Resistance training is simply – lifting heavy things, weight training, moving your limbs against a resisting force-provided by your body weight, bands, bars, dumbbells, gravity or weighted machines.
What are the Benefits?
There are a number of health benefits by incorporating weight training into your fitness regime and over the years with the rise in popularity of the bodybuilder image, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and other strong and sculpted icons, resistance training has definitely taken off and is known to be a way to get ‘the look’ – especially with males.
More recently there has been a surge in females promoting healthy lifestyles and weight lifting which has enlightened women’s perception of what resistance training is and moving away from preconceived ideas of what she will look like as a result of lifting heavy. Famous ‘Instamodels’ share their training tips and show off their perfectly toned-thighs and backsides giving ‘weights’ the fanfare it has long deserved.
The Power of Resistance Training
Let’s look at how it all works and how powerful weight training is not just for GIVING YOU TONE but also turning you into one of those people who get to enjoy carbs and anAMAZING SLEEP AT NIGHT. It is firstly important, as with any workout, to warm up and cool down properly. By doing this you decrease your risk of injury while doing your workout and also aids in quicker recovery time so you can get back to training again quicker. Weight training boasts a whole host of health benefits that cross not only PHYSICAL but MENTAL HEALTH BENEFITS.
In addition to using this form of training for WEIGHT MANAGEMENT and increased muscle to fat ratio – meaning that as you gain muscle, your BODY BURNS MORE FAT AT REST – resistance training also is used in the PREVENTION OR CONTRO LOF CHRONIC CONDITIONS such as diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, back pain, obesity and depression.
Weight training makes you more insulin sensitive, meaning that if you are someone who cannot tolerate carbohydrates because it causes you to gain fat quickly, this is the perfect type of training for you. As you do weight training you open up your insulin receptors in your cells, making insulin easier to be received and converted into energy rather than stored as fat. Aside from increasing muscle strength and size through weight training, by doing this form of training you protect your joints from injury as the impact is lessoned to that of high impact cardio (running on a pavement), and training to full range of motion maintains flexibility, mobility and balance, improves posture, and assists with pain management.
WOMEN ESPECIALLY CAN BENEFIT from this form of training to INCREASE THEIR BONE AND MUSCLE DENSITY increase their bone and muscle density thus reducing their risk of osteoporosis which is vital with age. If you are someone who suffers from insomnia then weight training can drastically IMPROVE SLEEP PATTERNS as well. If you’re a beginner and just starting out with weight training, you’ll need to learn the ropes so as not to injure yourself.
You’ll pleased to know that you will get great gains and results very quickly as your body is not used to this type of conditioning, so your body will respond very rapidly to using volume and load to manipulate your stimulus along with giving yourself adequate rest and recovery. Become familiar with the basic principles of resistance training and terms used and the world is your oyster.
Remember that with anything if you want to see good results it is recommended to do it least 3 times a week. The best classes for resistance training are TRIBE STRONG and TRIBE TOTAL. Try and also incorporate a healthy nutrition plan to compliment all your hard work in the gym!
