Major Health And Fitness Benefits of Strength Training

Resistance training, also called strength training or weight training is an important part of your overall fitness and benefits people of all ages, particularly those with health issues such as obesity, arthritis, or a heart condition. It is defined as the use of resistance to muscular contraction to build the strength, anaerobic endurance and size of skeletal muscles through the use of barbells, dumbbells, fixed weight machines, rubber tubing, body weight, medicine balls and other weighted implements.

A well-rounded fitness program includes strength training to improve joint function, bone density, muscle, tendon and ligament strength, as well as aerobic exercise to improve your heart and lung fitness, flexibility and balance exercises. It is recommended that adults do muscle strengthening activities on at least two days each week.

Additionally, modify your training program every 6 to 8 weeks to maintain progressive improvement, by changing:

• number of sets
• repetitions
• kind of exercises
• intensity of weights used
• frequency of training sessions
• rest between sets

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Examples of Resistance Training

There are numerous ways to strengthen your muscles, whether at home or at the gym. It includes:

• free weights – dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells
• medicine balls or sand bags – weighted balls or bags
• weight machines – devices with adjustable seats and handles attached to weights or hydraulics
• resistance bands – huge bands used to provide continuous resistance throughout the movement when stretched; they are portable and adaptable to most kind of workouts
• suspension equipment – using gravity and the user’s body weight
• your own body weight – can be used for squats, push-ups and chin-ups; convenient, especially when travelling or at work 

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Health Benefits of Resistance Training

Physical and mental health benefits that can be achieved through resistance training include:

1. Improves Muscle Strength, Tone And Endurance

Resistance training makes your muscles stronger leading to the formation of more calorie-torching muscles and better performance. Your core will be able to support your body’s weight better and maintain ideal form during other endurance exercises such as running.

2. Increases Metabolic Rate

Strength training feed the muscles resulting to the development of more muscle fibers thereby increasing your metabolic rate or the amount of calories you burn in a resting state. From a yoga standpoint, you are twisting and internally massaging your stomach, which in turn promotes healthy digestion and detoxifies the organs.

3. Improves Mobility And Stability

Proper strength training will improve the stability of certain joints and muscles, allowing the nervous system to unlock the joints, resulting in an increased range of motion. For an instance, if the core and lumbar spine has more stability, the hips will be in a better position to move without compensations. Some studies have shown that strength training reduces the risk of falling by 40%.

4. Increases Physical Work Capacity

It also improves your ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL’s) making you able to work harder and longer. Lifting weights on a regular basis will help everyday activities, such as carrying groceries, housework, gardening, carrying the kids etc, become that bit easier.

Find out the Benefits of Exercising During Menstrual Periods.

5. Increases Self-Esteem And Confidence

Strength training actually helps to boost your mood as well as your confidence. In addition, studies have also shown that both men and women feel better about themselves when they lift weights. By getting stronger, being able to lift more weight and noticing changes to their body over time, they both build confidence, improve body image and enhance their self-esteem. The fear of physical incapability begins to diminish.

This is amazingly true, imagine if I can lift heavy boxes and bring them out of my flat, I would feel pretty damn proud too!

6. Boosts The Immune System

Strength training boosts your immune system as it is pumping blood throughout the body, relieving stress and releasing endorphins. The body often gets sick under times of stress but working out and lifting will help relieve that stress. More research, however, is needed to confirm strength training’s effect on your immune system. 

7. Helps Reduce Stress

Strength training releases endorphins which in turn, uplifts your mood and clears your head. This is personally true for me too, any stress that you are experiencing before you walked into the gym is usually diminished when I start training, then brain clarity kicks in.

8. Strengthens Your Bones

Regular strength training increases bone mineral density in both younger and older adults and helps to reduce the risk of developing arthritis and osteoporosis. Over time, your bones become stronger and denser. As we all know, declining muscle mass is a natural part of aging, with as much as 3 – 5% per decade being lost after the age of 30, so you might want to avoid that.

9. Helps Manage and Lose Weight

Strength training increases your metabolism to help you burn more calories. A good resistance workout increases your excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, meaning your metabolism remains active and your body continues to burn calories long after the workout has taken place.

10. Reduces Risk of Injury

Resistance training not only makes your muscles stronger, but also strengthens your connective tissues such as your ligaments and tendons that leads to improved motor performance and less strain on joints, hence reducing risk of injury.

11. Prevents or Controls Chronic Conditions

It also helps you in the prevention or control of chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, back pain, depression and obesity. Aside from that, you will be able to fight the potential onset of osteoporosis by improving muscle mass and preventing bone loss.

12. Conditions The Body By Self-Regulating Blood Pressure And Heart Rate

Strength training doesn’t only keeps your blood pumping but it also regulates your overall blood flow and heart rate by putting physical stress on the body.

Find out other ways to Improve Blood Pressure Naturally Over Time.

13. Adds Variety To Your Workout Routine

Good thing about strength training is that there are numerous ways to do your workouts considering hundreds of new exercises to try, different types of resistance and a variety of ways to work different parts of your body. It also provides your body with a completely different cardio training challenge which will probably improve your strength after few days following your session.

14. Other Important Benefits

• Improves cognitive function and helps prevent cognitive decline in older people
• Provides greater stamina
• Helps in pain management
• Improves posture, focus, sleep and avoids insomnia
• Decreases risk of dementia
• Reduces markers of inflammation, particularly in people who are overweight
• Decreases cholesterol
• Improves insulin-swings for those with type 2 diabetes
• Reverses ageing factors in mitochondria and muscles
• Reduces pain from fibromyalgia, a condition of chronic pain
• Improves your quality of life

Find out more Ways To Improve Optimal Brain Health.

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Basic Principles of Resistance Training

Resistance training consists of various components. Basic principles include:

• program – composed of various exercise types such as aerobic training, flexibility training, strength training and balance exercises
• weight – different weights or other types of resistance
• exercise – a particular movement
• repetitions or reps – refers to the number of times you continuously repeat each exercise in a set
• set – a group of repetitions performed without resting
• rest – rest between sets; depends on the intensity of exercise
• variety – switching around your workout routine
• progressive overload principle – regular adjustments to the training variables aiming to use an appropriate weight or resistant force that will challenge you, while maintaining good technique
• recovery – the rule of thumb is to rest the muscle group for up to 48 hours before working the same muscle group again giving the muscle enough time to repair and adapt after a workout

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Conclusion

It doesn’t have to be boring.  Switch up your routine by using different machines, free weights, bars, bands, and even your own body weight. C’mon it’s what you paid for right?

Furthermore, people often crave to create the ‘toning effect’ from strength training, but personally, I’m a big fan of being strong in general. I don’t mean being the strongest person in the gym, but being strong enough to not have to ask anyone for help. A benefit of strength training is being able to live life, being able to take care of yourself, and being independent.

Consequently, our muscle needs time to repair and grow after a workout. Not giving your muscles enough time to recover means they will not get bigger or stronger. So it is recommended to rest the muscle group for at least 48 hours. For example, I work out my upper body on Mondays and Thursdays, while my lower body on Wednesdays and Fridays. My cheat days and gym offs are usually scheduled during the weekends giving my body time to relax and muscles to heal.

Here are some vids of our regular strength training exercises!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcFFtpGv7Ug&list=PLhPoH8-Ju8tN_8s2y4yle8DL6TtByx5OL&index=2&t=4s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgExK0VFKLM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnTPQrXxXNU&t=7s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buPVGcAf11g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDd9G1Eldgo

How about you? Do you have a special workout routine to share?!
We are happy to know about it!

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