Why Should I Do Resistance Training?

Resistance training is quickly becoming one of the most popular and in-demand types of exercise in the world today. Many of us who exercise on a regular basis choose to only engage in cardiovascular exercise such as jogging, biking, and aerobics classes. Those who are in-the-know, however, will make time in their exercise schedule to pump some iron. Why? Resistance training will provide several benefits that cardiovascular exercise cannot.

Resistance training is a method to produce muscle growth. It also improves muscle strength and bone health, and it can drastically improve athletic performance. The value of resistance training is important for both men and women. It helps both stay healthy and offset the aging process, which can lead to problems such as loss of muscle mass and osteoporosis, and subsequent disability. 

Muscle growth is a very healthy and desirable process for both men AND women. Frequently, people (usually women) choose not to engage in a resistance training program because they are concerned that they will become “too big.” Unfortunately, this unfounded assumption can prevent them from obtaining the many benefits that pumping iron can provide them. For one thing, women have fewer muscle fibers than men, especially in the upper body. Additionally, the primary muscle building hormone (testosterone) is dramatically lower in women than in men. Therefore, it is very rare for a woman to develop muscles to a size that would be considered “manly.” The only way for this type of muscular development to occur in women would be with the help of anabolic steroids and/or growth hormone. What a woman WILL achieve with a well designed resistance training routine is a slight increase in muscle size with a corresponding decrease in body fat, with resulting smaller dimensions and significantly increased muscle definition and muscle tone. Yes, muscle growth is very sexy! 

In men, much more potential exists for increases in muscle size due to much greater amounts of testosterone and muscle fibers in the body. For the guys, proper training and nutrition are the other primary factors that we can control to increase muscle size. 

For both men and women, resistance training should be a staple in our exercise plan for many reasons. It is helpful in dealing with certain conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis, and diabetes. Under the eye of a trained professional, resistance training can be used for rehabilitation, recovery, and prevention of injury and correction of skeletal imbalances. 

Lifting weights can build, shape, and sculpt the body like nothing else in the world. The muscle gain it causes increases metabolic activity which plays an important role in fat loss. In combination with cardiovascular exercise and proper diet, it will help you create the body of your dreams!