Strength Training & It’s Superpowers

I am one of those weird humans who love to run. No, not every single minute of every run is enjoyable, but if someone gave me a free hour to do any workout I wanted, it would be a long run on a country road with a killer playlist. Easy choice.

But, there was a time in my life cardio was all I did. I literally thought burning off as many calories as I could was the answer to health and a sculpted body. Unfortunately, this thought process is not uncommon, but it is physically and mentally unhealthy. I was injured frequently, lacked energy, screwed up my hormones for years and had no muscle tone. Slowly (and timidly) I found my way to the weight room and sure enough I fell in love with feeling strong. Now as a mama, I want my daughter to connect exercise with strength & wellness, not just miles and weight loss. Check out the other reasons I strength train and why you should too!

Benefit 1: Improve Immune Health

What better motivation than a global pandemic to focus on our overall health and wellbeing? Weight training helps strengthen our immune system by increasing blood flow throughout the body, circulating our immune cells and relieving stress. It also reduces inflammation in the body, which leads to quicker recoveries when we do get sick.

Benefit 2: Maintain Muscle

Around age 30, our muscle tone starts to deteriorate due to a decrease in growth hormones. Without strength training, we lose, on average, 3-10% of our muscle tissue every few years 🤯. Lifting weights can significantly minimize that loss by sending signals to your brain to keep building muscle. Start now and your older self will thank you!

Benefit 3: Reduce Body Fat

Strength training increases our resting metabolism aka our body’s ability to burn calories at rest (watching tv, reading, sleeping, even eating!). A good resistance workout increases our metabolism for hours after we finish as our body is busy repairing the muscles we just broke down. This is one of the main reasons, those who consistently lift weights can lose body fat without performing any cardio (with proper nutrition of course 😊).

Benefit 4: Protect our bones and joints

Proper strength training increases our bone mineral density, reduces arthritic joint pain and helps to manage disorders such as osteoporosis. When we lift weights, the cells within a bone are literally stimulated to produce more proteins and move minerals into the bone. This is SO important especially for women over the age of 50, which is when deterioration occurs at a much quicker rate. For a fabulous article specifically covering women & strength training read here: https://www.livestrong.com/article/104237-weight-training-exercises-women-over/

Benefit 5: Reduce Risk of Heart Disease

Lifting weights decreases overall body fat, specifically visceral fat, which sits around the belly and surrounds our major organs. A high level of visceral fat is correlated with an increased risk of Cardiovascular Disorders, Type 2 diabetes, Stroke, Breast Cancer, Colon Cancer and even Alzheimer’s disease. Furthermore, strength training temporarily increases heart rate & improves circulation which consequently lowers our resting heart rate and improves our blood pressure.

Benefit 6: Strengthen Mental Health and Cognitive Functioning

Lifting weights has the ability to produce the same “high” we feel after a long run or cycling class by releasing happy endorphins. These have the ability to reduce anxiety and depression symptoms as well as produce feelings of accomplishment and strength! Recently, research is showing that those who weight train consistently perform better on memory tests and it may be a factor in preventing cognitive decline. How exciting 😍!!

Prescription for Weight Training Success

Please receive doctor approval before beginning any exercise program. Once you have clearance, I would recommend strength training 2-3x a week to yield the benefits we just chatted about. If you need help creating a specific weight training program, send me an email or message and I would bet more than happy to get you started!