For many women, when they think about weight training, the image that comes to mind is bodybuilders pumping iron and growing big muscles in the process and many people believe that muscles are manly and so they avoid weights completely, including exercises that only involve body weight.
The news i have come to share today is that it’s time to erase those myths of what weight/resistance training can do for your physique and health. Modern exercise science shows that working with weights—whether that weight is a light dumbbell or your own body—may be the best exercise for lifelong physical function and fitness.
Research has shown that resistance training is the most important form of training for overall health and wellness.
Weight training doesn’t just increase muscle size and strength, the “load” that this form of training puts on bones and their supporting muscles, tendons and ligaments helps a lot in improving health and physical function.
For example, we talk about bone resorption, which is a decrease in bone tissue over time. When you’re young, bone resorption is balanced and in some cases exceeded by new bone tissue generation. But with age, there is an increase in bone tissue losses and this overtakes the creation of new bone. That increased bone loss is especially pronounced among people who are less physically active and women who have reached or passed menopause.
This loss of bone tissue leads to the weakness and postural problems that affects many older adults.
Strength training counteracts all those bone losses and postural deficits. Through a process known as bone remodeling, strength training stimulates the development of bone osteoblasts: cells that build bones back up. Although you can achieve some of these bone benefits through aerobic exercise, especially in your lower body, strength training is really the best way to maintain and enhance total-body bone strength.
More research links strength training with improved insulin sensitivity among people with diabetes and prediabetes. One study found that twice-weekly training sessions helped control insulin swings (and body weight) among patients with type-2 diabetes. This is likely because muscle is very metabolically active, and it uses glucose, or blood sugar, for energy.
During a session of resistance training, your muscles are rapidly using glucose, and this energy consumption continues even after you’ve finished exercising,For anyone at risk for metabolic conditions—type-2 diabetes, but also high blood pressure, unhealthy cholesterol levels and other symptoms of metabolic syndrome—strength training is among the most-effective remedies.
So stop thinking that weights are only meant for athletes, we could all do with some strength exercises.
This doesn’t mean that you need to rush to the gym and start lifting the heaviest weights possible. You can ease into weight training by doing exercises that involve using your body weight such as push ups and leg raises. Gradually as you build up your strength, and with the assistance of a qualified physical trainer you can start to incorporate free weights with regular aerobic exercise as this will help increase your strength as well as your heart health.
As always it’s a good idea to consult a physician before you begin any new exercise program to be sure how fit you are for the desired activity.
