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Creek Fit News - August 2023

by Jason Ramdewar | Aug 04, 2023

The Benefits of Strength Training

 

Strength training — also known as weight training or resistance training — is a physical activity designed to improve muscular strength and fitness by exercising a specific muscle or muscle group against external resistance, including free weights, weight machines, or your own body weight, according to the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). The basic principle is to apply a load and overload the muscle, so it needs to adapt and get stronger.

It is essential for everyone to know that strength training is not just for bodybuilders and professional athletes. Regular strength or resistance training is suitable for people of all ages and fitness levels. Studies show that strength training can provide multiple benefits for your health.

Ways Strength Training May Benefit Your Health

Makes You Stronger 

Muscle strength is crucial in making it easier to do the things you need to do on a day-to-day basis, especially as we get older and naturally start to lose muscle.

Strength training is called resistance training because it involves strengthening and toning your muscles by contracting them against a resisting force. According to the Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine, there are two types of resistance training:


·        Isometric Resistance: This involves static muscle contractions. Your muscles contract without changing length (or without movement). Examples include holding a plank or performing a wall sit.

·        Isotonic Strength Training: This involves contracting your muscles through a range of motion, as in weight lifting and calisthenics (body-weight exercises like pushups and sit-ups). 

 

According to the Physical Activity Guidelines, muscle-strengthening activities count if they involve a moderate or greater level of intensity or effort than you are accustomed to and if they work the body's major muscle groups (the legs, hips, back, chest, abdomen, shoulders, and arms). These guidelines specify that strength workouts, in addition to overloading the targeted muscles, should work them to the point of fatigue.


Improves Bone Health and Muscle Mass

At around age 30, we start losing as much as 3 to 5 percent of lean muscle mass per decade due to aging (medically known as sarcopenia), according to Harvard Health. Not only do we lose muscle mass, but bone density also diminishes over time. 

According to a study from 2017, just 30 minutes twice a week of high-intensity resistance and impact training was shown to improve functional performance, bone density, structure, and strength in postmenopausal women with low bone mass; there were no adverse effects. Harvard Health notes that strength training tugs and pushes on bone, spurs bone-building cells to begin work. This action makes strength training helpful for preventing osteoporosis (weakened, brittle bones) and improving symptoms in older adults. 

Likewise, the Physical Activity Guidelines note that, for everyone, muscle-strengthening activities help preserve or increase muscle mass, strength, and power, which are essential for bone, joint, and muscle health as we age.

Burn Calories Efficiently

All exercise helps boost your metabolism —the rate your resting body burns calories throughout the day. With both aerobic activity and strength training, your body continues to burn calories after strength training as it returns to its more restful state. This process is called "excess post-exercise oxygen consumption," according to the American Council on Exercise (ACE). When you do strength training, your body demands more energy based on how much energy you are exerting. Therefore, you can amplify this effect depending on how much energy you put into the workout. That means even after your training, you will be burning more calories while your body is recovering to a resting state.

Weight Loss

Because strength training boosts excess post-exercise oxygen consumption more than aerobic exercise, it can also help exercisers increase weight loss more than just aerobic exercise alone. It keeps your metabolism active after exercising much longer than an aerobic workout. That is because muscle (lean tissue) is a metabolically active tissue. Because of this, it requires energy to maintain. If you have more muscle mass, you will burn more calories (even in your sleep) than if you did not have that extra lean body mass.

A study published in 2017 compared the weight loss of three groups: dieters who did not exercise, dieters that only did aerobic exercise, and dieters that did strength-training exercises. The study found that dieters who did strength-training exercises four times a week for 18 months lost the most fat (about 18 pounds, compared with 10 pounds for non-exercisers and 16 pounds for aerobic exercisers).

You can lose more body fat when strength training is combined with caloric reduction via diet. People who followed a combined full-body resistance training and diet over the course of four months reduced their fat mass while improving lean muscle much better than either resistance training or dieting alone, concluded a small study published in 2018.

Development of Better Body Mechanics

Strength training also benefits your balance, coordination, and posture. One review from 2017 concluded that doing at least one resistance training session per week produced up to a 37 percent increase in muscle strength, a 7.5 percent increase in muscle mass, and a 58 percent increase in functional capacity (linked to risk of falls) in frail, elderly adults. Balance is dependent on the strength of the muscles that keep you on your feet. The stronger those muscles, the better your balance.

Chronic Disease Management and Prevention

Studies have documented that strength training can also help ease symptoms in people with many chronic conditions, including neuromuscular disorders, HIV, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and some cancers, among others. For the more than 30 million Americans with type 2 diabetes, strength training along with other healthy lifestyle changes can help improve glucose control, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a study published in 2017. The 2019 review in Frontiers in Physiology suggested regular resistance training could also help prevent chronic mobility problems, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.

Boosts Energy Levels and Improves Your Mood

Strength training is a legitimate, complimentary treatment to quell symptoms of depression, according to a meta-analysis of 33 clinical trials published in 2018. All exercise boosts mood because it increases endorphins. However, for strength training, additional research that's looked at neurochemical and neuromuscular responses to such workouts offers further evidence that it has a positive effect on the brain.

A study in obese adolescents found that lifting weights led to a more significant self-esteem boost after four weeks than aerobic exercise. There is evidence that strength training may help you sleep better, too, according to a study from 2019. A better night's sleep can go a long way in keeping your mood up.

Cardiovascular Health Benefits

Along with aerobic exercise, muscle-strengthening activities help improve blood pressure and reduce the risk of hypertension and heart disease. A systematic review of 38 randomized controlled trials published in 2021 concluded that resistance training combined with aerobic exercise is more effective than aerobic exercise alone in heart disease rehabilitation.

 

Creek Fit is here to help you improve your health and wellness.

Here are some special events taking place at Creek Fit:

Circuit of the Month [Wednesdays]     

Every Wednesday in August, Creek Fit will provide different circuit workouts for members at the Community Center, 1100 Lyons Road.

End of the Summer Healthy Hour        

Friday, August 4th & 11th at 5:00 PMHeld at the Recreation Complex, 4455 Sol Press Blvd.

Relax! School's Back Yoga is Sunday, August 13th, at 10:30 AM. Held at the Recreation Complex, 4455 Sol Press Blvd.

POLAR HIIT Pre-Season Pass           

 All members and guests can attend any POLAR HIIT class from August 20th - 26th at the Recreation Complex, 4455 Sol Press Blvd.

End of Summer Party                           

Celebration of the conclusion of summer happening on Saturday, August 26th, at 9:15 AMHeld at the Recreation Complex, 4455 Sol Press Blvd. Food and refreshments will be provided

For more information, contact Creek Fit North at 954-545-6650

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