There's a huge misconception about strength-training and weight loss. You won't become the hulk, you won't look 'scary'. What will happen is that'll you'll get fit, you'll be stronger (not bulging arms with veins popping mind you), you'll be happier and you might even sleep better! You can't deny that these reasons make you want to start lifting!
- Blast's The Fat Strength training is better at blasting belly fat compared to cardio. Aerobic exercise burns both fat and muscle, but weight lifting burns almost exclusively fat.
- You'll Burn More Calories You could be burning calories right now… if you lift weights. Your muscle mass largely determines your resting metabolic rate (how many calories you burn by just living).
- You'll Strengthen Your Bones Not only do you train your muscles, you train your bones. When you perform bicep curls (among other lifts), your muscles tug on your arm's bones ever so slightly. The cells within those bones react by creating new bone cells. Your bones become stronger and more dense, which can prevent osteoporosis.
- Improve Your Mood When you strength train your brain releases tons of feel good endorphins. Scientists actually believe that 10 weeks of strength training could help fight depression better than visiting a councilor for the same amount of time.
- Relieve Stress Weight training is better than cardio as far as stress relief goes. Weight training can help reduce irritability and even anxiety disorders.
- Decrease Injury Risks Cardio is great, but often there's tearing and pulling. Building muscle can help prevent ACL tears, which are more common in women than men.
- Count More Sheep You'll sleep better! Three days of strength training combined with two days of cardio can result in better sleep.
- Lower Your Blood Pressure & Prevent Heart Disease Just twelve weeks of strength training can change your life. Lifting can help lower your systolic and diastolic blood pressure. In correlation, you're less likely to have heart disease because you'll be leaner; which seems to be preventative when it comes to heart disease.
- Lower Your Cholesterol Eight weeks of strength training can raise your HDL cholesterol (the good kind), which in turns help lower LDL (the bad kind).
- Relieve Lower Back & Neck Pain Regular full-body strength training can help ease chronic lower back pain as well as strengthen your neck and shoulders which helps with neck pain.
- Breathe Easier As someone with exercise induced asthma I can easily attest to this. High intensity training (this includes HIIT) helps improve VO2 Max, the maximum capability to transfer and use air during exercise.
- Reduce Your Cancer Risk Studies suggest that weight lifting helps with oxidative stress, which is believed to be a contributor to cancer development.
- Goodbye Cravings Strength training lowers levels of ghrelin, a hunger-stimulating hormone.
- Tone It Not hulk buff (I feel the need to keep pointing this out), but tone. Weight lifting helps you get tone and lean muscles.
- Good-Ridance Cellulite We all hate it, but it happens. Daily cardio paired with two to three strength sessions a week can help diminish dents.
- Improve Your Body Image You'll feel better about yourself! Not only are you being healthy and helping add years to your life, you'll also feel good about your appearance. And while, happiness doesn't come just from that, you'll be pretty excited when you fit in things you never thought you could wear.