As trainers we hear all sorts of reasons why people don’t want to lift weights. “I just want to look toned, I don’t want to get massive”, or “I’m training to lose weight, I don’t need to do weight training”, or even “I’m too old to lift weights, weight training is just for young people”. If you’re thinking “what a load of nonsense”, then you’d be right. These are some of the more common fallacies that we hear bandied around the weights floor on a regular basis.
Benefits of Resistance Training
Increased muscular strength and endurance: by exposing your muscular system to loads greater than those experienced in everyday life our muscles are forced to grow and get stronger. As a result every day activities, from doing the gardening to taking out the recycling, become easier. Increased fat burning potential and increased lean body mass: when losing weight through a fad diet or even aerobic exercise alone, your body will lose muscle as well as fat. The decrease in muscle has a direct effect on the body’s metabolism and its ability to burn fat. In fact, you may be turning your body into a fat storing machine and may be likely to put even more weight back on. By including weight training in your training program you can increase your muscle mass and therefore increase the amount of energy you can burn and in turn decrease the amount of fat you store. Keep your bones healthy and improve posture: men and women are susceptible to brittle bones as they age. Remember the TV advertisement where the old man gets out of his chair to answer the door, and by the time he gets there it’s too late, they’ve gone. If only he had lifted weights. Lifting weights combined with a good diet can drastically slow this process and can even reverse it, therefore helping to avoid conditions, such as osteoporosis, that are associated with old age. No matter how old you are it’s never too late to lift weights. Improve your heart health: until recently it has been aerobic exercises such as walking and jogging that have been credited with improving heart health. That was until recent research has discovered that lifting weights can lower your risk of having a heart attack or stroke by reducing the amount of LDL or bad cholesterol in the blood stream. Improve your self-esteem and quality of life: any activity that accomplishes all of the above has to make you a much happier, positive and productive person. And besides, how good do you feel after you’ve just finished a weight workout and you’ve got that pumped feeling. You feel unstoppable and can go out and accomplish anything you put your mind to. Call Jenny Kent today on 0434 605 605 and book in for a FREE Weight Training Session (normally valued at $45) and experience it for yourself. (Offer limited to the first 20 callers)
