In With The Weights And Out With The Waiting!
Physical Strength – The most common health issues that we suffer from today (obesity, diabetes, mobility issues) come from our modern-day lifestyle, which includes inactivity and too much overconsumption. The advice that we hear most often is to increase our cardio activity (e.g. go for a run or walk). Whilst there are many health benefits to going for a run, there is evidence that it does not increase a person’s metabolic rate (the rate at which you burn calories when at rest). Read below to find out why we think strength training is the most important and effective way to prevent these health issues.
OVERCOMING OUR SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE
Strength training forces your body and muscles to adapt in four main ways. Firstly, your central nervous system adapts by forcing your muscles to work in an effective way. For example, the more deadlifts you do, the better you get at doing them, and so you become stronger and improve your physical strength. Secondly, as you increase muscle mass, they need more energy, and your muscles get this energy from burning glycogen (sugar), so they consume more calories. That is what speeds up your metabolism. Finally, using your muscles in this way promotes better posture. By sitting all day, we are weakening key muscle areas, such as the glutes, hamstrings and lower back. Strengthening these areas allows for good posture and mobility as we get older.
IMPROVED HEALTH & MOBILITY IN OLD AGE
As we age, our physical strength becomes compromised, and we seem to get hit with more and more health problems. You should see exercise as an investment – the more time you spend on your body now, the better off you will be in the future. After the age of 50, there were complaints about having aches and pains go through the roof. All this can be caused by a lack of mobility. For example, osteoporosis is a major indirect cause of death. An elderly person who breaks a bone may end up in a hospital bed for enough time to contract an infection. Pneumonia is an obvious example. People who lift weights in older age are independent for longer; they don’t tend to hurt themselves, and even if they do, they recover much faster. The good news is that it only takes small changes to make large improvements, and a little resistance training goes a long way. A walk or cycle to work every other day, along with a couple of strength sessions a week, will make a huge difference to your physical well-being, health and longevity.
IMPROVED HORMONE BALANCE
From a cosmetic point of view, there is nothing more effective at changing how your body looks than resistance training. The burning of calories combined with better posture and firmer muscles will transform the shape of your body. But more crucially, this type of training can balance hormones, whereas other forms of exercise, such as cardio, can actually disrupt hormones, and this is true for both men and women.
If you are very stressed or fatigued, for example, doing a lot of cardio can actually make the situation worse. For men with low testosterone, nothing is going to raise testosterone like strength training, but doing a lot of cardio, on the other hand, may actually start to do the opposite and start to depress those anabolic hormones. In men, studies have shown that resistance exercise balances growth hormone and testosterone. In women, it balances oestrogen and progesterone (See our blog on resistance weight loss for more on this topic). Also, the release of chemicals that you get from working out is proven to make you feel great.
BE CONSISTENT!
I have spoken about this in a previous blog post, but it is so important. At the end of the day, the most important thing is to learn to enjoy the process of exercise. Don’t be fixated on an end goal. I don’t know anybody who doesn’t enjoy taking some time out for themselves. And it doesn’t matter how busy you are, it’s important, especially if you’re busy. Especially if you have kids and you feel like you’re frazzled because you have no time or you’re spread too thin.
Taking 20 or 30 minutes to yourself will make you feel good and everybody wants and deserves to feel good. This is how you should approach fitness. If you like something, do it. And do it because you’re enjoying it at the time that you’re doing it. Then what you’ll find is, you will become consistent at doing it. I know this blog has been about strength training, but really, at the end of the day, anything done consistently is going to be better than even the best program done inconsistently. So learn to enjoy the process, and you’ll never have to worry about this I’m-on-the-wagon-off-the-wagon idea. Start to realise there is no wagon. It’s just the way you live.
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