Why doesn’t everyone lift weights?
Until quite recently, there wasn’t enough evidence to prove that strength training and/or working out with weights was supremely beneficial to an average person’s health … But thank goodness that’s changed! Weight lifting is no longer just for athletes and bodybuilders! Many people from different walks of life are heading out to the gym to lift weights and increase their health.
If you want to know several ways that working out with weights can improve your health, then read on!
Strength, Bone Density, & Lower Risk for Injuries:
Lifting weights increases the connective tissues’ strength, along with the strength of tendons, and muscles. Along with an increase in muscle and tissue strength, your bone density will also adapt and grow stronger. Mainly because when your bones realize there is extra stress being put on them, they will work to deposit more bone, thus increasing your bones’ density. Weight lifting is a low impact physical activity, and is not as stressful on your joints/knees as jogging or running.
With added bone density, muscle, tissue, and tendon strength, weight lifting leaves you at a lower risk for injuries.
Metabolism Boosts:
When your body recognizes it has an increase in muscle, it works harder to sustain muscle mass rather than letting fat build up. This means that you will use more calories each day to preserve the new muscle mass, and the more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn up when resting.
Balance and Posture:
Lifting weights can help strengthen your core and spine supporting muscles, along with many other teeny muscles not included in the main groups. This can lessen spinal/back pain, and minimize the hurt that can come from sitting all day long. Because these muscles keep you standing upright, and help you manage daily tasks such as balancing on a single foot, or preventing a fall – an increase in spinal support, through muscle strengthening can be incredibly beneficial towards your everyday posture, and balance.
Better life quality, and Rest:
Research presents some compelling evidence that weight lifting may give you a more toned visual appearance, put you in a nicer mood, help fight depression through an increase in serotonin levels, and make you overall – a healthier, happier, balanced person – with a newfound sense of confidence and achievement in your overall abilities and strength.
Want a better night’s rest? Sleep insomnia has been frequently linked with anxiety, which culminated with depression can increase sleep deprivation … Lucky for all of us, weight training has been proven to reduce these in the general population! Meaning, you’ll sleep better at night!
Personal Discipline:
Not only can weight lifting make you a healthier person, it can help you attain an important life quality called discipline. Waking up early in the mornings just so you can do your workouts, or hitting the gym before starting your day shows a steady and disciplined mind. Continuing this discipline with perseverance and motivation may well help you on your way to accomplishing your newfound well-being, and health journey.
When performed properly, there is evidence to propose that the health benefits that can come from strength training/weight lifting are many!
A good note to keep in mind is that like with all physical activities, it is important to make sure that you are doing them properly. A guiding hand by a professional fitness trainer can be helpful in the correction of exercises.