The benefits of strength training are vast. Strength training has a stigma for being all about the bulk.
In reality, strength training is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle for men and women of all ages, and it only becomes more vital as we age.
Strength training is not just for athletes or bodybuilders, it is something that can greatly benefit your daily life.
In this post, we talk about the top benefits of strength training and how it can affect your daily life.
What is Strength Training
It’s a common misconception that strength training requires big heavy weights. While lifting heavy is one form of strength training, it does not encompass resistance training. At its core, strength training is just about performing exercises using resistance. The goal, of course, is to improve your strength, but that goal can be accomplished in many ways. Cable machines, dumbbells, barbells, and resistance bands may all be used for strength training. It’s important to use proper technique and build up the weight you’re using to see the many benefits of strength training.
Increased Strength
One of the most obvious benefits of strength training is improving your strength. Strength is not just for the gym or about looks, it will also help you in your daily life. If you have a child or grandchild, getting stronger can help you safely carry them without straining your body. When you get stronger, it will be easier to handle daily activities like yard work, moving objects, and more.
Functional Movement
Strength training helps your balance and body mechanics through functional movement.
Studies have found that we are more likely to fall as we age, and falling can result in serious injury. Strength training puts your body through functional movements, which help to increase your balance and body awareness, preventing falls. Functional movements replicate activities you do in everyday life, and they typically use multiple muscle groups. Functional lifting will help you move better throughout your daily life and avoid falls.
Improves Your Mood
Not only is strength training good for your body, but it’s also great for your mood. Strength training activates the body’s natural feel-good hormones, endorphins. Endorphins are the body’s natural mood-boosters and pain killers, and all exercise release them. However, strength training has been shown to have a unique impact on endorphins. According to a 2014 study from Frontiers in Psychology, “resistance training at a low-to-moderate intensity (<70% 1 repetition maximum) produces the most reliable and robust decreases in anxiety.”
Better Sleep
The stress of daily life can disrupt sleep, even though sleep is vital for every single thing we do. Exercise is one of the best ways to increase sleep quality and quantity, but strength training provides unique benefits. For one, strength training induces physical changes in our bodies, which help us regulate blood pressure, metabolism, and glucose. Regulating these vital bodily functions helps us combat stress and sleep better.
Weight training also induces muscle growth, which has an interdependent relationship with sleep. Sleep is when the body repairs muscle and balances hormones, so inducing muscle growth can facilitate sleep. One study found that weight training helps people sleep deeper and fall asleep faster.
Chronic Pain Relief
Some people steer clear from weight training because they think it may worsen their chronic pain, including back pain. When done correctly, strength training can help many different conditions. Back pain and other chronic issues are caused by stiffness, slouching, and muscle imbalances that strength training can help address. By slowly increasing your loads with lifting, you can improve your ability to perform daily activities. Strength training improves muscle strength, increases spinal range of motion, builds lean muscle mass, and improves the function of the muscles in your core and back to help you improve your posture and manage chronic issues like back pain.
Boosts Metabolism
People often connect losing weight with cardio exercise, but strength training is essential for keeping weight off. Weight training builds muscle, which increases your resting metabolism. This means your body will burn calories faster when you are just living daily life. After resistance training, your post-exercise oxygen consumption increases more than it does with aerobic exercise, which is why strength training keeps your metabolism higher for longer. For example, the results of one 2017 study found that the group who did strength training 4x a week lost the most fat when compared with non-exercises and aerobic exercisers.
Live A Longer, Healthier Life
Strength training helps many important aspects of daily life, and it ultimately leads to a longer lifespan. One 2017 study found that lean mass is a better measure of overall health than body mass index (BMI). To live life to the fullest, you should dedicate time to building lean muscle mass, and strength training is the best way to do so. It will help improve your ability to do everyday activities, making life more enjoyable.
Strength Training Tips
- Focus on form rather than weight. When you are strength training, focus on doing the movements correctly. It will only hurt you to load up on weight before you’ve mastered the mechanics of a movement. Start with bodyweight exercises to nail down form.
- Progressively add weight. Start out lighter and slowly add weight as your strength improves. This is the safest way to ensure your resistance training is beneficial and injury-free.
- Pair strength training with aerobic exercise. Strength training offers key benefits for daily life, but so does the aerobic activity. It’s best to incorporate both into your workout regime for a well-balanced exercise plan.
- Be consistent. Resistance training will not build strength if it’s done sporadically. You should consistently weight train 2-3 times a week.
- Monitor your progress. One of the most fun parts of strength training is watching your improvement. Of course, strength training will help your body in many ways, but it will also help you move and feel better. Jot down notes about how you feel and what weights you currently use to keep track of your progress.
- Train with someone else. For both safety and encouragement, it can help to train with another person. Find an accountability partner to join your strength workouts so you can spot and encourage each other.
Learn More About Strength Training
Strength training benefits daily life in many ways, but getting started can be intimidating. Fortunately, there are many other people in your shoes, people that want to live longer, healthier lives. The JOC Transformation Group brings together people who are ready to transform their lives through fitness, mindset, and nutrition. Led by the team of professional coaches at JOC, the Transformation Group will have more information, tips, and advice for strength training and fitness. You can get answers to your questions and speak to other people in the same situation for ideas and support.
Joining the JOC Transformation Group is free and easy. You’ll get the resources and support you need to make the changes you want. Don’t wait for a second longer to improve your life. Join the JOC Transformation Group on Facebook HERE!
