Strength Training

Strength training is not only for body builders and professional athletes. If not bulk, then, what are the benefits of strength training? They are myriad: maintaining (or boosting) body mass, metabolic process boosting, weight control, balance improvement, toughening your bones, clearing your brain, and managing various chronic conditions, including things like arthritis, back pain, depression, diabetic issues, weight problems and osteoporosis.

Body mass promotes overall health and wellness. After age 30, muscle starts being replaced by fat. Lean muscles use 35-50 calories/hours/pound while just sitting around. Fat utilizes only 5. You can easily control your weight better, if it is comprised of muscle, and not fat. Strength training (ST) pumps up your metabolic process even after physical exercise. Your body is going to burn about 100 calories extra daily more than those burned in the course of the exercise. The most intense ST programs, such as CrossFit, lets you use up 6 times as many calories in a ST work out over a cardiovascular training session of the same length. The weight and fitness advantages are apparent.

Strength training helps safeguard you from injuries. It strengthens bones, ligaments, and tendons in addition to muscles, combating osteoporosis and protecting you from injury from poor workout technique, bumps, and falls. The tough body helps you maintain your balance, and that lessens the number of falls.

Strength training lead to circulatory improvements that help with several chronic conditions. The improved circulation very likely explains the clearer thinking that is among the advantages of strength training.

How can you optimize the benefits of strength training? Continue to increase the weights and repetitions of exercises that incorporate the overall body. Be sure to alter your program at least every 3 weeks to steer clear of "accommodation." When the body does the same thing for too long, it no longer expends as much energy nor responds with muscle growth.

Of course, you want equipment that permits you to raise the weight resistance as needed. While a fitness center will have exercise machines or the free weights (dumbbells and barbells) at the called for weights, you may want the flexibility of working out at home or the workplace. You won't have the same amount of space, but you will certainly want close to the same variety of weights. A near ideal option is one of the "dial a weight" dumbbells from Bowflex. The Bowflex SelectTech 552 dumbells allow you to pick a weight from 5 to 52 pounds per dumbbell. The Bowflex SelectTech 1090 dumbbells let you choose a weight from 10 to 90 pounds. These two accommodate everyone from the smallest-frame female to the largest man, unless he is a weightlifter. You are able to make use of this equipment throughout your years of strength training, changing the weight in less than 20 seconds whenever you need to.

Elastic bands/tubes, to be found in any sporting good store, too, give fast variable resistance while taking up practically no space. The bands increase in resistance as the color gets darker, so you will eventually need the whole rainbow.

Exercise machines, whether used at the health club or bought for home use, are also excellent, but bulky, costly, and require repairs and maintenance that can be inconvenient and very expensive.

Whatever equipment you choose, however, regular workouts three times weekly will bring you all the wellness advantages of strength training.