Need a reason to start weight training? I have put together a comprehensive list of the benefits of weight training. I have always said on this blog that everyone should be weight training, no matter what your goals.
Weight training helps you both lose and gain weight. Think about it like this, humans were not meant to be sitting in offices all day on computers. If you go back to our roots we had to hunt and gather food. Our bodies are build for exercises and strength, we just don’t use them in the right way. Weight training and cardiovascular training emulate what our bodies were build for.
Benefits of Weight Training:
- Weight training raises your base metabolism by increasing the amount of muscle mass in the body. The more muscle you have, the more energy your body needs to function. Even a slight increase in muscle mass can have a big impact on your metabolism.
- Regular weight training helps lower your resting heart rate, increasing the efficiency of your heart at pumping blood throughout the body.
- Weight training decreases your risk of developing adult onset diabetes.
- Weight training helps you lose weight! You can lose weight with weight training through an increase in metabolic rate and through the calories burned through training. You can also use weight training to deplete glycogen in muscles, then follow up the weight training session with low intensity cardio for excellent fat burning results.
- Weight training increases your mood by releasing the chemical serotonin in the brain. Serotonin controls your mood and can keep you from feeling down.
- Immune system function is increased by weight training.
- For women, weight training will tone your muscles. Women will not build big muscles like men, they don’t have the right hormones to do so! Women getting huge like bodybuilders from lifting weights is a myth!
- Weight training strengthens your bones reducing your risk of developing osteoporosis.
- Weight training increases your blood level of HDL cholesterol (the good type of cholesterol).
- Improved Balance, Flexibility, Mobility and Stability – Stronger and more resilient muscles improves our balance, which means more comfortable living & fewer falls or accidents.
- Aids Rehabilitation and Recovery – One of the best ways to heal many types of injuries is to strengthen muscles surrounding the injured area. The stronger your muscles, the quicker the healing process.
- Weight training not only makes you feel better, but makes you look better. This can have a huge impact on your self-esteem.
- Injury Prevention – A wide variety of sports-related or life-related injuries can be prevented by strengthening muscles and joints with weight training.
- Studies have shown that weight training can decrease the risk of developing colon cancer.
- Weight training improves muscular endurance.
That’s a pretty good list of benefits of weight training. Do you know of any that I’ve missed? If you do leave them in the comments below!