5 Reasons Why Weight Lifting Is Good For Your Health

Lifting weights used to be seen as something only athletes or professional lifters did in the past. But as you’ll see from the health benefits of weight training, there’s something in it for everyone. Women have as much to gain as men do from weight lifting. Even seniors can benefit from lifting weights. And no, you don’t need to be uber fit to start – regular people like you and me can be successful at keeping up an exercise regimen involving weights too. Here’s why you should give it a shot.

# Boosts Health And Longevity

If you’re wondering whether a cardio workout will do when you’re trying to lead a healthy lifestyle, consider this. Health authorities the world over, including the World Health Organization, recommend that adults fit in not just 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity like brisk walking, running, or other forms of “cardio,” but also add on some strength or resistance training.

The suggested weekly minimum is two resistance/strength training workouts, which means you need to incorporate weight training into your regimen at least two days a week more if you can. This can help with bringing down all-cause mortality, besides cutting down your risk of developing diseases like type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis. Got your attention? There are even more reasons to consider investing in those weights or using your local gym or fitness center to access weightlifting machines.

# Increases Muscle Mass

As you grow older your body begins to lose muscle mass unless you make a special effort to prevent this. Did you know you could lose as much as half a pound of muscle every single year in your 30s and 40s? As you hit the big five-oh, you may see this rate of muscle loss cost you a pound a year. You’ll notice that with it comes diminished ability to carry loads. It may also hamper movements that you’d never thought twice about like getting up from a chair or carrying things. Your metabolism too becomes a little slower with this lower muscle level since you burn fewer calories through fat.

# Builds Bone Strength

Osteoporosis affects an estimated 8 million women and 2 million men in the United States alone. Having this condition, characterized by weak bones, raises your risk of fractures, some of which can be debilitating and may affect your mobility, especially if you are older. Strength training like weight lifting can help slow the bone loss that comes with age and may even help build bone.

By doing load-bearing workouts, you get stronger bones that are also denser. And while weight-bearing aerobic exercise (like running which uses your own body as the weight) is great for this, weight training can also help you target bones of your hips, wrists, and spine, all of which are prone to fractures.

# Improves Balance And Reduces Risk Of Falls

Wouldn’t it be nice not to live in constant fear of falling and breaking a hip or leg? If you have poor lower body muscle tone, it can make you more prone to falls and injuries. Build that muscle strength with a good lower body routine in your weight training and you should see less falls. Researchers have found that such exercises improved lower limb strength as well balance in test subjects aged 65 and over, confirming its benefits to this age group.

# Aids Weight Loss

No, you will not get big and bulky by lifting weights. On the contrary, lifting weights may actually help you lose weight and get that toned physique you want. The bulking up happens only if you consume a large number of calories to build up that mass. So how does this work? As you lift weights that challenge you, you build muscle mass, which means your metabolic rate also revs up.

With that higher metabolic rate, you stand to burn more calories every day, and more burnt calories equal greater weight loss – provided you don’t increase your food intake, that is, you ensure you burn more than you consume every day.9 It could also help reduce the abdominal fat in your body and even improve blood sugar levels, something diabetics can leverage.