RESISTANCE TRAINING – WHY IT’S GOOD FOR YOU
Resistance (or weight) training as it is more commonly known should be a part of your workout routine. There are so many positive benefits from it, below I will high light just a few of them. Then you can see if it’s for you.
What is Resistance Training?
Resistance is simply putting a load on a muscle, making it move against a force. That force might be external, such as a weight, or it might be internal, like another muscle in your body. When a muscle tries to move, but encounters a problem (resistance), small tears occur in the muscle, which are then rebuilt and actually overbuilt to handle the next similar encounter. Muscle tissue gets stronger and more toned.
Females, you will not bulk up.
First of all, lifting weights will not make females bulk up! All to often females say to me I can’t do weights as I don’t want to bulk up. Here is why you won’t bulk up.
Females are made up differently to males, your hormonal make up is different in such a way that we don’t produce enough testosterone to get bulky.
So get lifting those weights.
Resistance training increases your metabolism.
Your metabolism is the amount of energy your body needs to sustain itself. Because muscle requires energy to survive, increasing muscle size and density will increase your metabolism. This means your body works harder after resistance training so it uses more energy, this will help your body burn more fat and become stronger, faster and more stable.
So if you start doing resistance training 2 to 3 times per week, not only will you burn more energy you will start to feel better about yourself. Give up the hours of cardio and get into a balance of cardio and resistance training.
Resistance training can improve your sporting performance.
A lot of athletes incorporate some type of strength training into their programmes.
Sport specific training can help improve your strength, speed, power and also help give you greater flexibility. So if you’re a runner, cyclist, swimmer whatever your sport, add resistance training into your schedule to enhance your performance. Winter is a perfect time for this as it’s usually the time most people don’t exercise outdoors.
Weight training burns more energy/calories than cardio exercises, it’s called the post after burn.
Because both resistance training and cardiovascular exercise burn calories, confusion arises over which is more effective in burning calories. The intensity of workouts and the exerciser’s body weight are two factors that play roles in determining rates of energy use.
While it is evident that cardiovascular exercise burns more calories than lifting weights, the amount of calories burned after weight training is higher. Metabolism increases after cardiovascular exercise only lasts 30 to 60 minutes, whereas post resistance training metabolism increases up to 48 hours.
Not to mention the fact that for every 500g of muscle you build, you burn an additional 50 calories at rest – so you are burning more even when you are not doing anything!
Lifting weights can make you stronger and help with everyday living.
The more you make your muscles work, the stronger they become. That strength goes beyond the convenience of being able to carry more groceries into the house. Stronger muscles provide more support and therefore more safety for your back, particularly if you build up your core abdominal muscles. You’ll also face less risk of injury from carrying or holding heavy objects.
Don’t forget it helps keep your bones stronger too so as we get older it can reduce and manage the risk of osteoporosis.
Exercises
Select exercises that work all of your body’s major muscle groups – arms, shoulders, chest, glutes, back and legs. Choose an appropriate number of exercises. If you plan to work out 45 minutes to an hour three times a week, for example, cover specific muscle groups in each workout – chest and arms on Monday, for example, and back and legs on Wednesday.
Schedule
Never lift weights for the same muscle group two days in a row – allow your body time to recover from each workout. Even two workouts a week will produce significant gains. Nevertheless, three days a week is not too often if you are in reasonably good shape. Listen to your body – if you find yourself chronically sore or if you seem to be growing weaker, reduce the frequency of your workouts.
Considerations
Resistance training works because it stimulates the body to repair damaged muscle tissue by replacing it with newer, stronger tissue. For this reason, you will not make progress with strength training on an extremely low-calorie diet. You need a good well balance diet. You should also make sure to get eight hours of quality sleep every night, because it is during sleep that your body repairs damaged muscle tissue.
