Weight Training to the Rescue
From bodyweight training to dumbbells, weight training can change your life! Seriously, it’s not that you will get bigger than a bodybuilder or that you will lose 20 pounds in a few days. Strength training can improve your life completely, from sleep to your mentality… Check it out!
Benefits of Weight Training
1. Strength training helps you lose weight – for good
Good news, weight-watchers: if you want to shed fat and avoid the all too common yo-yo effect, you can stop counting calories and start counting reps.
Comparative analyses have shown that strength exercises can help you swap pounds of fat for bulky muscles faster and more efficiently than with most other workouts out there. But that’s not all: studies also show that strength training can boost your resting metabolic rate by as much as 7.7%, allowing you to keep burning more calories through normal daily activities – or just sitting in front of your PC.
2. Weight-bearing exercises increase bone density
Weight-bearing exercises are usually recommended as adjuvant therapy for osteoporosis as they can help increase bone mineral density.
A 2009 study states that weight training combined with aerobics can improve bone density in young women. Plus, 1994 research has found that even menopausal ladies can prevent, minimize, or even reverse age-related muscle and bone loss and risk of osteoporotic fractures by signing up for progressive resistance training.
3. Resistance workouts can boost your mood
Feeling down in the gutters? Grab your never-worn bodybuilding clothing, put on your sneakers, and head over to the closest gym. In addition to turning the ab flab into a sexy six-pack, strength exercises can boost your emotional shape and help you find a silver lining on the cloudiest of days.
According to a 2012 study, strength workouts are an efficient deterrent and remedy for depression, anxiety, and overall frame of mind in elderly gym-goers, and they can also amp the release of endorphin and dopamine (a.k.a. happiness hormones) in the young and middle-aged population.
4. Strength training for improved sleep quality
If you are waking up every morning with the desire to sleep more, it’s high time you started exercising. Research shows that resistance training has the potential to improve sleep quality in elderly gym aficionados. On top of that, weight lifting can alleviate sleep apnea, improve nightly shuteye quality, reduce total sleep time, and boost daily energy levels.
And if you’re having problems falling asleep over mental clutter, you can finally rest assured (and fast asleep). Recent findings show that tough strength exercise sessions will help both drain your body and empty your mind, allowing you to fall asleep faster and wake up less often during the night.
5. Strength exercises guarantee long-term health
In addition to that, resistance training can lower the risk of chronic diseases such as arthritis, musculoskeletal problems, sarcopenia, lower-back pain, high blood pressure, diabetes type 2, heart disease, and even cancer.
A 2004 study has also found that diabetes patients can boost insulin-mediated glucose uptake and skeletal muscle insulin action on a strength exercise regime, thus improving control over blood glycogen levels in the long run.
Wrap-Up
To lift or not to lift, the question is not! Strength training holds immense potential to improve your muscle-to-fat ratio, overall health, and life quality.
Drop comfort foods, pain medications, antidepressants, and pick up the weight bar.
You’ve got nothing to lose, except fat, stress, and a host of serious health problems. Who needs those, anyway?
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