Strength Training – The Benefits

Strength training is frequently viewed as a way just to build muscle. It is also a common misconception that cardio exercise, such as running or cycling, is the best way to lose weight and keep your body in good shape. There are numerous benefits to strength training, including how it is better for weight loss than cardio! This article will explore how strength training can help you live a healthier life and why it should be the cornerstone of your fitness routine.

Strength Training Helps Keep Your Heart Healthy

Strength training doesn’t only help you lose weight, it also helps keep your heart healthy! It can reverse cardiovascular problems and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. It also can reduce blood pressure and improve endothelial function, which is greatly contributed to by lower levels of inflammation. Plus, it can decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease by lowering LDL cholesterol, reducing high blood pressure, and improving arterial stiffness.

Training can even help you maintain a healthier lifestyle overall by lowering stress, combating depression, and improving self-esteem. The benefits of strength training to help keep your heart healthy are endless!

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Strength Training Helps Keep Your Bones Strong

One of the many benefits of strength training for your bones is that it naturally reduces osteoporosis. Strength training has been proven to increase bone density and improve balance, which lessens the risk of osteoporotic fractures. Another way that strength training can help keep your bones strong is by increasing activity in your weight-bearing joints, like the knees and hips. The more you move and exercise those joints, the better off they’ll be in the long run!

Wolff’s law is a principle of anatomy, physiology, and neurology that states that bone tends to enlarge in diameter in response to the stresses placed on it. This principle was first described by German professor of anatomy Jakob Reinhold Wolff in 1892. He noticed this while studying the blades of deer antlers. He found that the antlers start small and then grow larger over time. He deduced that the antlers grew to accommodate the increasing weight of the buck’s head.

If you want to increase your bone density, the best way to do so is by increasing your bone stress by lifting heavyweights. You can do this by eating a healthy diet and getting lots of exercise. The more you’re exposed to these things, the more likely it is that you’ll be able to maintain a higher bone density and help avoid osteoporosis.

Strength Training Helps Keep you Balanced

One thing you might notice as you start to do more weight-bearing activities is that your balance starts to improve. When you take the time to strengthen your muscles and bones, your body’s balance adjusts accordingly. Your body will also respond by creating stronger muscles to better support joints that are used for heavyweight transfers. The stronger the muscle, the better it will be at supporting your bones!

Strength training can also help keep your joints healthy by maintaining joint mobility and flexibility. Many people who suffer from joint pain or degenerative joint disease (such as arthritis) report significant relief after starting a strength training program. This happens because joints need to be repeatedly loaded to maintain their health; if they aren’t, they will become stiff and less mobile, leaving you in pain.

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Strength Training Helps Prevent Injuries

Strength training can even help you prevent injuries! One of the best benefits of strength training is that it helps your muscles adapt to new stresses, which will help them develop resistance against future strains. When you lift weights, it takes time for your muscles to adjust. Training gives them the time they need to adjust and adapt to new stresses placed on them, such as new weights or daily challenges. By doing so, the muscles learn that they need to work harder and stronger over time and will develop resistance against future strains.

Strength training can also prevent injuries, in two major ways: by building up the muscles and stabilizer muscles and with better balance. By strengthening your muscles, you’ll have more power when you lift something heavy or when you need to stay on your feet during a slip or fall. Balance is an integral part of preventing injuries, so building it into a regular regime of working out helps you stay on your feet.

In addition, strength training can help build up the muscles around injured joints and make them stronger. If a joint is injured, the surrounding muscles tend to become weaker as they don’t need to work as hard anymore to hold it together. This means that when the joint recovers, the muscles are weak and that increases the risk of getting injured again. By working out with weights or resistance, you can help build up the muscles again to prevent future injury in that area.

Strength Training Keeps Your Muscles ‘Young’

Strength training, or weight lifting, has been shown to help slow down and even reverse the decline in muscle mass and strength which occurs naturally as we age. The key is to lift weights that are heavy enough that you can perform 8-12 repetitions of a particular exercise before exhausting your muscles. This is because it takes between 8 and 12 repetitions to fully exhaust a muscle, forcing your body to start over with new cells during the healing process.

