Top 12 Benefits of Strength Training That Boost the Health
If you knew that an exercise could support your heart, boost your equilibrium, strengthen your bones, and promote weight loss while making you look and feel better, wouldn’t you want to know more about it? Well, research shows that strength training offers all these benefits and more for all age groups, especially senior adults.
Here are a few science-backed ways in which strength training can benefit your health and body other than toning and conditioning your muscles:
Stronger Bones
With time, strength training courses enhance bone density and raise the total stiffness of the connective tissue. When we age, this is particularly important because while it may sound unfavourable, these two factors are vital to the mitigation of injury. We also need our body to be able to tighten up and stabilise, on collision or, against externally applied forces.
30 minutes of impact training and high-intensity resistance twice a week can boost functional performance, bone density, strength, and structure in postmenopausal women who have a reduced bone mass. Read More.
Improves Body Image
Strength training can improve one’s own thoughts about his or her body, especially when we are talking about the benefits of strength training for women. Several surveys analysed the correlation between body confidence and strength training, and discovered that females who do strength training self-report more pleasant perceptions towards their bodies after performing resistance training courses compared with those who do not.
Furthermore, according to studies, women who lift weights twice per week feel better about their bodies than those who do not strength train.
Develops Lean Muscle and Reduces Body Fat
As muscle mass grows, so does the resting metabolic frequency. Increasing metabolic resting frequency means that the body uses more energy at rest only to sustain the body’s necessary functions. This does not occur overnight—consistency is key—and you should combine your strength training with a good diet to see progress.
Strength Training Burns More Calories
Strength training boosts your metabolism and, consequently, your calorie burn rate during and after your workout.
During strength training, you burn more calories, and your body continues to burn them even after the training, a process called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption or EPOC. When you exercise, your body requires more energy depending on the energy you exert.
This means that you burn more calories during workouts, and after workouts, too, while your body is recovering to its resting state.
Improves the Mood
Strength training has a significant positive impact on relieving depressive symptoms. It not only boosts physical strength, but it also lifts low mood, mitigates the loss of involvement in activities, and emotions of worthlessness. Plus, it can reduce anxiety and help fight depression.
All types of exercise improve the mood because exercising causes the brain to increase endorphins which are natural opiates and the same goes for strength training which elevates the level of endorphins in the brain and as a result improves mood and increases energy levels.
Additional research has been done about strength training and its correlation with the brain and whether it has any positive impact on the mind. And according to the neuromuscular and neurochemical responses, workout affects the brain positively.
And if all these facts are not enough to convince you, then you will be surprised to read that:
Strength training can also help you have a better sleep. View.
Prevents Injuries
Having a strong muscle base is crucial for all movement, coordination, balance, and most importantly, injury prevention. If a muscle is too fragile, it tends to put more pressure on its connecting tendon and can cause tendonitis.
Strength training leads to a body that can handle more strain as compared to the bodies of individuals who do not exercise. In addition, it also increases the amount and diameter of collagen fibrils in tendons to improve their strength and help avoid injury.
Also read: What Are The Best Foods To Eat For Muscle Growth?
Controlled Blood Sugar Levels
Everyone with type 2 diabetes should make strength training a part of their routine. According to a review published in the journal BioMed Research International, apart from building muscle, strength training also enhances the ability of the muscles to absorb and use blood sugar or glucose.
Our muscle cells have transporters that absorb glucose from the blood and send it to the muscles. Strength training increases their ability to collect glucose from the blood and send it to the muscles, reducing blood sugar levels.
Stay Healthy and Young
According to research, resistance training and strength training can improve heart and bone health. Moreover, such workouts can reduce cholesterol, lower blood pressure, decrease lower back pain, and increase bone density. Health benefits of strength training also include a reduction in the signs and symptoms of fibromyalgia and arthritis.
Also read: How To Stay Fit & Healthy With These Simple Tips!
Improves the Overall Quality of Life
Strength training can improve your standard of life and increase your ability to perform daily activities. Building muscle will also lead to improved balance and decrease the chance of falling. This will help you sustain your individuality as you age. This is one of the most important benefits of strength training for older adults. It helps with balance, posture, and coordination, which pays off later in life.
Balance depends on the resilience of the muscles that hold you onto your feet. The tougher your muscles, the smoother your equilibrium.
Strength training can reduce the chances of falling by 40% in older individuals who have greater chances of falling because of bad physical functioning than people who do not strength-train. Read here.
Helps With Chronic Conditions
Studies also reported the many health benefits of strength training, including assisting individuals with certain chronic illnesses to control their illnesses. If you do have arthritis, strength training can be as efficient as a treatment to alleviate arthritis pain.
Sharpens Thinking Skills
Some research indicates that another one of the benefits of strength training for older adults indicates that frequent strength training and endurance training can help to improve the thinking and learning skills of elderly people.
Strength Training Can Boost the Immune System
Similar to fine-tuning your digestive system, strength training also positively impacts your immune system, and it all comes down to the blood flow stimulated by exercise.
Working out and particularly strength training strengthens the immune system as it pumps blood through the body, relieves stress and releases endorphins. Our body often gets sick in times of stress, so working out can help to relieve the stress.
A Final Word
From better overall health to weight loss, benefits of strength training are endless. They do not just end at a more chiselled body, and you are not even obligated to use barbells every time you strength train.
Free weights, machines, and bodyweight exercises fall under the strength training umbrella. In fact, even TRX moves, resistance band exercises, and pilates qualify. So, before you plan your next workout keep these amazing benefits in mind to remind you what are the benefits of strength training when in doubt.
Also read our Strength Training 101 Ultimate Guide
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