Fourteen Benefits of Strength Training
Everyone should perform strength training consistently. In this article, we will discuss fourteen benefits of strength training regularly.
If you need help getting starting, consider enlisting the help of a qualified personal trainer to show you proper form and technique.
Gain Strength
You can increase your strength between 40 and 100 percent in a year’s time. Think of how much that extra strength will impact your everyday life. You will carry in your groceries with more ease. You will be able to bicycle up those hills faster. And finally, you won’t need your husband to open your jars for you.
Everything you do will feel easier with improved strength.
Improve Sports Performance
Strength training can also boost your sports performance. Whether you prefer playing soccer, long distance running or participating in triathlons, strength training can boost your performance.
Specifically, strength training can help improve power, neuromuscular control, endurance, and make every training session and competition feel easier.
Boost Endurance
Strength training can also boost your endurance. For one, strength training can improve your anaerobic endurance. Also, strength training can help boost your power and speed on the final kick of a race or training run.
Interestingly, strength training may also improve neuromuscular efficiency, VO2 max and power at maximal oxygen uptake, three important metrics for aerobic performance.
Drop Body Fat
Strength training can help you drop body fat. While cardio training gets all the attention as a tool to help you drop body fat, don’t neglect the strength training. Strength training can help you reduce your body fat while also reshaping your body, improving your results.
While cardio does burn more calories per session, strength training builds muscle which changes your body composition.
Strength training can also help you reduce unhealthy fat around your organs.
Strengthen Bones
Not surprisingly, strength training also helps you to strengthen your bones and preserve the bone mass you already have. Strength training loads your bones and forces them to remodel with increased strength. In fact, strength training may even increase your bone mineral density by 1 to 3 percent.
Strength training may even help post-menopausal women to preserve and build new bone mass.
To really get the benefits for your bones, make sure you challenge yourself in the weight room and do exercises that load your spine, pelvis and leg bones, like squats, deadlifts and farmer walks.
Reduce Joint Pain
Did you know that strength training can also help you reduce joint pain? Many people believe that strength training causes joint pain, but the opposite is actually true.
Strength training may serve as an effective treatment for pain including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia and lower back pain.
Strength training can improve joint stability and reduce stress on joints. Additionally, strength training can help you lose weight, which can instantly reduce the stress on your joints.
Reduce Blood Pressure
Strength training can actually help you reduce your risk of high blood pressure.
Strength training can help reduce high blood pressure just as much as cardio training.
Improve Mobility
Many people believe that strength training will make them stiff and muscle bound.
Fortunately, strength training actually improves your mobility and flexibility. By taking your joints through a full range of motion in typical strength training exercises, you can improve your joint mobility. Strength training gives you both the mobility to move and the stability to move well.
Reduce the Risk of Type II Diabetes
Strength training can also improve blood sugar control and reduce the risk of type II diabetes.
Actually, strength training might be more effective than cardio training to improve glucose control.
Improve Metabolism
Strength training can boost your metabolism by increasing your muscle mass. If you build a few pounds of muscle, you will burn more calories even at rest. This will allow you to maintain your weight on a few extra calories, or lose weight on slightly higher calories than the last time you dieted.
Reduce Injuries
Strength training regularly can reduce injuries during other activities like team sports, running or cycling. In fact, strength training may help prevent more than half of all sports injuries. In addition to strengthening your ligaments, tendons and joints, strength training also helps build the strength to avoid awkward falls or slips.
Even if you don’t do any sports, strength training will help you prevent injury as you age due to slips, trips and falls.
Boost Memory
Strength training can actually boost working memory. Strength training boosts growth and prevents deterioration of an area of your brain responsible for memory and learning.
So if you want to boost your cognitive performance in addition to your gym workouts, you must strength train!
Reduce Depression
Strength training just three times per week can decrease anxiety and depression. In fact, exercise may prove as effective as medication to reduce symptoms of depression or anxiety. In many countries, exercise serves as a first line treatment for depression.
Working out can also produce endorphins and a sense of accomplishment to help you power through the rest of your day.
Boost Longevity
Did you know that strength training can actually help you live longer? The number of push ups you can do might predict your life expectancy better than any other fitness test.
Strength training can boost your longevity and your quality of life in your later years. If that is not reason enough to start lifting weights, I don’t know what is.
Final Thoughts
Strength training provides you with so many benefits for your health, wellness and longevity. If you have not started strength training yet, now you have fifteen reasons to start.
What do you think? Did you like this article? Please let me know how strength training benefits you and your life in the comment section below.
