Strength training is not just for those who want to persue a career in competative bodybuilding or professional athelets, regular people can also reep the benefits as well. Strength training is a great way to improve your overall quality of life, whether you are 18 or 81. Some of the benefits of strength training are...
1. Improving Strength
2. Improving Endurance
3. Improving Mobility
4. Improves Balance
5. Burning Calories More Efficiently
6. Improving Your Mental Health
7. Lowering Your Risk of Injury
8. Improving Bone Density and Strength
9. Improving Brain Health
10. Helping Manage Blood Sugar Levels
The best part is that most of these benefits happen at the same time and you don't have to focus on just one! You can choose your specific focus and individualize your workout program targeted towards those goals.
1. Improving Strength.
Building strength occurs when you place a specific muscle, or muscles under the appropriate type of stress, and encourage it to become stronger. There has been a common misconseption that not all rep ranges build muscle and strength, and that is simply not true, all rep ranges build strength. It just depends on what type of strength you are looking for and how much muscle you would like to add to your frame. A few of the different types of strength are...
-Max Strength- Lifting as much weight as possible for 1-2 repetitions. This is usually performed by experienced lifters as there is a greater risk of injury.
-Max Power- Lifting heavier loads in a controlled, quick and explosive way. This also is reserved for more experienced lifters.
-Strength Endurance- Improving the stamina and strength of your muscles using higher repetitions and lower weight and minimal rest. (15-30 repetitions/15-30 seconds rest).
-Muscle Hypertrophy-Primarily focusing on increasing the size of your muscles with lighter weights and more repetitions. (10-15 repetitions)
-Circuit Training (HIIT)- Short bursts of high intensity training focused on building stamina and strength (Exercises can be performed for an amount of time or number of repetitions with lighter weight).
Building strength is vital to overall health. As we are in a society where there is less and less opportunities to challenge our muscles it is ideal to look for ways to do so. As the old saying goes "You don't use it, you lose it." You can use a variety of different tools, dumbbells, barbells, resistance bands, cables and even your own bodyweight. Find out what type of strength is most important to you and start your stength training journey today. Feel free to switch up your training focus and challenge your body in different ways.
2. Improving Endurance.
Believe it or not strength training can build endurance as well. Not just in your muscles, but in your heart and lungs as well. Training for endurance usally requires higher repetitions, lighter weight and minimal rest periods in between sets. This specific type of training challenges your body's ability to work for extended periods of time. This type of strength training is great for those with limited time and still want to get in a great workout. Two of the ways you can train for endurance are...
-Strength Endurance- Training in a specific movement with higher repetitions (usualy 20-30), and minimal rest (15-30 seconds)moving as much weight as possible before your form starts to be compromised. For example, completing a squat for 20-30 repetitions, rest for 30 seconds for at least 3 rounds and then resting for a full 1-2 minutes to allow your body to recover.
-Overall Endurance- This is more focused on your entire body's ability to work over longer periods of time with minimal rest. For example, complete round of jumping jacks for 30 seconds and rest for 20 seconds for 3 rounds, and then finally rest for 1-2 minutes. This focuses more on your cardiovascualr system as apposed to a specific movement.
3. Improving Mobility.
Strength training is not only beneficial for building strength, but improving your joints range of motion as well. By taking your body through full ranges of motion you are allwoing the muscles around a joint to lengthen, thus increasing your range of motion. For example, a pullup, when you are at the bottom part of the exercise you are in a stretched position, stretching your back muscles, arms and even your spine. As you pull yourself upwards you are taking those stretched muscles through as full range of motion as possible. This exercise is great for increasing mobility in your shoulders, back and spine.
When you become stronger in a specific movement and have increased range of motion you are able to access new muscles that you may have forgotten about, improving your overall strength.
4. Improving Balance
When we place our bodies in new positions we unwittingly challenge our balance, especially in our core, even if we aren't specifically focusing on it.
As our muscles become stronger so do our joints, creating a more stable version of ourselves. You also have the ability to prioritize balance in your workouts and build strength in less stable positions. For example, standing on one leg for time. As you become more efficient at the exercise you can add challanges, like bending your standing leg more or closing one eye. The goal is to find ways to challenge that one position until it becomes easy, then add more challanges.
