Strength Training builds muscle, boosts metabolism, improves bone density, and supports overall health, helping you stay strong, manage weight, and enhance daily function at any age.
Strength training is a key part of staying fit. Learn how resistance training helps your body and find out how to get started with an effective strength training program.
Want to burn more calories, gain muscle mass, and shred body fat? Strength training helps you do all that. It plays a vital role in achieving overall health and fitness for everyone through improved body composition and metabolic health.
Build it Before You Lose it
As you age, your muscle mass starts decreasing.
If you don’t work to rebuild the muscle tissue you lose over time, your body fat percentage will go up. Resistance training helps you keep and promote muscle growth no matter how old you are.
Lifting weights can also:
- Make your bones stronger. Putting pressure on your bones helps them get denser and improves bone density, which lowers the chance of getting osteoporosis.
- Control your weight. Resistance training helps you with weight management and fat loss while increasing your metabolic rate to burn more calories. Building muscle tissue also raises your basal metabolic rate (BMR), helping you burn more calories even at rest.
- Boost how you live your life. Developing functional strength can make daily tasks easier and keep your joints safe from harm. Getting stronger might also improve your balance and lower your chances of falling. This helps you stay independent as you age.
- Handle ongoing health issues. Building muscle strength may ease symptoms linked to long-term health problems such as arthritis, back issues, being overweight, heart problems, depression or diabetes. Regular resistance exercise can also improve insulin sensitivity and support cardiovascular health.
- Keep your brain sharp. Some studies suggest that regular weight training along with cardio exercises can keep your brain clear and improve focus and learning in older adults.
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Take some time to think it over.
You can do strength training exercises at home or in a gym. Some common options for your strength training routine are:
- Body weight. You don’t need much equipment to try bodyweight exercises. Do things like pushups, pullups, planks, lunges, and squats to build strength. A body weight workout is perfect for beginners and can target multiple muscle fibers effectively.
- Resistance tubing. These lightweight tubes are cheap and add resistance when stretched. You can find different types of resistance bands at sporting stores or online for effective resistance exercises.
- Free weights. Dumbbells and barbells work well for traditional strength training and muscle building. If you don’t have weights at home, you can use things like soup cans. Medicine balls or kettle bells are also great alternatives.
- Weight machines. Most gyms have different kinds of resistance machines for targeted resistance exercise. You can also get weight machines to use at home if you prefer.
- Cable suspension training. Cable suspension training offers another option to try compound exercises. It involves holding part of your body, like your legs, in suspension while doing exercises like planks or pushups that use your body weight.
Getting started
Talk to your doctor before starting a strength and conditioning program if you have a chronic condition or are over 40 and haven’t been active for a while.
Before you begin your strength workout, take five to 10 minutes to warm up by brisk walking or doing another aerobic activity. Warm muscles reduce the risk of injury compared to cold ones.
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Choose a weight or resistance level that tires your muscles after about 12 to 15 reps. When you can do more reps of an exercise, increase the weight or resistance—this concept is called progressive overload and is essential for muscle development.
Research shows lifting a single set of 12 to 15 reps with the right weight can build muscle mass for most people. This approach can work as well as doing three sets of the same move. If you push your muscle fibers to the point where you can’t do another rep, you’re doing enough to make them stronger and improve muscle endurance. If you hit that point after doing more reps, it means you’re using a lighter weight, which may help you stay in control and use good form.
You should take a full day off before working the same muscle group again to allow for proper recovery and muscle repair.
Also, listen to what your body tells you. If an exercise causes pain, stop doing it. Try using a lighter weight or give it another shot a few days later. Supporting your strength training workout with adequate protein intake can also enhance muscle power and overall physical performance.
Using proper methods during strength training helps avoid injuries. If you’re new to lifting weights, work with a trainer or fitness expert to learn the right form. Always remember to breathe while doing any strength exercises.
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When will you see results?
You don’t have to lift weights for hours every day to see results. With just two or three 20- to 30-minute sessions per week, you can improve your strength development and see changes in body composition. Circuit training can be an efficient way to combine strength training exercises with fat burning benefits.
To stay healthy, most adults should follow the exercise advice given by the Department of Health and Human Services.
- Aerobic activity. Aim to do 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise, 75 minutes of intense aerobic exercise weekly, or a mix of both. Try to spread this activity over the week. If you add more exercise, you can see even bigger improvements in health. Even small bursts of activity during the day can add up to help your health and increase energy expenditure. High-intensity workouts can also trigger the afterburn effect (EPOC), where your body continues burning calories after exercise.
- Strength training. Work on strengthening all major muscle groups at least twice each week. Focus on doing one set per exercise using enough weight or resistance to tire your muscles after around 12 to 15 reps. This approach supports calorie burn and helps reduce fat cells while building lean muscle tissue.
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When you add strength exercises to your workout routine, you might notice yourself getting stronger over time. As your muscle mass increases and your resting metabolic rate improves, lifting weights will feel easier, and you’ll be able to do it for longer stretches. By staying consistent with your strength training program, you can continue building your strength even if you’re not in perfect shape at the beginning.
Source:
Mayo Clinic (29, 2023). Strength training: Get stronger, leaner, healthier. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/strength-training/art-20046670
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