Benefits of Weight Training

If you haven't heard already, weight training can get you on the fast track to fitness simply by implementing 15-20 minutes worth of weight training sessions a day. Why is this? What is weight training anyway? I hear you asking.

Weight training is training your body to become stronger through lifting weights. Most people think of weight training as going to the gym and using their equipment, but you can also use your own body weight. The push up is an excellent example of lifting your body weight using your arms. With the use of soup cans or filled water bottles you can also do bicep curls and arm extensions to build up your muscles.

Why build up your muscles? Now, when we are talking about building up your muscle, we are not necessarily talking about getting the big bulky muscles that body builders have. Getting such a big muscle requires years of lifting heavy weights. If you are a man who wishes to get that sort of look, there are methods of eating and exercising that you can go by to attain it. I highly recommend the book Bodyforlife by Bill Phillips.

But for the woman who wants to get a sleeker physique, weight training can help develop long lean muscles. Why do you want to do this? Well muscles are fat burning machines. The stronger your muscle is, the more fat it will burn.

How it works: When you work a tiny little bicep muscle that hasn't been used in a while, the muscle breaks down. This is what you want to happen, because during your rest period when you have stopped all weight bearing activity, your body will use calories already stored in your body to build this muscle back up. This new muscle will be stronger than it was before. When you next do more weight lifting exercise, you will break it down again, causing it to again build up into an even stronger muscle. By doing this you are training the muscle to get stronger. As it takes calories to build up muscle, your body will be using up calories from your fat deposits. The end result is that lean muscle forms and the fat deposit becomes thinner.

From this explanation, one might think you can do weight training and completely skip the aerobics part of exercise. While weight training is beneficial to those who need to exercise less or whose weight loss efforts are hindered by chronic ailments such as epilepsy, weight training only helps you gain stronger muscles. It does not necessarily help you climb those stairs better or walk long distances. For this you need to exercise your heart, which can only be exercised through aerobic activity. When the two types of activities are used together, you can be rest assured you are getting the benefits of both worlds.