The Benefits of Strength Training

Many people look for an activity that will better them in every way possible; weightlifting is the greatest activity in the world for such goals! Weightlifting yields so many benefits and it can improve the quality of life for anyone who can do it. Weightlifting is one of the activities that, in conjunction with other exercise and proper diet, will improve overall health, physical performance, and mentality.

The regular guy you see in the gym, whose level of fitness doesn’t directly impact his profession, may feel like it is not his place to embark upon a strength training program. However, strength training is just as suited to the person who wants to be able to carry a flowerpot from one end of their garden to the other as it is to the strongman who dreams of breaking the world record for furthest anvil toss. Of course, the strength training program of the former may not be quite as intense as that of the latter, but I think that’s part of the beauty of health and fitness. The gym is full of different people of different levels of fitness, all trying to better themselves at a rate which is comfortable for

Lifting weights strengthens bones and tendons. It helps increase muscle volume and muscle conditioning. It allows an athlete to perform with a higher level of strength and speed. “Physically, athletes whom weight train and are in good condition will also be able to recover faster if and when an injury occurs. I see this in our setting and it is a proven fact” (Asing Interview).

Being an athlete I know the struggles of strength and conditioning. Many athletes are pushed in the weight room and during conditioning, however are they being taught the right way? Effective weight training depends on proper technique. Many coaches try to go off of what they know and force their athletes to lift weights. This improper way of lifting often causes injury. The athlete should also lift the proper amount of weights. Athletes today need to know the right way to lift weights. This will allow them to actually gain muscle, power and speed instead of just being sore. There are many factors in weight lifting which include diet, frequency, intensity, and specification. All of these factors play a vital role in developing muscle.

First and foremost, the health benefits that come from weightlifting are numerous and immense. Weightlifting increases muscle strength and it increases bone density as well. Increase in bone density is one of the most beneficial side effects yielded by weightlifting (Sidrah). During weightlifting and

When exercising, the weight or stress you’ve produced to the muscles can create resistance and then contraction of the muscles can be drawn out. These contractions enable the muscles significantly increase in size. Along with the increase in size is the increase in strength as well. Repeated exercise, coupled with weight bearing activities, hypertrophy, and medical term for increase in muscle size, of the muscles will be evident.

Benefits include; joint protection and improved mobility which is important as we age. Other benefits include better posture, increased stamina and increased bone density reducing the risk of osteoporosis.

For example many people will show an improvement in strength from the first session to the second session. This improvement is due to CNS adaptation because there is no hypertrophic gain during this short period. Another example which proves the importance of CNS adaptations related to strength gains is that strength performance may increase by 30% while hypertrophic gains may only be 15%, thus half of the strength gains is attributable to CNS adaptations. Generally in the first few months of strength training CNS adaptations account for a larger percentage of the strength gain than hypertrophic adaptations. To illustrate the importance of CNS adaptations in the early part of training, it should be noted that electrical stimulation can increase the rate of strength gains. Hypertrophy is an important factor in improved strength performance. Strength training brings about an increase in the size and number of myofibrils. It is speculated that during and following a high intensity strength training session the neuroendocrine responses will bring about an increased amino acid uptake and will increase the rate of protein synthesis. Optimal hypertrophic gains require adequate recovery between workouts to permit the rate of protein synthesis to exceed the rate of protein degradation. It should also be noted that strength training also stimulates bone and

For the purposes of these studies and this paper, strength training will be defined as the use of progressive resistance methods such as body weight (i.e. pushups), free weights, isotonic and isokinetic machines utilized in an attempt to increase one’s ability to exert or resist force (Cahill, 1995). Prepubescence will be defined as a child, male or female, typically no older than

Muscle hypertrophy— results mainly from high-intensity resistance exercise such as weight lifting, which pits muscles against high resistance or immovable forces. Here, strength not stamina is important. The additional muscle bulk largely reflects the increased size of individual muscle fibers rather

Diseases and conditions associated with physical inactivity include heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer, and obesity, among others (Global Health Risks, 2009). Researchers have reported that, after excluding pregnant individuals and

As soon as the body is strained, the survival system is going to begin working, and the body will react by repairing the muscle tissue. This procedure of repair actually commences as soon as you cease working out. As the human body is trying to keep you alive and also in good health, it will now rebuild the muscles larger and more powerful, as a way to guard it against a similar danger in the future. So this expanded size and strength is a natural evolutionary reply to the micro-tears, and the entire body tries to repair broken tissue brought on by strength training.

Weaknesses: Blood samples were not collected post-exercise to measure the serum testosterone. 12 weeks could be short period to see muscle mass & strength improvement. They did not measure amino acid composition in diets. They did not consider the differences in participant’s BMI and age. The highest values achieved for handgrip & isometric strength were used for

If a person develops a routine weight training regimen, it can aid in maintaining weight loss and promote a healthier lifestyle. Weight training is essential to health because dieting can only be done correctly if physical activity is involved. It also helps to develop better body mechanics. Your body mechanics such as balance and coordination will improve over time and if you are an individual who isn’t very “flexible and has poor balance, statistics show that your risk of falling can be reduced by as much as forty percent (Iliades, n.d.).” This is very beneficial to your health as you

Merely not using a person’s body is harmful. Not being active results in a person’s muscles becoming weak and out of condition. The effectiveness of a person’s heart and lungs will decrease. A person’s joints will become stiff and can be injured easily. Inactivity can be as much of a health risk as smoking. In addition children have become extremely lazy with all the