Strength training increases your muscle mass and boosts your metabolism.
It’s a myth that by lifting weights you will bulk up. Lifting weights can promote a lean, athletic physique.
Although it is a popular belief that cardio is the best way to burn body fat it is just a myth.
According to Melissa Boyd, a certified personal trainer interviewed for the magazine Business Insider strength training exercises like such as lifting weights or doing push-ups, pull-ups or lunges — can lead to better results for building muscle and reducing body fat, “What we’re really looking for is lean muscle, which is going to make your metabolism work a little faster. The benefits of strength training just make everything in your life easier,” she says.
“Exercise is about more than how you look, and while strength training has major health benefits, your best bet is to do a little of everything”, Boyd said. “Cardio and strength training work together for longevity. You want to have muscle, to be strong and have strong bones, but you also want your lungs and heart working properly as well, and a body that moves well”.
Combining strength workouts with cardio can help you live longer
https://drsobo.com/strength-training-lowers-cardiovascular-disease/
National Physical Activity Guidelines have been published by The National Institutes of Health. They advise resistance training by working all major muscle groups at least twice per week. Using these routine older adults will gain muscle strength and muscle mass. Resistance training has also been shown to help maintain bone density, thus preventing the development of osteoporosis and risk of bone fracture, an important problem for the elderly. Resistance training may impart a number of health benefits slowing aging by slowing a number of health problems which effects older adults. The risk of major health problems and premature death due to falls is associated with the age-related decline seen in muscle strength and balance.
Exercise Lowers Cancer Risk
https://drsobo.com/exercise-lowers-cancer-risk/
Many studies over the years have provided strong evidence that has linked regular exercise to a lower risk of cancer. A study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, showed that young men with higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness, had less cancer diagnoses over the years. They studied over 1 million Swedish men who were tested for their level of physical fitness as young adults and followed their health for many years to obtain the data for their conclusions.
https://drsobo.com/weight-training-appears-key-controlling-belly-fat/
A study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health, which was published in the online edition of the journal Obesity, reported that men who did twenty minutes of weight training per day had less age-related abdominal fat in comparison with men who did aerobic exercise for hte same length of time. Researcher Rania Mekary Harvard’s Department of Nutrition says, “Because aging is associated with sarcopenia, the loss of skeletal muscle mass, relying on body weight alone is insufficient for the study of healthy aging. Measuring waist circumference is a better indicator of healthy body composition among older adults. Engaging in resistance training or, ideally, combining it with aerobic exercise could help older adults lessen abdominal fat while increasing or preserving muscle mass.”
More new research gives us even more evidence that the benefits of strength training extend to fat loss, muscle gain, and overall health. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/obr.13428
Strength training helps control blood glucose better than aerobics.
According to a recently published study from the Journal Diabetologia people who engaged in strength training lost more body fat and had better blood sugar control than those who did cardio. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37493759/
also, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10527535/
Strength training is key for building muscle and burning fat.
In yet another recent study from Stanford University comparing strength training and cardio, researchers enrolled nearly 200 people with type 2 diabetes who were studied over nine months using exercise routines of strength training, cardio, or both.
Their results showed that strength training with exercises such as shoulder and leg presses three times a week had more beneficial results than those who worked out on a treadmill, elliptical, or stationary bike. The strength training group manifested more stable blood glucose levels, and gained muscle while also losing fat . Strength training can help people who want to lose weight. While strength training may not burn as many calories in a workout as some types of cardio, it can help you burn more calories overall because it builds muscle tissue, which uses more energy to maintain.
It’s a myth that lifting weights makes you bulky.
One of the biggest misunderstandings about strength training is that it can cause you to gain weight or “bulk up.” While building muscle can cause the number on the scale to go up, that’s not a bad thing”, according to Boyd. You can actually look leaner and get healthier even if you aren’t losing weight, since more muscle can create a more athletic physique, she said. “I think it gives people a healthier idea of what weight should look like when they see their body looking stronger and leaner but the weight maybe goes up,” Boyd said. “They realize maybe that number isn’t something they should live and die by, which I see a lot, especially with women.”
For strength training you do not need to lift weights.
The term “strength training” is intimidating for many people who believe this means that you need to lift heavy weights, but that is not the case. Using the term “resistance training” tells us that active use of the muscles with exercises such as leg and shoulder presses as well as sit-ups and pushups accomplishes strength training and muscle building.
Evidence suggests a combination of strength training and cardio exercise is the best way to stave off early death and chronic illnesses that often accompany aging. As a bonus, you’ll also find that the more you try different exercises, the better you’ll be able to move and enjoy fitness, regardless of what kind of workouts are your favorite. “Strength training makes cardio easier, and cardio makes strength training easier. They work together,” Boyd said. “It’s about finding what makes you comfortable and then allowing you to see how good it feels to get stronger.”
