Reasons why you should start Strength Training | Benefits of Strength Training

 

Reasons why you should Start Strength Training 

What is strength training?

Strength training is also known as weight training, resistance training, and muscular training. The general definition of strength training is any physical movement in which you use your body weight or equipment (e.g., dumbbells and resistance bands) to build muscle mass, strength, and endurance 

The main types of strength training include 

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• Muscular hypertrophy. Also known as muscle building, this type of strength training uses moderate-to-heavy weights to stimulate muscle growth.
• Muscular endurance. This refers to your muscles’ ability to sustain exercise for a period of time. 
• Circuit training. During this form of full-body conditioning, you cycle through various exercises with little to no rest between them.
• Maximum muscular strength. This type of exercise involves low reps (usually 2–6) and heavy weights to improve your overall strength. 
• Explosive power. This training combines power and speed to improve your power output. It’s usually employed among trained athletes to improve their ability to perform explosive movements in their sport.

1. Makes you stronger

Gaining strength allows you to perform daily tasks much easier, such as carrying heavy groceries or running around with your kids. it helps improve athletic performance in sports that require speed, power, and strength, and it may even support endurance athletes by preserving lean muscle mass

2. Helps in burning calories

Strength training helps boost your metabolism in two ways.

First, building muscle increases your metabolic rate. Muscles are more metabolically efficient than fat mass, allowing you to burn more calories at rest. Second, research shows that your metabolic rate is increased up to 72 hours after strength-training exercise. This means that you’re still burning additional calories hours and even days after your workout 

3. Reduce 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 exercises for reducing abdominal and total body fat

4. look leaner and thinner

As you build more muscle and lose fat, you will appear leaner.

This is because muscle is more dense than fat, meaning it takes up less space on your body pound for pound. Therefore, you may lose inches off of your waist even if you don’t see a change in the number on the scale.

Also, losing body fat and building stronger and larger muscles showcases more muscle definition, creating a stronger and leaner appearance.

5. Decreases your risk of falls

Strength training lowers your risk of falls, as you’re better able to support your body. In fact, one review including 23,407 adults over the age of 60 showed a 34% reduction in falls among those who participated in a well-rounded exercise program that included balance exercises and resistance and functional training

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Fortunately, many forms of strength training have been shown to be effective, such as tai chi, weight training, and resistance band and bodyweight exercises

6. Lowers your risk of injury

Including strength training in your exercise routine may reduce your risk of injury.

Strength training helps improve the strength, range of motion, and mobility of your muscles, ligaments, and tendons. This can reinforce strength around major joints like your knees, hips, and ankles to provide additional protection against injury. In fact, one review including 7,738 athletes found strength-training programs reduced the risk of injury by 33%. It was found to lower the risk of injury in a dose-dependent manner, meaning for every 10% increase in strength-training volume, there was a 4% reduced risk of injury

7. Increase Heart health

Multiple studies have shown that regular strength-training exercise can decrease blood pressure, lower total and LDL (bad) cholesterol, and improve blood circulation by strengthening the heart and blood vessels

Strength training also can help you maintain a healthy body weight and manage your blood sugar levels. High blood sugar levels are a major risk factor for heart disease