Working With Resistance
If you're one of those people who immediately thinks of weight lifting when the topic of strength training comes up, stop right there. Weight lifting is one form of strength training, but there are so many other simple activities that can build strength without stepping foot into a gym. The buzz word these days with building strength is
resistance training. The tools used in resistance training are countless and can range anywhere from a portable
resistance band to a
fit ball. Many techniques used in resistance training use your own body weight to build strength. This makes the exercises portable so you can take them anywhere. Excuses of why not to exercise simply evaporate! The goal with whichever tool you choose is to incorporate all the major muscle groups like the legs, stomach muscles, and back. This in turn teaches your body to move more efficiently. A good tip is to keep the form of exercise that you choose functional, meaning that you choose exercises that are similar to activities that you do in your daily life. Doing this will provide you with an automatic insurance policy for preventing injuries with day-to-day movements. Think bending, balancing, pushing, pulling and twisting.
Limiting your Losses
The current recommendation by the American College of Sports Medicine (often abbreviated ACSM) is to do some sort of muscle strengthening activity at least 2-3 times a week. When it comes to building strong muscles, the motto "if you don't use it, you'll lose it" certainly holds true. The technical term for this is sarcopenia. As you age you can experience a 20-40% decrease in muscle mass. Having less muscle mass can put you at risk for injury when performing normal tasks of daily living, even those as commonplace as walking or cooking. The clincher here is that muscle mass and bone mass go hand in hand. When muscle mass diminishes, bone tissue also loses density. This increases your risk of developing osteoporosis. Click here for additional information on osteoporosis and your bone health.
Fountain of Youth
If you're thinking that you're in your younger years of life and finding ways to get in at least two days of strength building activity does not apply to you, think again. As a part of a population that cannot keep up with the growing obesity epidemic, you too can benefit from metabolic benefits that strength training provides. Basically, the more lean body mass that you have (which can be increased by strength training), the better your body is at burning calories. Burning more calories is one way to be successful at achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight.