8 reasons to try weight training
If you haven’t tried weight training yet, it’s something I’d like you to consider.
Many of us at some time in our lives decide to “get healthy” or start “doing some exercise”. For the majority of people this translates to walking, jogging, cycling, etc. All these things are great, as increased movement will help you burn a a few calories and increase your cardio vascular fitness (the capacity of your heart and lungs to provide blood and oxygen to the body).
However, you would be missing out on what is the most important part of improving your overall health and fitness. Strength training using resistance (weight training) has numerous major advantages that cardio alone will simply fail to deliver.
Why you really should try weight training…
Increased Strength – Strength improves your ability to perform physical everyday tasks, making life easier. You soon notice the difference in simple tasks such as carrying heavy groceries, climbing stairs, etc. It becomes even more obvious when you find yourself playing with the kids or your dog.
Injury Risk Reduction – Working with weights over time strengthens your body’s connective tissue. This includes the muscles and tendons, improving joint function.
Weight Management – Weight training increases your body’s muscle mass, this new muscle requires more energy to sustain it. Strength training individuals burn 5 – 10% more calories than other people, even at rest. Our muscle mass decreases as we age, replaced by fat – we can combat this reduction with weight training.
Bone Density – As we age our bones weaken and get more brittle (this is particularly important in females over 40 who are prone to osteoporosis), which increases the risk of injury, especially from trips and falls. Weight training, however, increases bone strength making them stronger and more resilient, thus reducing injury risk factors greatly.
Heart Health – Cardio vascular exercise has been proven to improve lung and heart capacity, but weight training has been shown to reduce blood pressure. It has proven as effective as medication in some individuals. Health organisations now recommend strength training at least twice a week.
Sleep Improvement – Regular exercise that includes strength training has been proven to improve quality of sleep.
Diabetes Type 2 Management – Lifestyles that consist of inactivity, poor diet choices, obesity, or declining insulin sensitivity, can trigger the onset of type 2 diabetes. Strength training regularly will reduce abdominal fat, in conjunction with a healthy diet, and reduce your risk of diabetes type 2.
Chronic Pain Reduction – Musculoskeletal weakness causes many chronic pain conditions. Strength training supporting muscles reduces low back pain, as one example studies have shown. Osteoarthritis sufferers see moderate pain reduction as the bones are strengthened. Fybromyalgia sufferers have seen moderate to large pain reduction when performing regular strength training programs.
Ready to give it a go?
Contrary to the belief that weights are just for guys, or that women shouldn’t do weights or they’ll ‘get big’ (physically impossible for women without serious supplementation and chemical intervention), we should all include weight training as part of a healthy, long-term lifestyle plan.
Want to train with me? Get in touch to book a trial session.
