Many people who exercise or are new to the fitness world feel that weight training is only associated with more experienced athletes. This could not be further from the truth.
There are too many physical, health and mental benefits to overlook weight training. Today we will explain the reasons why weight training is so beneficial to health.
Health benefits of weight training
Actually, there is a long list of why you should include weight training in your program. Strength training not only increases your physical condition, but also improves your ability to perform activities of daily living. You can exercise harder and for longer in your other exercises with a proper weight routine.
- Improves bone density. One of the best ways to control bone loss as you get older is to add a strength routine to your exercise plan.
- Promotes the increase of fat-free body mass. Muscle mass decreases with age. If we do not add a routine to tone up our training, then it will become fat.
- Increases the strength of the connective tissue, muscles and tendons. This leads to improve engine performance and decrease the risk of injury.
- Improve the quality of life as you gain confidence in your body. Strength training will not only make you strong, it will also help you control your weight.
How it should start
Enrolling in a gym and making an appointment with a personal trainer or specialist is an excellent first step to begin weight training. Having the help of a sports professional is the key to the success of any discipline. A properly trained professional can teach you what is the best technique, explain the basics and create a good gym routine.
For experienced athletes, these professionals can explain how to overload the body so that it continues to achieve an increase in strength and endurance.
In the case of women, the routine can be modified according to the objectives of the training. Most men want to gain muscle mass, while most training for women are focused on losing weight, burning fat and having some moderate muscle definition.
The basics of a routine
Start slowly and with a beginner routine. This will decrease your chance of injury and pain.
Start with individual sets and work up to multiple sets.
Use the correct amount of weight. Using too much weight will increase your chance of injury. And vice versa, by not using enough weight, your muscles will not be challenged and you will not experience the desired benefits of weight training.
How to know if you are lifting the right amount of weight? It should be difficult to perform the last repetitions.
Give your muscles time to rest and recover. You must wait at least 48 hours before training the same muscle group once more.
Burn more calories throughout the day. Your body works harder to keep the muscle on the fat. Strength training can increase your metabolism, so you will burn more calories throughout the day.
Weight training does not have to be boring. Changing your routine to keep your body surprised is the perfect way to increase strength and decrease boredom. Change your routine using machines, free weights, bars, bands and even your own body weight.
Also, change your routine as much as possible. You can do this by changing the number of sets or repetitions, the time between sets, the choice of different exercises and the variation of speed among other suggestions.
It is important to understand the basic concepts of strength training and why you should incorporate this activity into your training program.
Once you know all the benefits you will receive from these exercises, you will want to start immediately so you can improve your quality of life and burn those extra calories.