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10 Undeniable Reasons to Love Strength Training

Strength training is exercise that uses resistance to strengthen and condition the musculoskeletal system, improving muscle tone and endurance.

Physiologically, the benefits of consistent strength training include an increase in muscle size and tone, increased muscular strength, and increases in tendon, bone, and ligament strength. Lifting weights has also been shown to improve psychological health as well, by increasing self-esteem, confidence, and self-worth.

  • Increased energy: more endurance, power and strength which translate into more useable energy
  • Improved digestion and elimination processes. Your body is built for and meant to be active in all ways
  • Improved intellectual capacity and productivity. Your brain needs a reprieve from thinking; physical exercise provides that respite from the constant intellectual thinking tasks of our modern life
  • Better sleep: exercise enables a better sleep pattern to develop
  • Weight loss: muscle burns more calories than fat because of the higher rate of metabolism within the muscle tissues
  • Strong bones: increased bone mineral density as a result of the imposed loads being placed upon the bone during the exercise sessions
  • Control of depression: you are active in a productive manner and the brain sends out endorphins signaling a happy pleasant state of mind during and after exercise
  • Decreased stress: you are doing something for YOURSELF
  • Added protection from heart disease: lower blood pressure reading in many cases with just a small amount of increased activity and as little as ten pounds of weight loss
  • Increased endorphins (pain killers): the runners high
  • Increased self-confidence, and outward self-projection.
  • Body fat percentage decreases
  • Lean tissue percentage increases
  • Blood pressure readings decrease
  • Heart rate decreases
  • Serum cholesterol decreases
  • Range of motion and flexibility increases
  • Strength increases
  • Lung function increases
  • Bone mineral density increases
  • Cardiovascular circulation capacity increases
  • Strength building will lead to increased mental and physical stamina to better endure the stresses of daily living.
man about to lift barbell

Slow down or stop the ageing process with Strength Training

Lifting weights is important for preventing the muscle loss that normally accompanies the aging process. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. There is absolutely no reason why all of us can’t be physically, mentally, socially, and sexually active, living a healthy vibrant life until our last day on Earth!

Our muscles have high-energy requirements. Even when we are sleeping, our muscles use more than 25% of our energy (calories). When you implement the principles of effective strength training and you are consistent in your program, you will achieve an increase in lean muscle mass throughout your body and increase your BMR. In other words, you can actually condition your metabolism to work better and more efficiently even when you are at rest.

An increase in muscle tissue causes an increase in metabolic rate, and a decrease in muscle tissue causes a decrease in metabolic rate. You can see that anyone interested in decreasing body fat percentage and their risk of disease as well as in increasing physical performance and appearance, should be strength training to help condition their metabolism (BMR).

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