Key 6 – Tone Your Body With Resistance Training
Excess weight is one of the most common problems that affect very many people from all across the globe. There is need to lose this unwanted weight so as to avoid health complications such as heart attack and other related diseases. In this chapter we will uncover resistance training exercises that can help you lose the excess fat. Examples of some of the common resistance training activities include weight lifting, sporting activities such as Basketball and Javelin, Isotonic resistance training which entails use of barbells and dumbbells. Below is a detailed guide of the importance of resistance training for losing weight.
Increase metabolic rate-The metabolic rate refers to the rate at which the body converts fats into energy for various purposes. Resistance training helps to increase the rate at which the fats are metabolized and this in turn helps to significantly reduce body fat.
Improves Body Posture-Since virtually all the physical activities in this category involves all the body muscles, they help to strengthen and increase muscles. This in turn helps one to improve body posture.
Increase Blood Circulation-For the body organs to operate optimally, they have to have sufficient and uninterrupted supply of blood rich in various nutrients such as proteins and carbohydrates. Resistance training helps to ensure that blood circulation in the body is optimal. This in turn helps to ensure that all vital body organs operate normally.
Decreases the Risk of Injuries-Losing weight involves a number of physical activities which may lead to injuries especially during the first stages. For example, new members might experience joint and muscles pains but this problem fades away as the body becomes acquainted to the activity. Resistance training will help decrease your susceptibility to injuries since the body parts will be able to withstand the pressure effectively.
Prevent cardiovascular diseases as well as Arthritis and diabetes-Excess weight has being closely linked to a number of health complications. Due to fact that these exercises will reduce and prevent accumulation of fats in the body, your chances of suffering from various cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and arthritis will be reduced significantly.
Boost Self Esteem-In most cases, persons suffering from excess weight problem are often stigmatized by the society. Fortunately, resistance training will help reduce this stigmatization and boost your self esteem.
Improves your Sleep Patterns-Excess weight can distort your sleeping pattern especially if the issue is stressing you too much.
Through these physical activities, you will be able to solve this problem completely. This will in turn help you sleep much better at night as well as boost your productivity at home or at your work place.
Increase Bone Density and Strength-As the name suggest, this training will not only help you lose weight but also increase your bone density and strength. Increased bone strength will help reduce your susceptibility to injuries as well as enhance your performance of various physical tasks.
Be sure to consult a professional medical practitioner before enrolling in a particular program so as to avoid any health complications. Last but not least, ensure that your follow the instructions given by your trainer so as to achieve the full benefits from this training.
Common Misconceptions Of Resistance Training
1. Women who do strength training will become bulky and muscular
This myth has been around for so many years and unfortunately a lot of women believe it. Women do not have the ability to bulk up when they do resistance training exercises to increase their metabolism. Those who bulk up are the ones that take male hormones and inject anabolic steroids into their body. These kinds of women are mostly professional body builders. Therefore if you want to achieve that bulky look, it is very clear what you have to do. However, if you just want to achieve a lean toned body, resistance training exercises will give you just that; no bulky shoulders or arms.
2. Weights and expensive gym equipment are necessary for resistance training exercises
While free weights and other gym equipment are necessary to speed up your progress, they are not necessarily the only things that you can use to build muscles. There are a variety of ways that you can build muscle and some of them include: resistance bands, bar method, Pilate's, using your own body weight and isometric training. There are many programs for resistance training that do not use any equipment yet they help people to achieve excellent results.
3. When you grow old you cannot build muscle
This is not true because studies show that even people who are 70 years old can build muscle. In addition, people who are in their 50's or even 40's can be able to build adequate muscle mass with just a few training sessions per week.
4. Resistance training requires hours and hours of training per day
This takes the crown for being the biggest misconception about resistance training that can help boost your metabolism. Experts believe that as long as you eat a healthy well balanced diet and you do not have any diseases, you will only need about 20 minutes to half an hour sessions per week for you to realize results.
It is not the hours that you spend at the gym training but it is how often you do them and how hard you push your body. It has been established that when you add even a pound of muscle, your metabolism will increase and you can burn up to a maximum of 50 calories per day.
Imagine how many calories you can burn when you add 10 pounds of muscle.
5. You will need to constantly lift heavy weights in order to maintain muscle mass
If you train every day you are likely to build more muscle and speed up your metabolism, right? Wrong! It has been proven that the people who achieve phenomenal results are the ones that take breaks in between their work out days. Muscles are built when our bodies are resting and not when they are active as most people would like to believe. The body also needs to recover after an intense workout session.