Sometimes folks will comment, “why would you bother exercising out if you aren’t losing any weight?” And boy, does this one make me seethe.
I mean, yeah, sure, most people could probably stand to lose a few el-bees, but that’s not to say that building your strongest, most versatile, most resilient body isn’t worth it otherwise. I digress. Here’s Erin’s take on the matter:
Many times, the first benefit that comes to mind when thinking about strength training is weight loss. While it is true that strength training can help you lose weight, there are many other significant health benefits to strength training.
Increased Strength
This one is a no-brainer. Within a short period of time, you will notice a difference in everyday tasks. Think of a grocery store visit, it’ll be much easier to lift something heavy, squat down to get something, or carry the groceries back to the car.
Increased Bone Strength
With regular load progressions, multi-joint exercises (e.g. squats, deadlifts, overhead presses, etc) stimulate new bone formation and increase the size of the bone.
Over time as muscles grow in size and strength, the bone itself must increase in size and strength to provide the needed support structure.
For older adults facing declining bone health, strength training may help offset these declines and may also reduce the risk of osteoporotic fractures.
Increased Aerobic Capacity
Better aerobic capacity is helpful in many scenarios including being able to play with your kids or pets longer without getting winded and being able to go up and down the stairs to do the laundry with much less effort and fatigue.
Plus, increased aerobic capacity for exercise makes it easier for us to perform “out-of-the-gym” tasks, thus benefiting us more via the extra daily movement.
Increased Flexibility
Strength training is very effective at increasing flexibility because you are gaining strength while in a lengthened position.
When exercising with progressive weight over time you are strengthening and lengthening at the same time which allows for long-term flexibility adaptations.
Lower Blood Pressure
Notably, blood pressure decreases tend to be most prominent in those that initially start with slightly elevated blood pressure.
Positive Body Composition Changes
Strength training increases lean mass and reduces body fat. These changes typically give you a greater sense of confidence with the added benefit of increasing your metabolism both at rest and during workouts.