How much can your Grandmother brench press?

Strength or resistance training is usually associated with bodybuilders, athletes and exercise enthusiasts, but did you know that it can have just as many benefits for your grandmother? In actual fact, all populations including pre-adolescent children, men, women, the elderly, injured and sick can all experience huge benefits from strength training. Read on below to find out about the many benefits of strength training and how it can help all people to maintain and even increase their quality of life!

Benefits include…

Increase or Maintain Lean Body Mass – As a result of the tension that your muscles experience during strength training a number of changes take place. Muscle fibres increase in size and density and this process is known as hypertrophy. The opposite of hypertrophy is atrophy which is the loss of muscle tissue in the body and this occurs in all adults at the rate of approximately 0.5kg from the age of 20. Atrophy can be stopped and even reversed by regular strength training.

Increase Bone Density – Strength training works the muscles which are directly attached to the bone by tendons. This stress caused by muscle tension stimulates the bone to lay down more “building bricks” or bone minerals, which act to increase the bone integrity. With only 6 months of resistance training, bone mineral density can be increased by up to 10%. High intensity weight training with heavy weights is the most effective type of strength training to increase bone mineral density.

Bodies become lean, mean, fat burning machines! Not many people who are trying to lose weight do so by committing much time to strength training. It is more common for people to try to stick to a strict cardio vascular workout such as running, but did you know that strength training is the number one component of weight loss? As already mentioned above, strength training increases or maintains lean muscle tissue and this in turn results in a higher metabolism. When your metabolic rate increases so too does your daily energy expenditure. For every 0.5kg of muscle you put on, you will burn off approximately an extra 50 to 100 calories every day. I have used the car example before but if you think about it a big truck will burn more energy sitting at a red light than a small 4 cylinder car will. More muscle means more fat burnt!!!!

Throw those grandchildren in the air AND be able to catch them!!!!! Your muscles are the parts of your body that enable you to perform functional everyday activities such as walking up and down stairs, lifting things, standing up from the toilet and playing with your children or grandchildren. If your are training the muscles of the body, and progressively overloading them as you do so, then they will become stronger and be capable of completing these tasks with less effort. That means more energy to do more and play for longer!!!

Longer drives on the golf course – Power is the rate at which a muscle can produce force and has a direct relationship between muscle strength and speed of muscle contraction. Most sporting performances, both on a recreational and competitive level, depend largely on power development and force production. Strength training that continuously overloads a muscle will recruit fast twitch muscle fibres at a high frequency of firing. This can mean one of 2 things – either your muscles will be able to perform the same skills with less effort or your muscle will be able to perform the same task faster and harder.

Finally something that won’t give you arthritis – Our muscles play an important role in our body by holding our skeletal system (bones) together at the joints. The stronger our muscles are around our joints, the more control we have over the movement of that joint. This can result in more stability of our whole body during normal posture and movement. Increased stability means less chance of injury and less chance of degeneration of the joints, which cuts down the risk of developing arthritis.

Decrease Blood Pressure – Studies have shown that strength training will significantly reduce blood pressure, resulting in a lower risk of hypertension (high B.P.), and coronary heart disease. Small changes in blood pressure during strength training are no higher than the increases in blood pressure from cardio-vascular training. In fact, the increases that occur during cardio training elevate a persons blood pressure for a longer period of time. I have already explained that the stronger your muscles the less effort you will need to complete daily activities, and therefore your heart will be under less stress which means lower blood pressure. (Everyone should have their blood pressure checked before beginning a training program. Those with high blood pressure should consult a GP and a professional instructor before continuing with exercise).

Decrease risk of Type II Diabetes – Because strength training promotes the increase of lean muscle mass, the uptake of blood sugars into the muscle cell will also be increased, therefore reducing the incidence of Diabetes. Your metabolic rate is also increased by strength training which aids in the reduction of fat mass. Type II Diabetes is directly related to high levels of fat – lose weight and there is very little chance of late onset diabetes!