Benefits of Strength Training

Benefits of Strength Training

Benefits of Strength Training

Would you rather be weak or strong? I reckon the answer is obvious, no one wants to be weak. So how do we make ourselves stronger? The answer lies in the benefits of strength training.

On average we lose 1 kg of muscle every 5 years if we don’t do weight training. The good news is, if we participate in strength training not only do you replace muscle you have lost, but you add more than before. This means that your basic daily duties become much easier especially as we get older. Things like getting up off a chair become really easy because of the muscle added in your legs and glutes.

The challenge of course is, what exercises do you do and how do you do them? Like most things these days, there is plenty of information on the internet, and a million You Tube videos with conflicting information. Most of the information for weight training is aimed at young people wanting to look like a body builder!! Of course that is not what you should be doing ( unless you want to ) as many of these exercises required for that pursuit are likely to cause an injury.

Personally I recommend the hiring of an experienced personal trainer who will ensure that you lift the weight correctly and maximise the time you spend to achieve the best possible results without hurting yourself. The best way to achieve excellent results in a short period of time is by doing what are known as compound exercises. These are exercises that work more than one muscle at the same time. For example, if you do a squat, not only are you working your legs, but your abs, back and glutes too. Similarly with a bench press (pecs, triceps and delts) and a lat pull down (trapezius, biceps, rhomboids, lats and delts).

The big advantages of compound exercises are time efficiency and less chance of injury because a number of muscle groups are working in conjunction with each other in a functional way. In everyday life we either push or pull things such as a door, a wheel barrow, a weed out of the garden or lawn mower. Our bodies are designed to work that way so it makes total sense that when we lift weight, we push or pull.

For best results your program should include lunges, squats, leg press, bench press, lat pull down and seated row. Virtually every muscle is being worked with these exercises and it would only take you about half an hour to complete. Contrary to what many believe, it isn’t the number of repetitions that create the best results, it’s how heavy the weight actually is. The heavier the weight, the more muscle you will put on.

Obviously good technique is paramount here and a good trainer will work out how much weight you should be lifting.

In our next blog I will be talking about how often you should be lifting weights, how many reps and how many sets with all the science behind it!

If you are interested in finding out more about health and fitness, call us on 0423 058 679.