People take on exercise routines for a number of reasons. You might want to lose weight. Gain energy for your day to day tasks or simply get in shape. There’s always one question most people ask when going to the gym.
Is strength training right for me?
The answer is always yes. Strength training should be a cornerstone of your workout programmes.
But why?
For a long time strength has been overlooked by many health professionals. There was even a time when it was considered merely an aesthetic training method for individuals looking to shape their body, or at best, for increased performance in certain sports.
The truth is that strength training should not only be considered an important part of any training, but as a fundamental cornerstone of any workout. It is considered an essential factor both helping you achieve an optimal level of health, whilst preventing and treating different pathologies and injuries.
Most training schedules these days will now encompass both strength and cardiovascular work – in suitable proportion to one another to satisfy individual training goals. Strength is rapidly gaining prominence due to the variety it can provide across a long term workout programme. One of the most important results of this method is the muscle gain – in three key areas – quality, quantity and functionality, which is beneficial to our health as lower levels of muscle mass equal a higher chance of mortality.
Healthier muscles are able to produce more strength, which is why there’s a focus on such metabolic adaptations in modern exercise routines. And stronger muscles are better at resisting insulin, are less likely to produce metabolic stress and help cardiometabolic capacities to a greater extent than much cardiovascular exercise and can help reduce visceral fat.
There’s also the mindset improvements that come with pushing heavier weights around. Over time you can quickly increase your max lifts and max reps and this gives you challenges, goals and barriers in your workout. There’s always something to be said about the mental fortitude gained by proving that you can do something that once seemed beyond you. And many exercisers that start trying weights become quickly surprised by their rate of strength and growth.
Once you consider these facts you might want to change your opinions about strength training:
- It’s about more than aesthetic body sculpting. It’s essential to good health.
- Strength helps boost all work outs – not only specific sports
- General pain and muscle problems can be alleviated with strength training
- Strength training is an essential facet of injury recovery
Strength training also helps you stand strong with a positive mindset -especially useful during these tough times.
And if you’re looking to develop a new program of exercise that comes with a load of strength training and personal conditioning then why not get in touch with EMS Fitness and speak to one of our health professionals who can take you through a schedule of exercise and nutrition to help you reach your personal goals.