Healthytalk8 Health benefits of weightlifting, which are also known as resistance or strength training. It includes:
- Hip abduction/adduction
- knee extension
- Back extension, reverse chest fly
- Abdominal exercises
- Squats and deadlifts, target the major muscle groups attached to the hip and spine
- Weighted lunges
Weightlifting Training Program
Help In weight gain
Contents
Weight gain through obesity is an unhealthy way, but Weight gain through exercise is shown more muscle mass with less fat in the body.
Along with weightlifting, many other factors help in gaining weight which include:
- Deit – milk, penut butter, Potatoes, high nutrients, and protein home made food
- Proper sleep or rest – A lack of sleep hinder in weight gain.
- Daily enough water intake – Your weight can fluctuate due to your water intake versus water loss.
If you are a skinny person, then your training may tell you to do lifting weight to increase weight.
Here are some weight training exercises associated with weight gain which include:
- Deadlift with heavy weight
- Squats
- Bench press
One study showed that a higher muscle mass can be associated with metabolic disturbances in obese women (1)
May helpful for Diabetes patients
Resistance training may prevent and manage type II diabetes by decreasing visceral fat, reducing HbA1c, and improving insulin sensitivity.
Evidence saw that the maintenance of a muscle mass may reduce metabolic risk factors like obesity, type II Mellitus diabetes (2) (3).
It also reduces blood sugar levels by removing glucose from the blood and giving it to muscle cells (4) (5)
Results show that a greater muscle mass helps improve blood sugar management (6) (7)
Weight training has been shown to improve insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in patients with impaired glucose or type II diabetes (8)
Check Out – Natural Ways To Prevent Pre-Diabetes, And Diabetes
Strengthen the Backbone
Weightlifting may be effective for reducing low back pain and easing discomfort, which is allied with arthritis and fibromyalgia (9)
However, lifting excessive weight or the wrong way can easily trigger your back, causing lower, upper back pain, swelling, disc slipped, etc.
Although some other exercises that are excellent in relieving back pain include:
- Walking, which is an aerobic exercises (10)
- Yoga like cobra asanas, Bow pose (Dhanurasana), Bridge pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana), Child pose (Balasana)
- Swimming
- Cycling
- Stretch exercises
The researcher’s analysis showed significant differences between Strength exercise training and Control group, Control exercise groups.
The result showed, that 1 2 weeks of an exercise program can produce back strength mend (11)
Help in Weight Loss
For more activities the more you weigh, the more calories you will burn.
Weight lifting is much more effective than cardio at building muscles, and muscle burns more calories than other tissues like fat (12).
A 2021 group study shows, you can lose around 1.4% of your entire body fat through weight training alone, which is similar to 30 minutes with fast running (13).
NOTE: The faster your metabolism you have the faster you burn more calories, which is highly associated with losing weight.
Check Out – Luiid Diet Recipes For Weight Loss: At Home
Boost Metabolism
Whenever we eat or drink, our body gets energy, and this energy is utilized by our body through the process of metabolism.
Weight lifting exercises increased resting metabolism by 9% in men, And the effect was less in women, with about a 4% increase (14)
If a person lifts heavyweight, can burn more calories, than lifting weight, just because it increases energy expenditure and resting metabolic rate (15)
Other exercises can also promote more calories such as:
- High-intensity interval training (15) (16) – Include stationary cycling as fast as you can, jumping, walking as fast as you can in 15 to 30 seconds.
Research suggests that HIIT can burn about 25 to 30% more calories, than other forms of exercise (17).
Make Muscles Strong
Of course, when we lift more weight, such as deadlifting, heavy squats, which burst our muscles, causes pain.
As we continue day by day, more muscle bursts, and new muscles get attached, which makes our muscles strong.
According to the mayo clinic, weight lifting training can help tone your muscles, improve your appearance and fight age-related muscle loss.
It was indicates that high-frequency agonistic strength training can increase lean mass and strength compared to lower frequency agonistic strength training (18)
Promote Heart Health
Running Is One of The Best Ways To Promote Heart Health
A 2018 study showed that lifting weight, for an hour or less than an hour a week can reduce the risk for a heart attack and stroke by 40 to 70% (19).
Resistance training also has the potential to lower risk factors for chronic heart disease (20)
Less than an hour a week, with weightlifting training, was allied with a 28% lower risk of developing metabolic issues, that increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes.
