If there is one thing you can do to improve your health, strength training should be at the top of your list. It involves using one or more muscle groups to perform a specific task, such as lifting weights or squatting.
Due to the growing body of evidence supporting its many benefits, strength training has become an essential part of most exercise programs. If you’ve ever thought about strength training, you may be wondering how it will benefit your life.
This article shares 14 benefits of strength exercises.
The main types of strength training include:
muscle hypertrophy; This type of strength training, also known as muscle building, uses medium to heavy weights to stimulate muscle growth.
Muscular endurance. This refers to the ability of your muscles to sustain the exercise for a period of time. Training to increase muscular endurance usually involves high repetitions using light weights or body weight.
Training department. During this type of whole body conditioning, you can cycle between different exercises with little or no rest in between.
Maximum muscle strength. This type of exercise includes low repetitions (usually 2-6) and heavy weights to improve your overall strength. It is best to devote it to experienced exercisers who have mastered their form.
explosive energy. This training combines strength and speed to improve your energy production. It is usually employed among trained athletes to improve their ability to perform explosive movements in their sport.
Most people focus on muscular endurance, circuit training, and muscle hypertrophy as part of a strength training routine, while strength and power training is usually limited to experienced athletes.
Depending on the type of strength training you choose to reach your goals, you can use a variety of equipment:
Body weight: Using your body weight and the force of gravity to perform different movements (eg push-ups, squats, planks, pull-ups, lunges)
Free weights: Equipment not attached to the floor or to a machine, such as dumbbells, barbells, coffee bells, medicine balls, or objects around the house
Resistance Bands / Loop Bands: Rubber bands that provide resistance when stretching
Weight machines: machines with adjustable weights or hydraulic attachments to provide resistance and pressure to the muscles
Suspension equipment: It consists of ropes or straps attached to a solid point in which a person uses his own body weight and weight to perform various exercises.
No matter what type of strength training you do, the goal is to put your muscles under tension to allow for neuromuscular adaptations and stimulate muscle growth. With regular exercise, your muscles will become stronger.
summary
Strength training is any type of exercise that involves your own body weight or equipment to build muscle mass, endurance and strength. There are many types of strength training, such as weight training or circuit exercises.
14 Benefits of Science-Backed Strength Training
There are many benefits to strength training that can improve your health.
1. Makes you stronger
Strength exercises help you become stronger.
Gaining strength allows you to perform everyday tasks easier, such as carrying heavy groceries or running with your kids
Furthermore, it helps improve athletic performance in sports that require speed, strength and power, and may also support endurance athletes by preserving lean muscle mass.
2. Burns calories efficiently
Strength training helps boost metabolism in two ways.
First, building muscle increases your metabolic rate. Muscle is more metabolically efficient than fat mass, allowing you to burn more calories while at rest.
Second, research shows that your metabolic rate increases up to 72 hours after strength exercises. This means that you still burn extra calories hours and even days after your workout.
3. Reduces abdominal fat
Fat stored around the abdomen, especially visceral fat, is associated with an increased risk of chronic diseases, including heart disease, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer.
Multiple studies have shown the benefit of strength training for reducing belly fat and total body fat.
4. It can help you appear leaner
The more muscle you build and the more fat you lose, the leaner you will look.
This is because muscle is denser than fat, which means it takes up less space in the body. Therefore, you may lose inches from your waist even if you don’t notice a change in the number on the scale.
Losing body fat and building stronger and bigger muscles also shows more muscle definition, creating a stronger, leaner appearance.
5. Reduces the risk of falls
Strength exercises reduce the risk of falls, because you are able to better support your body.
In fact, one review in 23,407 adults over the age of 60 showed a 34% reduction in falls among those who participated in a comprehensive exercise program that included balance and resistance exercises and functional training.
Fortunately, many forms of strength training have been shown to be effective, such as tai chi, weightlifting exercises, resistance bands and body weight exercises.
6. Reduces the risk of injury
Including strength training in your exercise routine may reduce your risk of injury.