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Strength Training is Fun

Not only is strength training effective, but it can also be fun. Working out with weights offers a social, interactive element to exercise that might not be available with other kinds of workouts like running or biking. Plus, the variety in workout equipment and movements make it possible to always have a new challenge to try.

Grab a friend – exercise should be more enjoyable when you have someone else to do it with!

The benefits of Strength Training for Weight Loss

Strength training for weight loss is another important benefit of strength training. You can use weight lifting to make your workouts more effective by engaging more muscles in each move. This is because you can target all the different groups of muscles, not just the largest ones.

When you do this it allows you to get your workout done faster. If you are not doing full-body moves then engaging these smaller muscles that get neglected during other workouts like bicep curls for example can help burn more calories and burn fat faster than just focusing on the larger muscle groups like the thighs.

As well, strength training can build muscles if that is one of your goals, and this will help increase your metabolism, which helps burn more calories. This can make it easier to lose weight and keep it off over the long term.

So if you are looking for an alternative way to work out or even thinking about starting a new workout routine, why not give strength training for weight loss a try with the assistance of your local personal trainer.

Strength Training Makes You Happy

The benefits of Strength Training aren’t just physical. A study by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) suggests that lifting weights can also improve someone’s outlook on life, too. Researchers monitored middle-aged adults who regularly engaged in weight training to see how it affected their mental health. They found that the more time someone spent working out with weights, the happier they seemed to become.

“When you start working out, usually your initial reaction is, ‘Oh my God,'” said David Womack, who led the study. “But after a while, it becomes more of an enjoyment.”

The researchers were not entirely sure why weightlifting had such an uplifting effect on the study’s participants. They did find, however, that it improved their mental health by improving sleep and decreasing depression and stress.

Endorphins are released during exercise and they make us feel stronger and more confident, but that’s not all-endorphins also work as natural painkillers because of their power to block out stress and discomfort. That means you can skip the aspirin after a workout and get on with your day happier and healthier!

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Strength Training Makes You Smarter

Many people focus on gaining muscle but often forget about the brain. As it turns out, you can become smarter by working out with weights! A study conducted by Dr. Arthur Kramer from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found that a 12-week regimen of twice-weekly strength training improved older adults’ cognitive function and brain efficiency. Kramer and his fellow researchers used a special MRI scanner to monitor brain activity while participants did a series of mental tests, such as drawing a line that connected a sequence of numbers in ascending order.

The study confirmed what many fitness instructors have been saying for years: weight training exercises the brain more than it does the body. “People think you only benefit the body, but one thing scientists have discovered over the past 10 years is that there are all kinds of ways exercise benefits the brain,” says John J. Ratey, M.D., an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of “Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain.”

As it turns out, regular strength training exercises increase the number of capillaries in the brain, which provides more oxygen and nutrients to neurons. In addition, it also enhances neurogenesis–the development of new synapses between neurons–as well as increases levels of a chemical called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is known to aid the growth of new neurons. This means that your brain will function better, giving you greater concentration and memory.

Conclusion

If this all appeals to your inner nerd or fitness fanatic then get started today with these tips below:

-Start small- if you’re new to strength training you’ll want to ease into it! Try doing a couple of lower body workouts and upper body circuits with little weights before moving on to heavier ones. For beginners, resistance bands are also a good option as they provide less strain on joints during exercise.

-Pick your routine- whether it’s at home or in the gym, having an effective routine is everything. Think about what your goals are and how much time you can dedicate to working out, then set up an effective plan that will help you reach those goals.

-Treat it like a sport- this means planning! If you stick to the same schedule each week (most people workout best on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) you’ll be more likely to stick to your workout routine.

-Keep it fun!- if you enjoy what you’re doing, you’ll be less likely to give up on working out. This means setting goals for yourself that keep things interesting and trying new routines at the gym or in your living room- treat it like a game!

Go ahead and schedule a phone call with us today to learn how to exercise perfectly.