Gen Wright asked:


like to look good – and feel even better? Try strength training exercise as it is also a great mood booster. You will build strength, improve your muscle tone, raise your energy levels, boost your self-esteem and decrease the risk of some diseases.

It’s really all about how you feel – Research has shown that proper exercise programs do a lot more than strengthen your heart and build your bones – it improves how you feel about yourself and your outlook on life. Research shows that the better you feel about yourself and the more effectively you manage stress, the calmer you will be, the better your overall health is likely to be and the more you will enjoy life.

It is not only the outside you need to exercise; the inside is just as important if not more. The better we feel about ourselves the better environment we create around us making other people happy as well. And if you are enthusiastic about exercising you might pass it on to someone who is not active and help them to change their life.

The physical needs and outcomes of exercise, whether it’s to tone muscle, lose weight, address obesity or increase lifespan, dominates what we hear about, but lots of people who exercise don’t see stark physical benefits. This message needs to be rewritten. When you exercise you are going to feel better, you will sleep better, and have more energy. You will also have increased confidence, a feeling of well being and a sense of self that result from your efforts as you are doing something for yourself. This carries over into every aspect of your daily life.

While increasing your performance and energy through strength training exercise, you may discover there are also benefits to your mental health. Not only does strength training make your body work better it will make you happier as well and will give you a health state of mind. It is a great way to blow off the stress, anxiety, and tension of the day and increases the ability to relax and be calm.

Studies show that you will be less likely to suffer from depression when you improve your strength and fitness. Physical exercise is great brain exercise too as by moving your body, your brain has to learn new muscle skills, estimate distance and practice balance.

It has been well proven that we all need physical activity to be healthy. People who exercise regularly feel better mentally and physically, improve their health, reduce the risk of disease and increase their chances of staying fit and independent as they age.

Instead of exercising because you “have to,” you do it because you want to; and it becomes part of who you are. This approach to becoming more active is for the whole person and can bring true “health” rather than just “fitness.”

By shifting the focus from how exercise makes you look to how it makes you feel may help people start, maintain or even appreciate an exercise program. If you are having motivational roadblocks with exercise because you are trying to spot reduce your midsection, ask yourself do you feel better, sleep better or have more energy during the day. Do not neglect to look at those very important and positive outcomes because you are so focused on your belly.

Exercise is one of the most important things you can do for your mind and your body.

It’s never too late to start, but the sooner you start the sooner you can reap the benefits.

Muscle Gain

Once upon a time, a hundred plus years ago life was full of physical activity for our ancestors. Transportation consisted of walking on your own two feet, or if you were lucky you rode a horse. Farming was the main occupation and required hard physical labor from dawn to dusk. Household chores like washing, cooking, cleaning and shopping were all serious workouts. There was absolutely no need for anyone to add in some intentional exercise into their lives.

The Industrial Revolution came along and radically changed our occupations and lifestyles. Machines started doing the hard jobs, at work and at home, and when radio, television, movies, computers and video games came along to fill the extra free time, we were only too happy to take a seat and a load off our feet.

Without the physical “work” to maintain strength, our bodies pay the price and we begin a long slow downward run of muscle and bone loss of between 300-500 grams per year starting in the mid 30′s. This muscle tissue loss causes a corresponding drop in metabolism (the rate the body burns fuel) and body fat is accumulated often padding the area masking the loss so it is rarely noticed.

This change in body composition (ratio of lean muscle tissue to body fat) not only lowers the metabolic rate but siphons away our strength, drains our energy levels and weakens our immune system exposing us to disease and illness.

The good news is there’s an antidote that is now well known and well proven. Strength training exercise can reverse muscle and bone loss and make our bodies work better and become leaner. When challenged by strength training exercise, the body is stimulated to produce growth hormone, a hormone that has been shown to slow the aging process.

Your muscles, bones and other cells in your body will have good reason to renew themselves as they are being challenged to stay strong, sweeping away old, degenerated cells and tissue. This allows the rejuvenation and rebuilding of new tissue that is younger, stronger, and healthier.

Strength training exercise is such a powerful age eraser it can improve the quality of your life at any age or any physical condition you may be in It is no longer thought of as only a hobby of youth, but a lifetime method of keeping your strength and fitness which gets even more important as you get older. Whether you are 40 or 60 years old you can reclaim your youth by gaining strength and building muscle as fast as a 21 year old. It is quite possible to become 100 to 150 % stronger in just a few months of this special exercise regime.

The basic premise of strength training is to use resistance to make muscles work harder than they are accustomed to working in everyday activities, and provides more health benefits than any other exercise or activity. You will be preventing or slowing degenerative changes, rebuilding damaged tissue, restoring lost function, and helping the immune system fight disease.

What priority are you giving your health and well-being? Remember that if you are strong, fit, well and happy with yourself this will benefit others too. Every child deserves a happy parent; every boss would rather have a fit employee and every person appreciates a vital and vibrant spouse or partner in life.

Resolve to reserve the time for strength training exercise. Whatever your current condition, you can choose to be building strength and fitness and put life back into living, or letting it slip away. It is up to you alone to decide how you will live, which path will you choose?

Muscle Growth