Categories
Meta
Blogroll
Metabolic Rate's Articles
Will Weight Lifting Provide Any Health Benefits?
Those that lift weights can be divided into three different groups. There are some that do strength training merely to look better. They want to look good when they stand in front of a mirror and they want to get looks from the opposite sex when walking down the street. Others lift weights to increase their strength. They are not worried so much about looking good. They just want to feel a sense of pride at how much iron they can throw around. Then there is a final group who is simply are the health benefits that lifting weights can provide.
Today I want to consider those that are in the third camp. What are some of the health benefits that you might experience if you were to embark on a weight lifting program?
Fat Loss
The more you lift weights the more muscle you will add to your body. This will in turn raise your metabolic rate and help burn calories and fat at a faster rate. Muscle is a fat burning machine that we can all put to good use. Now some women are worried that they are going to get big and bulky if they lift weights. This is not going to happen since they lack testosterone in their bodies to enable them to build bulky muscles. Frankly, if it was that easy I would have looked like Mr. Universe long ago but this is not the case. However, it am not loaded up with fat.
Better Overall Health
If you were to incorporate a regular weight training program into your exercise routine then you can have a great impact on various measures of good health. Studies have shown that you can improve you blood pressure, and lower your risk of heart disease and diabetes. Now it is obvious that you would need to include a reasonable diet along with weight lifting in order to benefit as you should. You cannot eat a pizza every night for dinner and still see these benefits.
More Energy
As your muscle strength increases you will find that you have more energy then you used to have. It will be easier to go up stairs. You will find yourself less tired throughout the day. The very fact that you begin to look better and feel better adds a vitality to your life that you may not have experienced before. It helps improve your attitude and when that changes, it can affect so many areas of your life.
Fewer Injuries
If you do participate in athletic activities weight lifting should help keep you healthier and less prone to injury. Strength training will not only give you stronger muscle but also stronger tendons and ligaments. This will help you avoid injury.
These are just a few of the health benefits of lifting weights. If you have not begun to lift weights yet then you need to make it a priority to include it in your exercise program.
Strength Training Will Put Life Back Into Living
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?
