By: Jack Evans
10/21/2022
Who this article is intended for
Considering you’re a generally healthy individual, not wanting to look like a bodybuilder, not wanting to compete in an athletic event, or not seeming to have the time of day to fit a workout in your schedule. Why bother exercising, or training?
In the event you are pursuing one of these goals, stay posted for future articles, but for those of you who are not, this article is particularly for you.
Let’s begin.
The basics
I’ll start with the brief foundations of resistance training, and continue from there.
Resistance training (Weight training) is the movement of training specific muscles of your body to complete a specific task. Have you heard of a bicep curl? It’s a natural movement that has also been modified to increase strength of the bicep muscles connected to your arm. How about a weighted barbell squat? This again, is another natural movement that has been modified (with weight) to strengthen the lower body complex.
The more you learn about these particular movements, you’ll realize at the core is a natural movement our body is mechanically capable of performing. Nice, right? But now you may be wondering why you should be partaking in this.
Views on exercise, and benefits
Over the years, weight training has becoming increasingly popular. What’s even better about this, is that both men, and woman, older and younger, are realizing the benefits of this activity. It’s been recognized to not only increase strength, but also promote weight loss, reduce fatigue, increase energy, and aid in the balance of hormonal function. What’s not to like about these? Let’s break each advantage down.
Strength: Promotes healthy body composition, as well as decreasing chances for injury.
Weight-loss: Retaining lean tissue (muscle) comes at a price, and that price is utilizing more calories to meet these energy demands.
Increasing energy: When resistance training, you increase your bodies demand for energy. In return, this promotes an increase in metabolism function. This helps increase energy production, and helps combat the feelings of fatigue.
You may still be thinking, “Why do I need to do this?” Some examples to consider If you know anyone over the age of 40 who lives a sedentary lifestyle, how often is it that you’ve overheard them make comments about an aching, or nagging pain? How about comments about wanting to lose weight, or tone? How about the mid 20’s to 30’s year old who can’t seem to keep their energy up, lacks confidence in social gatherings, and appears to have added weight to their figure? Lastly, think about a young adult, someone not quite in their twenties. They may be involved in sports, and can’t seem to hold their own against opponents, or perform at their best. Consider the young adult who finds themselves involved in a more academic environment (rather than sports), and seems to lack confidence in their physical presence. Here’s why this could be good for you Truth is, you may hold some similarities with anyone of these three different categories listed. I would like to make it clear that resistance training isn’t going to solve your problems, sorry to say. But exercise, and resistance training in particular are likely to open physical, and emotional doorways that you may not even realized had existed before. This could likely lead you to accomplish things as simple as being able to bend over and pick something up off the ground, without any pain, or promote the ability to walk into a crowded room with your head high, wearing an air of confidence. Final take-away Movement itself holds value to the human body. Our bodies were not designed to remain sedentary throughout a 24 hour period, let alone adding in the stressors of our lifestyles. It’s important to realize that the exercise being promoted has been clinically proven to aid in wide varieties of settings. It’s not just simply about staying alive, but staying alive, and enjoying life in good health. Tips from the writer My best advice is to reach out to a health, or fitness coach and seek professional, and experienced input on what you need to do. Whether you’re an already experienced lifter, or someone who has never stepped foot in a gym, seeking professional guidance is always the most effective route to travel.
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