity levels.
Remember it’s never too late to start strength training nor should age ever be considered an excuse to avoid taking care of our bodies by maintaining proper health through consistent exercise and healthy nutrition habits for long product life.
Benefits of lifting weights every day:
ONE OF THE BEST WAYS TO GET FIT AND HEALTHY:
The physical benefits of lifting weights are legion. From building strength to burning fat, it’s no wonder that the activity is growing in popularity and not just among gym rats and bodybuilders. With more than three million participants annually, the National Weight Control Registry tracks people who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for a minimum of one year.
The majority include regular exercise, including resistance training, in their weight-loss regimens and they credit muscle-building workouts as key contributors to their success.
That’s because when you strengthen your muscles, you increase your lean body mass while simultaneously decreasing your fat stores the best possible combination for dropping pounds and keeping them off.
MUSCLE BURNS MORE CALORIES THAN FAT COULD EVER TRY TO:
Your lean muscle mass is responsible for burning fat even while you rest, so the more muscle you have, the more calories your body burns all day long. Plus, muscle takes up less room than fat (which explains why very skinny people can eat a lot of food and not gain weight), so adding just five pounds of lean muscle will increase your resting metabolic rate by about 15 to 20 percent. That’s a nice incentive to put down that fork and pick up some weights!
NEARLY ALL BODY SYSTEMS BENEFIT FROM WEIGHT TRAINING:
In addition to building strength, losing fat, and improving your cardiovascular system (cardio/strength training has been shown to elevate heart rate and improve cardiac output), lifting weights is also good for:
• Bone health. Lifting weights stimulates bone-building cells and strengthens the bones you have helping to prevent osteoporosis.
• Joints. The more muscle mass on your frame, the better equipped your joints are to handle weight-bearing activities like walking and running (which can reduce arthritis pain).
• Energy levels. Regular strength training will increase your metabolic rate, so you’ll burn more calories throughout the day even while watching TV! And since it’s a form of anaerobic activity (as opposed to aerobic exercise ), it doesn’t wear you down. Instead, studies show that it can actually boost your energy levels throughout the day.
Benefits of Weight Training:
TONING YOUR BODY:
You don’t have to be a bodybuilder to benefit from weight training and in fact, lifting weights may be just what you need if you’re looking for a way to get toned. Since muscle is more dense than fat, increasing your lean muscle mass will shift your shape and tone all over (meaning you’ll lose inches even if the number on the scale doesn’t change).
By adding resistance and definition to muscles, weights also help support and strengthen joints while improving posture making them an important part of injury prevention for active people of all sizes and ages.
WEIGHT TRAINING CAN BE ENJOYABLE:
For many people, gaining confidence through fitness is one of the biggest benefits of weight training. That’s because weightlifting can offer a supportive and friendly environment that welcomes all shapes, sizes, ages, genders, and fitness levels no matter how much or how little you can lift, you’ll always benefit from building muscle.
WEIGHT TRAINING MAY IMPROVE INSULIN SENSITIVITY:
Insulin can transport sugar from your bloodstream into your cells. But when you’re resistant to the effects of insulin (an issue that many people who are overweight and sedentary suffer from), it doesn’t work as well, which can lead to high blood sugar levels and diabetes. Fortunately, regular strength training can actually improve insulin sensitivity.
ADDING WEIGHT TRAINING TO YOUR EXISTING WORKOUT MAY BOOST FAT LOSS:
Research shows that adding high-intensity interval training days to your workout schedule (alternating between short periods of intense exercise and rest) may lead to greater fat loss than exercising for the same amount of time at a steady pace once or twice a week.
But if you’re just starting out, building muscle is likely going to be the more important factor in boosting your metabolism because it takes more energy for your body to maintain muscle mass than fat mass, so weight/resistance training increases daily calorie burn.
WEIGHT TRAINING CAN HELP YOU GET THROUGH PREGNANCY SAFELY:
Studies show that pregnancy gets easier for women who continue to exercise throughout their pregnancies, and weight training is an ideal choice. Not only does it help tone your body, but it will also increase your strength so you can better handle the extra pounds (which will come in handy postpartum when you’re trying to lose baby weight).
Plus, studies show that babies whose moms exercised during pregnancy are less likely to be born with birth defects or developmental problems than babies of women who didn’t work out while pregnant.
WEIGHT LIFTING MAY REDUCE AGE-RELATED MUSCLE LOSS:
Muscle loss naturally occurs as you age, but if you’re inactive, the process is accelerated. Fortunately, research shows that adding weight/resistance training to your fitness routine can offset both age-related muscle loss and anabolic hormone declines.
In fact, one study found that people who added 18 weeks of strength training to their workout schedules were able to boost their levels of IGF-1 (which helps build muscle), even if they didn’t exercise at all during the rest of the year!
WEIGHT TRAINING PREVENTS ARTHRITIS PAIN:
Inactivity causes arthritis pain, so it should be no surprise that research shows that strength training can help reduce arthritis symptoms.
Just a few examples of how being strong can benefit your life: making it easier to climb stairs and carry groceries, reducing the risk of injury when playing sports, helping you get up from a chair or out of a bathtub, improving balance to reduce falls, offering pain relief for chronic conditions like back pain or ankylosing spondylitis. Finally, building muscle will not only make you stronger but also improve your posture and athletic performance in activities such as cycling and running.
WEIGHT TRAINING MAY HELP YOU LIVE LONGER:
Lifting weights may help fight off diseases that become more common with age including diabetes and heart disease. In one study, men who did resistance training three times a week were 44% less likely to die from any cause when compared with men who didn’t do any weight training at all.
LIFTING WEIGHTS MAY HELP PREVENT KNEECAP FAILURE:
Kneecaps are kept in place by four ligaments that protect knee stability and allow proper movement within the joint. But as we age, these ligaments lose elasticity and the articular cartilage on the ends of our femur bones can become exposed due to stress or trauma, causing pain and limited mobility. Fortunately, strength training may help keep your knees healthy by building muscle around your kneecap or promoting cart growth.
WEIGHT TRAINING CAN HELP YOU LOOK YOUNGER:
OK, yes, it will help you look better in yoga pants (that was easy), but the benefits of weight training go much deeper than that. As we age, our bones become weaker and suffer more damage from stress and trauma.
Resistance training helps strengthen your bones by making them thicker and denser and slowing down bone loss. Plus, research shows that building muscle mass can actually help slow aging and prolong youth because muscle cells turn into energy-producing factories when they’re metabolized during exercise.