3 Interesting Facts about Resistance Training to Keep You Strong and Healthy

Resistance training is described as a type of exercise that causes your muscles to work against a resistance using your own body weight or training equipment.  It is most effective when you do it using progressive body adaptation.  When performed with proper procedure and equipment, it increases bone strength, decreases risk of bone injuries, boosts muscle size, increases overall strength, results to leaner body, and promotes good heart condition.

Resistance training has gained popularity among many health-conscious individuals who want to naturally stay in shape and who want to be stronger.   What really is resistance training and what can it do for you?  Here are some interesting details about resistance training that will explain its nature and its benefits:

What is resistance training

Resistance training is a type of exercise that initiates your muscles to work against any type of resistance using your own body weight or training equipment.  Doing push-ups and sit-ups are good examples of resistance training using body weight.  Training equipment used in this exercise include elastic bands, weights, barbells, exercise cycles, steppers, tread mills, leg presses, and multiple-function compact training benches, and multiple-function compact training benches, such as VigorFit, which is a less expensive alternative to Total Gym XLS.

How should you do it

Resistance training should involve progressive adaptation of one’s body to certain resistance to avoid injuries and to provide desired results.  If you enroll for resistance training program in a gym, your instructor should tell you where and how to start.  If you do it yourself, you should know what resistance your body can hold that does not result to injuries.  Know what your body can handle.  For example, you can start using lighter weights, such as four pounds per hand, and do it for only 32 counts.  After a few days, you can increase the heaviness of your weights and increase the frequency of your exercise.   It is advisable to follow a certain resistance training program that you can find on the Internet for free to reach desired results.

What can it do for you

Resistance training can do you more good than merely slimming and shaping your body as most forms of exercises do.  Here are interesting benefits that resistance training can give you:

• Increases bone strength.  Resistance training is a practical way to increase bone strength.   As you apply adequate pressure on your bones, such as muscular contraction or mechanical pressure, you are promoting your bones to remodel.  Bone remodeling is responsible for renewing the tissues and condition of your bones, thus increasing bone strength.  It is particularly advisable for those with bone mineral density deficiency and those with osteoporosis.

• Decreases risk of bone injuries.  As resistance training makes your bones stronger, it is particularly helpful to the elderly.  Older people have weaker bones since bone modeling is not anymore as active as in their younger days, particularly at its peak during puberty.  As resistance training makes bones stronger, it will help reduce the risk of bone injuries for the elders.

• Boosts muscle size.  As you do resistance exercises, your muscles will be toned.  Otherwise known as hypertrophy, your muscles will also increase in size.  Different resistance applications result to different desired muscle profile.  Women engaged in this type of exercise should not worry about getting muscles that guys or even weightlifters or body builders have, since muscle growth is said to be dependent on male growth testosterone.  Correct training procedure and equipment should dictate the muscle condition you will develop over time.

• Increases overall strength.  With continuous resistance training, you will have improved power and increased endurance to perform vigorous tasks.  You will also be able to do more activities that require more strength as your body becomes accustomed to resistance.  After two to eight weeks of continuous resistance training, you will be able to observe that more strenuous tasks at home will be a lot easier for you, such as moving furniture, carrying your toddler, and bringing your groceries.

• Results to leaner body.  One of the main objectives of resistance training is to reduce body fats.   Your body uses up more energy with the exercise itself, thus burning body fats.  Unlike other exercises that also burn fats, resistance training makes fat burning faster as your muscles grow in size, requiring more use of energy.  This will help you promote a leaner body faster when properly performed.

• Promotes good heart condition.  Resistance training is said to lower blood pressure and blood rate, thus promoting good heart condition and reducing risk of heart diseases.  It is, however, not advisable if you intend to do resistance training to cure a heart disease or any other disease.  Always consult your doctor before undergoing such exercise.

To achieve desired results and benefits, do resistance training with proper equipment and proper procedure.  Do not rush yourself.   Do not make it so hard for your body, especially in the beginning.  It is advisable to do the exercise three times a week to give time for your muscles to heal and adapt the exercise.  Always remember to do some warming-up and cooling down before and after resistance training exercises.  Drink plenty of water during the exercise to replenish lost body fluids.