Often used as general term for weight-lifting and resistance-training, strength-training is basically exercise that makes use of resistance in order to strengthen the musculoskeletal system. It helps improve muscle-tone, endurance and strengthens tendons, bones and ligaments in addition to muscles. It can have important psychological benefits too such as decrease in stress levels and increased confidence and a positive attitude.

Improved Performance:

A significant result of strength training is that it increases physical performance. As you probably know, it is your muscles that utilize the energy of your body to convert it into the important function of movement, operating as the body's powerhouse. By increasing their size and their endurance, strength training can help one function with greater agility and ease. This has a great impact on your day-to-day activities, helping you accomplish more with lesser effort. Another way strength training improves performance is by reducing stress and related anxiety-inducing hormones so that you are better equipped and more willing to go about your work.

Enhanced Physical Appearance:

Another great benefit of strength training is the effect it has on your body composition, affecting your overall appearance. This in turn can also make you feel better about yourself, giving you more confidence. In addition, instead of reducing body weight, what strength training does is that it replaces body fat with lean muscle. Not only does this help against cholesterol, etc, it makes positive changes in the body's metabolism and muscle-mass, making you truly fit. So the changes in appearance are not merely cosmetic. This is the great difference between other exercise regimes and strength-training. Not only do you look good, you are fit to face life!

Anti-aging:

Important research has indicated that the body loses about a half-pound of muscle mass every year after turning 30. Strength training not only stops this loss, it reverses the process of muscle-atrophy, helping one retain muscle-mass and enhance strength and tone. Strength training is important if you want a healthy and functional life without being dependent on external aids.

So don't retire from exercise even when you retire from work and make sure to start strength training by your mid-twenties in order to lead a healthy and functional life.

2 Things to Look for in Your Weight Lifting Program

Before you think that weight-lifting is only for people who want to look like a wrestling star, read on to find out more about its significance for good health. Due to widespread perception that weight lifting is only to build big, bulging muscles, though, many people ignore the significance of incorporating weight-training or strength training in their workout. This can often lead to various problems once ageing sets in, such as a lower metabolic rate, reduced bone density leading to osteoporosis, etc.

Working-out with Weights

Lifting weights is a very precise and effective work-out technique. The weights and exercises are chosen to suit an individual's needs and the number of repetitions and motions are fixed so as to exhaust each muscle-group. Most significant to this form of exercise is a committed and reputed weight-trainer who will closely monitor and direct your exercise. The trainer may also advise you on the kind of food-groups you may incorporate in your diet for better and sustained impact.

Other Benefits of Weight-Lifting

Training with weights can have some very important benefits in addition to their centrality for strength-building. In addition to muscles and/or toned bodies, weights can increase metabolism and speed-up fat-loss. Another great side-effect is that intense exercising raises levels of dopamine, serotonin, etc in the blood. These hormones alleviate depression and stress, and can help control mood-fluctuations. In addition, strength training will ensure that your bones, muscles as well as the connecting tissues are all exercised, reducing the risk of injury and the impact of aging on your body.

While many people prefer running to weights for increasing bone density, the truth about weights is that done under proper guidance, weights are far more effective. Running can actually be quite harmful, with the amount of impact it causes, promoting muscle-breakdown, while the sustained, repetitive and controlled strength training that weights can provide help preserve and strengthen bone and muscle mass. Being a strictly anabolic process, weight training helps build tissues and equips you for physical activity, while not exhausting you entirely, leaving you ready to face your daily tasks!