No matter what your age or gender, you’ll reap a lot of benefits from strength training. Most people think strength training is just for men, but that’s not true. Women get just as much from it, if not more. It does help build muscle tissue. Many women worry they’ll end up looking like the Hulk. They won’t. Women require long hours of special training and diet to get the bulging muscles men have. For 99% of women, strength training tones their muscles and gives them a svelte, sinewy appearance.
The extra muscle from strength training helps boost your metabolism.
Cardio will torch calories but so does strength training. The difference is that cardio doesn’t build muscle tissue but strength-building does. That’s important. The more muscles you have, the better your metabolism is. Muscle tissue requires more calories to maintain than fat tissue. The more you have, the more calories you burn 24/7. When you do cardio, the calories come from both fat and lean muscle tissue, compared to strength training, which burns fat and builds muscle tissue.
The older you are, the more you need strength training.
At about age 35, the body starts to lose muscle mass unless you take measures to prevent that change. It’s called sarcopenia. It causes a three to five percent loss of muscle tissue every decade. The less muscle tissue you have, the higher the potential for injury from falls or torn ligaments and muscles. Muscles also help strengthen the bone. As muscles tug on the bones, the bones receive a message to uptake more calcium to strengthen the bone. If there’s no tugging from muscle tissue or not as much, the bones lose calcium, ultimately leading to osteoporosis.
Strength training reduces stress and decreases abdominal fat.
Like all exercise, strength training burns off stress hormones like cortisol. Cortisol is linked to the accumulation of belly fat. Belly fat increases chronic inflammation, which also increases belly fat. It becomes a cycle that takes a toll on health. Most fat stored in the belly is visceral fat that’s deep in the body, crowding organs and causing an increase in serious conditions like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and more.
- You’ll reduce the risk of injury when doing everyday activities. Strength training helps strengthen back muscles, so bending down to tie your shoes won’t set it into spasms.
- Strength training helps protect the joints and eases joint pain. It builds muscles and tendons that remove the pressure on the joints. It also increases joint lubrication.
- Strength training can lower blood pressure and improve your cholesterol panel. It helps lower blood sugar levels. That improves heart health. It reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes and helps reverse insulin resistance that can lead to type 2 diabetes.
- Strength-building is beneficial to mental health. Several studies show it can help reduce depression and anxiety while boosting self-esteem. It also improves cognitive functioning.
For more information, contact us today at LIV Fitness