8 Reasons You Should You Lift Weights

by Quantify Fitness | Last Updated:  May 7, 2016

Male or female, according to the research, one of the best things you can do for your health and body composition is strength training.

Benefits of Strength Training

1. Reverse Aging

Two of the most important biomarkers for aging are strength and muscle mass. Resistance training has been shown to be a “fountain of youth” with research participants actually seeing a reversal of gene expression in 179 genes associated with age. This means resistance training was not only slowing the aging process but reversing it at the gene level! From the research: “We conclude that healthy older adults show evidence of mitochondrial impairment and muscle weakness, but that this can be partially reversed at the phenotypic level, and substantially reversed at the transcriptome level, following six months of resistance exercise training.” [1]

2. Burn Fat and Look Good Naked

Strength training is a catabolic process, meaning it breaks down your muscles. It is in the rest and recovery phase that your muscles build back up and get stronger, the anabolic process. While your body is recovering from your workout, it is boosting your metabolism and that new muscle you're building takes more energy for your body to maintain than fat. Estimates are for every pound of lean muscle you gain your body burns an additional 35 calories per day. Fat on the other hand only requires 2 calories a day per pound to sustain [2].

Replacing 4 pounds of fat with 3 pounds of muscle is the equivalent of burning an extra 100 calories per day!

On the opposite end, age-related muscle loss results in a reduced resting metabolic rate by about 2 to 5% per decade [3], which makes it easier to put on stubborn fat.

3. Stronger Heart and Reduced Risk for Heart Disease

The American Heart Association has included strength training as one of the major components of cardiac rehabilitation [4].

4. Stronger Bones

Similar to how strength training builds muscle tissue it has been shown to also build bone mineral density [5].

5. Lower Blood Pressure

Properly performed strength training has been shown to reduce resting blood pressure in mildly hypertensive adults [6].

6. Controlled Blood Sugar

Strength training promotes glycogenolysis – the breakdown of glycogen (sugar) for use as energy which helps restore insulin sensitivity. This process allows the body to move sugar from the blood into the muscle. Without strength training, your muscles never empty a meaningful level of glucose so that circulating glucose gets stored as body fat and the muscles lose their sensitivity to insulin. This can eventually lead to complications such as type 2 diabetes.

7. Improves Cholesterol

High-intensity strength training has been shown to have a positive effect on cholesterol levels after only a few weeks of strength training [7].

8. Feel Better

Strength training has been shown to increase cognitive function [8] and reduce depression [9].

Let's face it, life is easier when you have more strength. Whether you're carrying groceries, kids, or moving furniture, a little more strength makes the daily chores a lot easier!

Don't let lack of time be an excuse for not exercising. We can help you get the benefits above in as little as 10 minutes per week.

Always check with your doctor before starting a resistance training program.

References

1. Resistance Exercise Reverses Aging in Human Skeletal Muscle
2. Increased energy requirements and changes in body composition with resistance training in older adults
3. Energy requirements and aging
4. Updated Recommendation for Adults From the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association
5. Strength training increases regional bone mineral density and bone remodeling in middle-aged and older men
6. Physiological response to circuit weight training in borderline hypertensive subjects
7. Physiological Effects of a Short Term Resistive Training Program on Middle-Aged Untrained Men
8. Mental Health Benefits of Strength Training in Adults
9. A randomized controlled trial of progressive resistance training in depressed elders

Subscribe To Real-Time Updates