Every workout routine should include strength training, particularly as we get older. Did you know that our muscle mass actually begins to decrease from aged 30! There are an enormous amount of benefits when it comes to adding strength workouts to your weekly routine – bigger, stronger muscles are just one of the rewards you will reap!
Strength / resistance training is a style of training designed to improve your muscular endurance by working a certain muscle or muscle group against resistance (free weights, resistance bands, machines etc).
If I told you there was one type of training that would protect your muscles and bones, improve your heart, strengthen, sculpt and tone, keep you feeling youthful, improve your balance, flexibility, coordination all while assisting you with weight loss and looking and feeling better, you’d do it right? Well studies have shown that strength training provides you with all these benefits and more!
What is important to note is that strength training is not just for body builders or elite athletes. Strength and resistance training works to improve and build lean muscle mass. The more muscle you have in your body, the more calories you burn at rest so it is also a hugely effective tool for burning calories and speeding up your metabolism.
Getting in shape through your 40’s, 50’s and beyond https://www.niix.fit/blogs/getting-in-shape-through-your-40s-50s-and-beyond/
How Strength Training Benefits Your Health
There are many reasons strength training can benefit our physical appearance, but there are even more benefits resistance training can do for our health! Have a read…
1. Strength training protects your bones and muscles
A less common benefit. As mentioned from aged 30 we begin to lose as much as 5% of muscle per year. Just 30 minutes, twice a week of strength and resistance training has been linked to bone density, bone and muscle mass and functional performance – particularly as we age.
2. Strength training assists with weight loss
Strength training outweighs traditional cardio and aerobic exercise when it comes to weight loss due to its ability to improve our resting metabolism. This means we reap the rewards of strength training and calorie burning long after we actually finish the workout itself.
3. Strength training improves your posture and alignment
Strength training is paramount as we age due to the improvements it makes to our balance, posture and alignment. Research suggests strength training has been positively linked to less falls due to improved balance, coordination and posture.
4. Strength training boosts your mood
Research has revealed that strength training has positive effects on our energy levels and our mood due to the increased endorphins produced when engaged in this style of training. It has also been linked to better sleep.
5. You burn more calories
Weight / resistance training actually burns calories before / during and after your workout. The tougher you work, the more your body will continue to burn calories after strength training due to the energy needed and exerted through the workout.
6. Strength training improves your heart health
Studies show that regular strength training helps to reduce heart disease and hypertension.
Adding Strength into your weekly routine
Who doesn’t want to look, feel better and live a healthier, happier life? If you are ready to take the plunge and add regular resistance training into your routine you are in the right place! Join me every Monday on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/niix.fit/?hl=en at 10.30am for a class dedicated to resistance and strength training with light weights.
For full guided classes and programmes head to the app store and download the niix app to unlock 300+ classes and try 7 days free! https://apps.apple.com/us/app/niixfit/id1558824805
