Why You Should Strength Train!
Most of us know that strength training is important, but that doesn't make it any easier to do it. Here is a great reminder about why strength training is SO important and all the ways it can help you look amazing and feel great!
1. It Helps You Lose Fat … subcutaneous and visceral abdominal fat. But what’s the difference?
There are two types of body fat: the subcutaneous fat just below the skin surface and the visceral fat, which is deeper and around the internal organs like the intestines, liver, and kidneys.
Metabolic syndrome is associated with at least three of the following conditions: abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high serum triglycerides (bad cholesterol), and low serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL = good cholesterol). Metabolic syndrome is associated with the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, Alzeheimer’s and type 2 diabetes.
Obesity, Alzheimer's, diabetes and cardiovascular disease actually begin in skeletal muscle, years before they become apparent, Dr. Gabrielle Lyon says.
But what's so shocking is that everyone is focused, especially in the medical community, on attacking obesity, as opposed to fixing the underlying problem, which is really optimizing skeletal muscle with nutrition, which is primary, and training, secondary.
As explained by Dr. Gabrielle Lyon, while there's certainly benefit to cardiovascular exercise, resistance training is far more foundational to your long-term health, because skeletal muscle is the organ of longevity. Muscle mass optimizes you for longevity.
The greater your muscle mass, the higher your survivability against all diseases, including cancer. According to Lyon, cachexia, for example, the loss of muscle mass, kills 1 in 5 cancer patients.
You need protein reserves to survive serious disease, and most of your protein is stored in muscle. If you have very little muscle, you're going to pass away prematurely because you have no amino acid reserves. Your muscle also interfaces with your immune system.
It Makes You Stronger
The average 70-year-old has lost 75% of their mitochondrial capacity, skeletal muscle mitochondrial capacity. It’s been shown that lifelong exercisers don’t lose 75% of their mitochondrial capacity. They have the same capacity as young adults do. There are studies where they’ve specifically taken older adults who have lost a lot of their mitochondrial capacity, put them on an 8-week or 12-week exercise program and shown 50%, 70% increases, massive increases in just two or three months of training. There’s no supplement and no drug that can do that!
It may seem obvious that strength training can make you stronger...but what some people forget is that it doesn't just make you strong for your workouts, it makes you stronger in other areas of your life as well.
When you strength train on a regular basis, everything else becomes a little easier too - carrying groceries, housework, yard work, carrying the kids/grandkids, etc.
Plus: Strength training doesn't just make your muscles stronger. It makes your bones stronger, too, which will help reduce or even prevent osteoporosis and can reverse osteopenia.
Regular walking has little or no effect on prevention of bone loss [23]. Low-impact loading force applied during walking does not elicit loads of a sufficient magnitude, rate, or distribution to stimulate bone cells to lead to an adaptive skeletal response.
2. It Reduces Your Risk of Injury
The nice thing about strength training is that it strengthens everything, not just your muscles and bones. You also strengthen connective tissue, the ligaments and tendons that keep your body moving well on a regular basis. Strengthening your connective tissue will help you continue to operate in peak condition and protect your body from injuries.
3. It Can Reduce Arthritis Pain
Studies show that arthritis sufferers who strength train actually reduced their joint pain. By strengthening the muscles, they were able to cushion and protect the joints during everyday activities like walking.
Plus: Most physical therapy programs incorporate strength training to help rehab a multitude of injuries.
4. It Increases Balance, Stability, and Flexibility
When we don't preserve muscle mass with strength training, what happens as we grow older? We lose muscle mass - known as sarcopenia - and that's often what leads to weight gain, high blood pressure, Type 2 Diabetes, and even arthritis, as well as loss of balance and flexibility. Lifting weights helps you work your joints through a full range of motion, keeping them strong and flexible and keeping you steady on your feet.
5. It Boosts Confidence
According to some studies, both men and women feel better about themselves when they lift weights. By getting stronger and noticing changes over time like being able to lift more weight and do exercises they couldn’t do before, both men and women build confidence and, especially for women, improve their body image.
Lifting weights, along with other types of exercise, helps build confidence and can even help manage symptoms of depression and anxiety...a great way to deal with everyday stress in a healthy way.
6. It Lowers Blood Pressure
Studies have shown that regular strength training can help reduce high blood pressure over time. Time: At least 30 minutes of cardiovascular and 30 minutes of strength training, including each major muscle group.
7. It Adds Challenge
Cardio workouts can get a little boring. The nice thing about strength training is that it offers so many ways to set up your workouts (right?)...there's always something new to try and you never run out of new exercises, different types of resistance, new routines and a variety of ways to work your body.
8. It Makes Your Life Better
One thing that surprises people after they start strength training is how it trickles into other areas of their lives. People find they’re able to work in the yard without back pain, improve their golf or tennis game, run with their kids or even walk up the stairs without aching knees.
It's those little improvements that offer the greatest rewards and it doesn't take much time to see and feel those kinds of improvements.
Never Stop Moving, You’ve Got This!
Email me Suzanne Stringfellow
