Official recommendations ensure that you should do strength training at least twice a week. But only about a quarter of adults meet those requirements. That's almost half of the people who do cardio regularly.
Some people do not know how to resistance train and are concerned about injury, while others have an injury or condition that does not allow them to train with weights to their maximum capacity. Also, there is a misconception about strength training among some women, who think that they can become too bulky or gain too much muscle.
Another common barrier is the "in timidación of the gym , " lack of knowledge about how to use weight lifting equipment. Women, in particular, comment that they have less comfort when using gym facilities, including strength machines and free weights.
Why is cardio not enough?
We are not doing hectic aerobic exercise, which is amazing for health in so many ways. But if you don't incorporate resistance work as well, your body will pay the price.
Muscles can atrophy ; you will lose muscle mass and stamina because you are not using them as much. Your ligaments and tendons can also become weak.
Skipping strengthening is also bad for your bones. Strength training puts pressure on the bones, which prompts the cells that make up the bones to act. If you don't do resistance exercises, your bones can weaken and lose some of their mineral content.
This is especially important for older adults, especially those who are posmenopáusic to s, since the decrease in estrogen levels leads to bone loss, which increases the risk of fractures.
Also, if weight loss is your goal, you won't burn as many calories without resistance training. When you do a 30 minute cardio session, you are burning calories during those 30 minutes. But a 30-minute weightlifting session will burn calories for the rest of the day, an effect known as excessive oxygen consumption after exercise .
This is because strength training, by causing microscopic stress on your muscles, brings your body into a state of recovery. That muscle recovery uses calories for energy.
Moreover, the more lean muscle you have s, more increase s your basal metabolic rate , the number of calories you burn each day just to maintain normal biological function. Muscle is metabolically active, which means that it burns more calories at rest than body fat.
The benefits of strength training
You may not be convinced yet. Resistance training has many benefits, even if you already have an aerobic routine. Because everything in the body is connected, having a strong muscular foundation is important in the way the body moves, heals, and interacts with other body systems.
You will avoid injuries and promote recovery
Increasing the volume and intensity of your strength training is associated with a reduced risk of sports injury risks, according to an August 2018 meta-analysis in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
A 2017 report from the American College of Sports Medicine also shows that following a strength training program is associated with a lower incidence of stress fractures, falls, and lower back injuries in people who are physically active.
What if you get injured? You will recover faster and more efficiently if you have been sculpting muscles. Resistance training strengthens your tendons and ligaments, which can help you recover from an injury, such as a sprained ankle or a dislocated shoulder. T u also improve balance and posture to the strengthening small stabilizers that keep you upright.
You will improve your athletic performance
Runners with a strength training practice significantly improve their speed and endurance, according to a September 2019 study in the British Journal of Medicine. Increased muscle fiber size and contractile strength lead to increased physical capacity.
Your strength training routine also allows you to be more powerful, stabilizes you in yoga practice, and prepares you for snowboarding days.
You can reduce your risk of disease
A November 2017 study in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that moderate strength training (between 100 and 145 minutes a week) is associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality in older women.
In fact, adults 65 and older who followed recommended strength training guidelines at least twice a week were 46 percent less likely to die from all causes than those who did not, in a February 2016 study in Preventive Medicine.
Research shows that women who focus on strengthening their muscles reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes by 30 percent and cardiovascular disease by 17 percent compared to those who do not do resistance exercises, according to a January study of 2017.
The bottom line is that combining strength training with aerobic exercise is linked to an even lower risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and premature death than doing cardio alone.
It can help improve your mood
According to a June 2018 meta-analysis in JAMA Psychiatry, resistance training reduces symptoms of mild to moderate depression.
Resistance training regulates blood flow and heart rate , clearing away mental confusion and filling you with feel-good endorphins. As you perform new feats of strength, your mental strength and confidence will also improve.
You will reduce low back pain
A small study from May 2020 in BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation found that people with low back pain experienced significantly less discomfort and saw improvements in pain-related disability when they followed a strength training program.
Strengthening your core through resistance work supports your lumbar spine (lower back), relieving pressure and pain.
You will sleep better at night
Building muscle can even improve sleep, according to a small study from May 2015 in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, in which people fell asleep faster and had fewer nighttime awakenings on days they participated in resistance training.
What type of strength training is best?
There are many different ways to strength train, but the best modality for you depends on your abilities, goals, and needs.
Free weights
Although both machines and free weights, such as dumbbells and kettlebells, allow you to gain a similar amount of muscle size and strength, free weights require more core engagement and activate more muscle groups than a machine . Without the support of a machine to keep you in the proper position, your body is forced to work harder to maintain your posture.
As a result, free weights are better for building muscle in the long run, compared to a machine that can only target specific muscles.
Weight machines
Because machines provide more support, they can be a good bet for beginners who have not yet perfected their technique. A machine is also great for improving your form and range of motion after an injury.
Resistance bands
These are cheap and portable. Although they increase the size and strength of the muscles, in the long run they will be less challenging. To make your strength workouts more challenging with resistance bands, you can add them to dumbbells or kettlebells.
Bodyweight exercises
Bodyweight workouts use your own weight to provide resistance against gravity. The best part is that bodyweight exercises don't require any special equipment such as weight machines, dumbbells, or even resistance bands. You can do it anytime, anywhere, which is especially helpful if you're avoiding the gym during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To develop muscle training by body weight, Aument gradually the number of repetitions or entering to failure, for example, doing squats until physically can not do more. You can also try a 'time under tension' workout, where you perform each movement very slowly to make it more difficult.