Balance is a skill to practice even in your younger years. That way, as you do get older balance is less of an issue and you can decrease your liklihood of injury due to falls.
5. Burning Calories More Efficiently
When you begin to build lean muscle during strength training you are transforming your body into a more efficient calorie burning machine. How is this done? Muscle tissue is more effecient at burning calories than fat, as it requires more energy to use and to maintain.
As you are building muscle you increase your metabolic rate, allowing you to burn more calories while at rest. Now that's not saying that you can workout and eat whatever you want, you still want to fuel your body with quality foods and water. Even after your workout is fininshed you still can reep the benfits of strength training because your metabolism is increased up to 72 hours AFTER your workout.
6. Improving Your Mental Health.
Routine strength training not only improves your physical health, but can also improve your mental health at the same time. During and even after your workout you may feel a rush of "feel good" endorphins decreasing pain, stress, and anxiety and improving your overall mood. These hormones are released when you move your body and contract and relax your muscles. Gaining access to these feel good emotions can also be accomplished with a bit of light stretching, before or after your workout or at anytime throughout the day. Find what's your favorite way to get that endorphin hit and decrease your stress levels.
7. Lowering Your Risk of Injury.
Injuries can range from a slight muscle tweak to a broken limb, but most of those can be avoided by creating a strong and mobile body. Now I'm not talking about car crashes or extreme circumstances, but the regular day to day events that cause injuries. For example, throwing out your back from picking up a box off the floor. Regular strength training creates stronger muscles and more stable joints which will reduce injuries from situations like falls. It also improves the range of motion around those joints allowing your body to move as it was naturally intended. When there is limited range of motion around a particular joint your body searches for some stability in the next available joint. For example, when squatting. If you feel knee discomfort when squatting it might be a good idea to check your ankle range of motion. If your ankles are stiff and limited your body is going to shift the load to the next available joint. In this case your knees. Strength training also helps improve your balance and coordintation, again helping you decrease the liklihood of a fall. Injury prevention is not just something to consider as you get older. By implementing strength training into your weekly, or even daily routine, you can feel younger longer, and decrease your trips to the emergency room.
8. Improving Bone Density/Strength.
When you place the appropriate amount of stress on your muscles and bones it sends them a signal to become stronger and more durable. Our bodies are designed to make our lives as efficient as possible, but that doesn't always play in our favor. For example, if you have had a sedintary desk job for 30+ years you haven't placed a real need on your muscles and bones to become stronger, right? To make your body more efficient it begins to eliminate tissues that require a lot of energy to maintain, in this case, muscle tissue. Over time as there becomes less and less muscle tissue around our bones and there is less demand for them to be strong they begin to become weaker and less dense. These affects can be halted, and in some cases reversed, with regular strength training. With strength training you are "reminding" your muscles and bones that you still need them to be strong and supportive. It goes back to that old saying again..."You dont' use it, you lose it.".
9. Improving Your Brain Health
Anytime you are learning something new you are improving the quality of how your brain functions. This is called neuroplasticity, and this skill doesn't stop when strength training. Learning a new movement you are training your brain to connect to the muscles used in this new skill and improving your neuroplasticity. Expanding and contracting your muscles also improves blood flow, not only to the area being contracted but to your brain, heart and lungs as well. Trying new movements and challenging your brain is a great way to keep your mind youthful and sharp.
10. Helping Manage Blood Sugar Levels
When you build skeletal muscle you increase your insulin sensitivity and decrease your risk of diabetes because muscle tissue is sensitive to insulin. Skeletal muscle also helps reduce blood sugar levels by removing glucose from your blood and delivering it to your muscle cells to use as energy. When you exercise before eating a meal your body is more effective in using glucose to reduce your blood sugar levels. During your workout you may even notice that your glucose levels lower, that's because your body is using glucose as energy and not allowing large amounts to travel back into your bloodstream.
There is a long list of benefits that come with regular strength training. Whether it's to improve your health, decrease injuries or you just would like to feel good, start implementing strength training into your normal routine. You are worth it!
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