Weight Training & Strength Training have so many benefits. Maybe you didn’t know most of them? From changing your body, your health and even your heart!?
- Burns More Fat And Calories
Strength training or lifting weights should be added to your workouts. By training with weights, you will only burn fat and be able to burn more fat in a short period as compared to just cardio. Moreover, when you strength train, your body remains in the fat burning mode long after you have left the gym. This is known as Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) effect. This doesn’t happen when you do low-intensity cardio. FINALLY. Less cardio. - Tones The Body
Lifting weights can help you get a toned and sleek body. And by “toned,” I mean building lean muscle mass. A mixed workout, which includes cardio and strength training, means you will be able to burn more fat and build lean muscle mass. - Decreases The Risk Of Muscle Loss
Your body starts losing muscle mass right after you hit 30 years of age. UH OH! And when that happens, your skin becomes loose, and your buttocks, belly, chin, arms, shoulders, and chest will unfortunately start to sag. The one and the only way you can prevent that is by lifting weights. - Boosts Metabolism
Your metabolism will slow down as you age. And as a result, you may find it very difficult to lose any excess body fat. And to revert/prevent that, lifting weights is highly recommended. Why? Because there’s a direct relation between your metabolism and muscle mass. Your muscles have mitochondria (stay with me), which convert glucose to the usable form of energy. With muscle loss, the number of mitochondria will decrease, resulting in slowed down metabolism. Since strength training builds lean muscle mass and prevents age-related muscle loss, the number of mitochondria in the cells will not decrease. And your metabolism will remain perfect, if not increased! YAY! - Helps Protect The Heart It is proved that by lifting weights, patients can improve and protect their heart. In fact, patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) can improve their heart rate variability, heart muscle strength, and endurance with strength training. Look after the good old heart people!
- An Effective Energy Booster When you lift weights at the gym or home, you will notice a huge difference in your energy levels throughout the day. And that’s because every fiber of your muscles will awaken and work effectively to utilise the food in the form of energy. This helps you shed the fat and reduces inflammation in your body, which will help you lose weight and feel light and agile. Ahhhh.
- Helps You Get Curves
This is the best part of lifting weights. No workout can give you curves like strength training. Since lifting weights can help you build lean muscle mass, you will be able to shed fat and add toned curves to certain areas of your body. Use dumbbells, barbells, resistance bands, or your body weight. By doing full-body strength training, you will get the right amount of curves in the right area. Nothing like it, right? - Enhances Sports Fitness
Sports fitness depends on muscle and bone strength, muscle power, endurance capacity, and quick reflex. If you are aiming to become fit in a certain sport, you must do strength training along with cardio to improve your performance. Lifting weights has a positive impact on your heart health and connective tissues and will help improve your stamina, reflex, and muscle power. - Relieves Stress & Helps Sleep
In general, exercising has a positive effect on mental health. When you lift weights for at least two days per week, your body is reaping all of the above benefits, plus using your brain power to concentrate and improve vastly in that time. In tern, it will help with sleeping soundly at night, your muscles will be tired, and your body will thrive on sleeping and repairing, making it easier for you to drift off.