I've been hearing a lot about resistance training lately, so I thought I'd write about it and give you my take on what it is and what good it can do for you.
First of all, resistance training is a type of exercise where there is some sort of resistance to the movements you are doing.
This resistance is usually some sort of counter weight.
It can be barbells, weight machines, resistance bands or heck, even the resistance of your own body.
It's the feeling you get when you want your muscle to go one way and there's a force pulling or pushing in the opposite way.
Get it? It's sort of like the opposite of cardio training.
(yes, I know that's a stretch to look at it that way, but I feel it helps with the understanding of the definition) Think of it this way, when someone thinks of a cardio workout, they think of running or biking and not lifting weights, right? Well, the opposite is lifting weights and NOT running or biking.
It's called resistance training because your muscles are going up against the opposite of what it's trying to do, therefore, there is a resistance to your movement.
Without going all scientific and doctor on you, just know that this kind of workout is designed to grow your muscles and give you strength.
How much strength and how much growth you ask? That's a whole other discussion we'll save for another time.
Now, what are some of the benefits of this resistance training? Let me point of a few for you.
The most obvious one is it increases strength.
Of course, when someone goes to the gym, most of the time their goal is to get stronger, right? Well, when you put resistance against your muscles, they will naturally have to work harder to complete that task.
When your muscles work harder, they will eventually get stronger.
Then, when we get stronger, we feel better and our self confidence increases, which is a great thing, right? Another benefit is that when your muscles get stronger, they will need more energy to do so.
This energy can come from fat cells stored in your body.
When energy is used from these fat cells, guess what? Your body uses excess fat and, in theory, you'll be losing weight! See how this all ties together? Oh, let's say you don't need to lose weight but you want to GAIN weight.
No problem.
When doing this resistance workout, if your body can't find the fuel it needs, it will send you a signal saying, "Hey, I need fuel, how about eating something so I can get that fuel!" In other words, you'll feel hungrier and, hopefully, start eating more! (Are you picking up what I'm throwing down here?) Let me ask you this, when you have a body that is strong and fit, what does that do for you? It gives you more energy, which causes you to be more active, which makes you feel younger! Now, we can go on and on, but if you can understand this much about resistance training, it'll be a great start! Of course, if you already know about the benefits of resistance training, then you've been nodding your head and smiling all through this read.
The one MAJOR thing to ALWAYS do before starting any new exercise regiment is to check with your physician! That is number one.
Once you get the ok, then start with basic resistance exercises.