What you eat is also plays a vital role in heart health, such as non-vegetarian, and eating a lot of oily, sugar food people are more prone to a heart attack.
Check Out – Early Signs Indicate That You More Prone To A Heart Attack
Lower the risk of injury
Including strength training in your exercise routine may reduce your risk of injury.
Strength training is one of the best exercises to prevent injuries. It also helps in increasing your range of motion as well as reducing fatigue.
NOTE: It’s also important to pay attention to safety, like wearing a belt, when you go with heavy lifting, which supports your back very much.
In one review where 7,738 athletes were included, it was found strength (weightlifting) training program reduced the risk of injury by 33%.
Improves sleep quality in older adults
Sleep deprivation or lack of sleep are common phenomena in old age.
In a study where old participants were included whose average age was near 80, it was shown that regular weightlifting training can improve sleep.
A report has shown that regular exercise in the morning may promote sleep at night, whereas exercise done in the evening can slow it down (21).
However, some studies have shown that exercise, under certain conditions, may have beneficial effects on sleep (22).
Check Out – Food And Drink To Have For Soundly Sleeping.
Elevate mood
Regular trained yourself with exercises can improve your mental health and elevate mood.
When you do exercises whether it is weightlifting or aerobic, our brain release endorphins, these hormone acts as a natural painkiller, and promote feeling happy.
Exercise improves mental health including reducing anxiety, depression, and negative mood by improving self-esteem and cognitive function (23).
During a clinical trial where 1800 people with mild to moderate depression, performed resistance training 2 or more days a week.
The result showed that those people showed a significant reduction in symptoms compared to other people who didn’t (24).
Improve Body Image
A report showed poor body image is more common in younger women, also body image perceptions may be low in older women (25).
During one study, middle-aged women participated in the resistance training program, which saw a positive change in their body image compared to those who walked.
A good body image is associated with better self-esteem, quality of life, self-care, decreased rate of depression and anxiety (26) (27) (28).
A 2007 meta-analysis found that weight training may affect body concerns more positively than the aerobatic type of exercise (29).
NOTE: lifting weight is also good during pregnancy, but little weight, don’t overdo it and don’t lift too much weight.
Strengthen the bone
Muscles are protected our bones and as the muscle contracts, it puts force on the bone which helps the healthy bone remodel to get stronger.
Every year after 30, bone density starts decreasing gradually, especially in women after 45 where menopause hit.
In this situation, where the body stops producing the estrogen and progesterone hormone, which make the bone more prone to fracture, arthritis, etc.
In menopause, where periods are permanently off, which make women more prone to discomfort, such as:
- low sex drive
- More chance heart attack
- Weaker vision
- slow metabolism, causes weight gain
Weight-bearing exercises such as jumping, and/or progressive resistance exercises alone or in combination can improve bone health in adults (30).
More self-confidence
Of course, weight training pumps up your blood, reduces excessive weight, enhances overall look, which is all associated with more self-confidence.
If you are a skinny or fatty person, then exercise can pump up to your overall look, by giving you a good-looking shape or body weight.
A confirmed study showed that Physical activity is directly associated with Self-esteem (31) (32).
A review on youth ages 10–16 years saw a valued allied between strength training, high self-esteem, physical strength, and physical self-worth (33).
Check Out – Easy Ways To Increase Self-Confidence, And Self-Esteem
Side Effects
Lifting a normal weight (as much you can bear) gives you multiple benefits.
Its side effects only show when you try to lift excessive weight by doing it properly.
However, for those who have back pain, and if they lift excessive weight or the first time in weight lifting, then the risk of becoming slip disc also increases.
When there is excessive pressure in the lower back, which causes cracks and breaks in the disc, which is called a slipped disc.
Lifting too much weight can also cause:
- Muscle damage or brust
- Joint pain
- Bone crack
- Dizziness and fall
- Spinal injury like herniated discs
- Even tear heart arteries
- Chance to injury if grap is loose
BOTTOM LINE
There are many health benefits of weightlifting, such as improved sleep quality, better mood, and mental health, support bone health, etc.
However, it also has some side effects, which only occur, when you are not doing it the right way and lifting heavyweights.
So make sure to avoid lifting heavyweight, especially if you have recently come out or are in any medical condition.
