Fitness is much more than just weight loss and cardio exercises. One of the most essential elements of a good fitness regime is strength training. Lean muscle mass reduces with age, but regular resistance training helps you get stronger and rebuilds the lost muscle mass.
Even though a lot of people associate strength training with bodybuilders, science has proved that exercises like weight lifting, conditioning exercises, yoga or pilates, etc. are beneficial for people of all age groups.
Regular strength training is a vital part of your health and fitness regimen. Here’s a look at the benefits of this training.
Strength Training Improves Your Fitness & Makes You Stronger
Just a few sessions of strength training in a week can tone up your body to make you feel fitter and stronger. A typical training routine comprises exercises that push you to overload your muscles. When your muscles experience the correct kind of overload regularly – they start to get stronger to cope with the load. This effectually makes you stronger and increases your stamina.
Chronic Disease Management
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- Improve cardiovascular health – Strength and resistance training reduces abdominal fat and improves heart health. People who include strength training in their workouts twice or thrice a week have more HDL cholesterol in their blood than people who don’t. HDL is good cholesterol which reduces the risk of heart diseases. This is not possible by working out on cardio machines alone.
- Control blood sugar levels – A strength training routine helps improve your muscles’ capacity to utilize the glucose present in your blood. Therefore, muscle exercises are a must for those with Type 2 diabetes or high sugar levels.
- Reduced cancer risk – Those with high quantities of abdominal fat or visceral fat run the risk of developing cancer. Regular strength-building exercises help you in reducing abdominal fat and in turn, reduce the risk of cancer.
- Arthritis pain – Arthritis causes severe joint and muscle pain. Strength training is a great way to reduce joint stiffness, improve muscle movement, and manage the pain that comes with arthritis.
Protects Bone Health & Builds Muscle Mass
According to science, an average person above the age of 30 loses 3-5% of muscle mass every year, due to aging. To protect your body from losing muscle mass, you should include a few strength exercises in your daily exercise routine. Strength exercises are known to improve functional performance, bone density, and strength if done regularly.
Improves Body Mechanics
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Regular resistance training workouts give your muscles more stability and strength. It improves balance, muscle coordination, and posture. For an overall improvement in body mechanics, strength training is very important.
Physical functioning is critical for an independent lifestyle and safety in old age – and people who invest time in this training tend to have better body mechanics when they get older.
Helps to Burn More Calories and Boosts Metabolism
Regular muscle exercise helps in increasing muscle mass which enables your body to burn more calories more easily. Strength training also boosts metabolism in your body. For example, when you run on a treadmill – your body burns calories at a faster rate for more energy.
Even after you finish exercising, your body continues to burn calories at a high rate until your body recovers to a resting state. Therefore, regular training boosts your overall metabolism to help you burn more calories in a day.
Improves Mental Health
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Strength training workouts help your body release endorphins which improve your mood and put you in a positive frame of mind. Even though this effect has been observed in all training exercises, it is significantly higher with strength exercises. The neuromuscular response to a resistance workout has a positive impact on your mental health.
On the whole, incorporating a training workout into your exercise regimen can work wonders to boost your health and fitness. Before you begin, make sure you check with a professional fitness guide. They will be able to suggest the right exercises and gym equipment that is best suited for your training.
Get started with a strength training routine to boost your health and fitness today!
