The Role of Strength Training in Overall Fitness

How necessary is strength training?

Strength training involves using your muscles (one or more than one group) to do a task. You can start with simple goals and then move forward in this routine. Beginners can use only their body weight to do this task. However, as you start doing this regularly, you can make use of equipment like free weights, resistance bands, weight machines, and suspension equipment.

Why is strength training important for your fitness?

The answer to this question can be understood better when you know the different types of weight training practised today.

• Muscular Hypertrophy –

This exercise builds and stimulates your muscles. You can use light to moderately heavy equipment for this.

• Muscular Endurance –

The benefits of regular physical activity like this one include preparing your muscles to endure for a long time without tearing or getting damaged.

• Circuit Training –

Done by experienced fitness enthusiasts, this routine involves conditioning your entire body through a series of continuous and rigorous exercises.

• Maximum Muscular Strength –

This is also done by experienced people. This routine makes use of low reps and heavy weights to unleash the potential of your muscle strength.

• Explosive Power –

As the name suggests, this routine involves a great deal of power and speed. Suited for professionally trained athletes, this routine involves the use of power to increase the speed of their performance.

The role of strength training in your overall fitness is extremely important because it aims to improve your overall muscle strength, endurance, fitness, and power.

Benefits

The importance of regular exercise through weight training can be understood from the benefits it provides to your body.

• Improved strength –

This is one of the significant benefits of regular physical activity; it increases your overall speed and power.

• Increased metabolism rate –

Increases metabolism and helps burn calories quickly.

• Reduction in fat in the abdomen –

Leads to reduction of visceral fat accumulated in the abdomen.

• Leaner appearance than before –

Increased muscle strength and reduced fat lead to a leaner appearance.

• Decrease in falls and injuries –

Improved muscle strength leads to increased balance in your body, thereby preventing injuries and falls.

• Keeps heart healthy –

Regulates blood pressure and cholesterol levels, thereby improving blood circulation to the heart

• Regulates blood sugar levels –

Improved muscle mass helps manage blood sugar levels effectively.

• Increased flexibility –

Keeps joint range of motion under control, thereby increasing your overall mobility and flexibility.

• Improves bone strength –

Increases overall bone strength, thereby reducing the risk of brittle bones, fractures, osteoporosis, and more.

• Improves overall brain health –

Helps to keep the brain active and free from age-related brain degeneration ailments like dementia and Alzheimer’s.

• Improved mental health –

The benefits of exercising regularly extend to your mental health as well. Regular sessions of strength training can improve your mood and increase your overall self-esteem.

Tips

Do you want to enjoy the benefits of regular physical activity through your strength training sessions? Here are some tips to follow:

• Always warm up your body for five to ten minutes before you proceed to lift weights.

• Focus on the right form and posture.

• Always start lifting light weights. Ensure that your weights don’t force you to compromise on your form.

• Never hold your breath while lifting weights. Exhale while lifting and inhale while you bring the weights down to follow the right technique.

• Bring a lot of balance to the muscle groups in your abdomen, legs, arms, hips, shoulders, and the like.

• Work on different muscle groups on different days to avoid too much stress on them. Initially, you should indulge in weight training at least two times a week for your overall fitness. However, once you gain some experience, you can make this a part of your fitness routine every day.

• When you feel pain or any problems in any of your muscles, stop immediately and resume when you feel alright. Don’t work out when you are in pain.

How to Get Started?

Are you not in the mood for resistance training? Here are a few tips to get you up and started:

• Look at strength training as a positive effect on your health instead of focusing on the struggle involved with it.

• Invest in new fitness equipment and workout clothes; you will start to work out at least to wear/use these.

• Set up reasonable goals initially. Keep your fitness training schedule to just about 15 minutes initially before increasing it gradually.

• Train in groups to keep up the competitive spirit.