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Lifting Weights to Lose Weight and Other Benefits of Strength Training
- Updated: April 6, 2018
The number of people who exercise regularly has been on the rise the last few years. Yet the obesity rates are climbing in spite of this, reports the U.S. News. One of the reasons for this strange discrepancy in that not all kinds of exercise help you lose weight equally well. This means that by adding specific exercises to your workout, you can enhance its fat-burning ability. Weight lifting must be included into your routine as the benefits of strength training do not only include a weight loss boost. This type of exercise also strengthens your bones and can significantly improve heart health.
Benefits of Strength Training for Weight Loss and Health
When it comes to weight loss, no other type of exercise beats strength training in long-term efficiency. Please note that it’s true that cardio burns more calories per session. It’s also true that you won’t really be ‘losing’ weight rapidly if you start lifting weights.
The reason for the latter is that this training grows your muscles, instead of merely helping you shed off excess fat. Muscles are heavier than fat, so your weights might not show a significant change even if your body transforms beautifully. Therefore, it’s not the number of pounds you should be looking at but the level of body fat. You can measure the body fat percentage using this calculator.
Aside from transforming your body visually, muscles also have an extremely important property. They burn off energy faster than other kinds of tissue. This means that increasing your lean muscle mass naturally increases your resting metabolism.
Admittedly, this boost is not very big (9% men and 4% women). However, seeing how changing the natural metabolic rate is nearly impossible, this development can make a huge difference. You can also enhance the weight loss benefits of strength training by taking Phen diet pills. This product will also help stimulate metabolism and enhance the efficiency of any physical exercise due to caffeine.
Aside from helping you get slimmer, weight lifting also provides the following health benefits:
- Strengthening the bones.
It might seem that loading your bones and joints with extra weight will only damage them. After all, that’s what obesity does and why overweight and obese people have a higher risk of developing osteoporosis. However, controlled applications of extra weights have an opposite effect. Strength training can strengthen your bones, joints, and ligaments. Multiple studies have proven this, including this one that attested to the increase in bone density as a result of regular resistance training. - Improves heart health.
Similar to cardio, one of the main benefits of strength training is its positive effect on heart health. Lifting weights improves the condition of blood vessels and gets your blood flowing, which strengthens the heart. Note that this exercise has been known to prevent hypertension. However, if performed incorrectly, it might cause a spike in blood pressure. That’s why it’s essential not to overdo it when it comes to weight lifting, especially in the beginning. - Improves mood.
Like any physical workout, a resistance training session will release serotonin into your brain. This means it will make you feel happier by default. It’s also well-known that exercising helps relieve and prevent depression and anxiety. Though the mechanisms that lead to these reactions are still under research. One thing for sure, your mood will improve when you see your body shaping up, which will happen quite fast when you use weights.
One important thing you need to remember in order to enjoy all the benefits of strength training is that it must be practiced in ‘small dozes’. It will be best to work every group of muscles during the week. You must never work the same groups on consecutive days as rest periods are needed for your body to actually grow new muscle tissue. Don’t forget to add a day of stretching (yoga will be perfect) and a day of rest too.