Health Benefits of Fitness and Weight Training
Many people who weight train are doing so primarily to look better, more toned, sleek and sexy. Which is fine. But you shouldn’t forget about the health benefits of fitness and weight training. This is just an added bonus to the results you can see in the mirror!
Probably one of the most well known benefits of fitness and weight training is strengthening your bones. Weight lifting can help increase your bone density and help prevent osteoporosis in the future.
There is a common mis-perception that running helps increase bone density, but this isn’t true. The reality is that running can actually cause muscle breakdown but weight lifting can help promote tissue growth. So the reality is that you can get more benefits of fitness and weight training than with the jarring impact of running.
Another benefit of fitness and weight training is that as you build your muscles your tendons and ligaments,that are connecting bones, muscles and other tissues will also get stronger, thus potentially reducing the chance of injury while engaging in physical activity.
In almost all cases an injury is the direct result of a tendon, ligament or muscle not strong enough to hold up to the stress of a physical activity. So to help prevent injury always try to reap the benefits of fitness and weight training.
More and more studies are showing the positive health benefits of fitness and weight training. The rate of such common diseases as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer have been showed to be positively impacted by regular weight training activities. Couple a complete fitness and weight training routine with good nutrition and you’ll have a much better chance of avoiding these common, and potentially deadly, diseases.
One of the most common and well known benefits of fitness and weight training is losing body fat. This might go deeper than many people realize though. When you lift weights and grow your muscles you are actually increasing your metabolism, not just during the exercise, but for hours after ward. That means that if you you to the gym and workout your body will be burning more calories for the rest of the night, even if you’re just sitting on the couch watching TV., than it would if you hadn’t lifted weights. Thus, the fitness and weight training benefits, far outlast the actual activity!
One of the biggest misconceptions about weight training, especially with women, is that if you life weights you will get big and bulky. This simply is not true, and here’s why.
To get big and bulky with weight training, which of course some people want to do, isn’t just about the amount of weight you lift or how often you work out. It’s also about your diet. Your weight training must go hand in hand with your diet.
Many weight lifters who are trying to bulk up will load up on proteins and carbohydrates. They would eat much more than the average person will ever consume. That way the bodybuilders will have all the ‘building blocks’ their bodies need to bulk up, while the average person simply isn’t providing their body with enough ‘building blocks’ to get really big.
The bottom line is this, the benefits of fitness and weight training can have a long term positive impact on your life. The sooner you incorporate them into your workouts the sooner you will look sleeker, sexier and will be healthier.