Strength training helps improve the strength, range and motion of your muscles, ligaments, and tendons. This can enhance strength around major joints such as the knees, hips, and ankles to provide additional protection against injury.
Furthermore, strength exercises can help correct muscular imbalances. For example, having a stronger core, hamstrings, and glutes removes the load from your lower back while lifting, reducing the risk of lower back injuries.
Finally, adult and teen athletes who participate in strength training have a lower potential for injury.
In fact, one review of 7,738 athletes found that strength training programs reduce injury risk by 33%. It was found to reduce injury risk in a dose-dependent manner, meaning that for every 10% increase in the volume of strength training, there was a 4% reduction in injury risk.
7. Improves heart health
Multiple studies have shown that regular strength exercises can reduce blood pressure, lower total and LDL cholesterol, and improve circulation by strengthening the heart and blood vessels.
Strength training can also help you maintain a healthy body weight and manage blood sugar levels. High blood sugar levels are a major risk factor for heart disease.
8. Helps manage blood sugar levels
Strength exercises may reduce the risk of developing diabetes and can help people with this condition better manage it.
Skeletal muscles help increase insulin sensitivity. It also reduces blood sugar levels by removing glucose from the blood and sending it to muscle cells. As a result, greater muscle mass can help improve blood sugar management.
Strength exercises may also reduce the risk of developing diabetes. One study that followed 35,754 women for an average of 10 years showed a 30% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes among those who engaged in strength training compared to those who did not.
9. Encourages greater mobility and flexibility
Contrary to popular belief, strength exercises can make you more flexible.
Strength training increases joint range of motion (ROM), allowing for greater range of motion and flexibility. Additionally, those with weak muscles tend to have lower ROM and flexibility.
In fact, a recent review comparing stretching with strength training found that they were equally effective at increasing ROM.
For best results, be sure to complete the full ROM of the exercise – in other words, use your full movement potential around the joint. For example, squat yourself as far as you can go without compromising your form.
10. Boosts your self-esteem
Strength training can add a huge boost to your confidence.
It helps you overcome challenges, work toward a goal, and appreciate the strength of your body. In particular, it can increase your self-efficacy – the belief that you can succeed in or perform a task – which can greatly improve your confidence.
In fact, one review of 7 studies in young adults aged 10-16 years noted a significant association between strength training and higher self-esteem and physical strength and physical self-esteem.
In addition, a systematic review that studied 754 adults showed a significant link between strength training and positive body image, including body satisfaction and appearance, and somatic social anxiety (perception of judgment from others).
11. Strengthens your bones
Strength training is critical to bone growth.
Weight-bearing exercises put temporary stress on your bones, sending a message to your bone-building cells to take action and rebuild your bones stronger. Having strong bones reduces your risk of osteoporosis, fractures, and falls, especially as you age.
Fortunately, you can reap the bone-strengthening benefits of strength training at any age.
12. Boosts your mood
Regular weight training may improve your mood and improve your mental health.
Multiple studies have shown that strength training may reduce anxiety and boost your mood.
Strength training offers multiple mood-regulating benefits, such as increased self-esteem and self-efficacy. Furthermore, exercise promotes the release of mood-boosting endorphins, which can play a role in positive moods.
13. Improves brain health
Those who do strength training may have better brain health and be protected from age-related cognitive decline.
Multiple studies in older adults have reported significant improvements in cognitive function (such as processing speed, memory, and executive function) after participating in strength training, compared to those who did not participate in it.
Resistance training is believed to have many neuroprotective effects, such as improving blood flow, reducing inflammation, and increasing expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) associated with memory and learning.
14. Promotes a better quality of life
Strength training may increase your quality of life, especially as you age.
Several studies have linked strength training to increased health-related quality of life, which is defined as a person’s physical and mental well-being.
In fact, one review of 16 studies including adults aged 50 and over showed a significant association between resistance training and improved mental health, physical performance, pain management, general health, and vitality.
Furthermore, strength training may improve quality of life in people with arthritis. One review of 32 studies showed that strength training resulted in significant improvements in pain scores and physical performance.