5 Good Reasons To Start Resistance Training
There are so many ways to exercise and be active today. From biking to dancing, only the sky is the limit. Whatever you choose to do, you won’t be making a mistake as long as you enjoy it. The key to exercising consistently is to like what you do. If you don’t like biking, you won’t ever be consistent with it, right?
But apart from the desire to be active, most of us have another motivation that gets our butts up and moving. And that is to look good. Unfortunately, we believe that if we just start to run regularly, we will achieve our dream physique. If you have already read this blog: THE TRUTH ABOUT CARDIO TRAINING, you already know that this is not the best way to do so, long term, and if you haven’t, I highly recommend you go check it out.
Today, I will focus on resistance training. I will give you five excellent reasons why resistance training is the superior form of activity in today’s modern life. Now, that does not mean that if you enjoy running, you should switch to resistance training. That will result in you not being active at all. However, if you are looking for an activity that will help you lose weight, get you in shape and let you eat more calories, resistance training is something you should consider first.
Now without further ado, let’s get to the five reasons why resistance training is one of the best forms of activity.
1. It lets you eat more calories without gaining fats.
Now, in the past, when we did not have access to food all the time, and we had to walk and run long distances to find it, it was useful to have a slow metabolism. We are able to be active for a long time with as little food as possible. Make sense, right?
However, today is a bit different. We have so much more access to food than ever. And it is high-calorie food as well. On top of that, we don’t move as much as we did before. So having slow metabolism or, in other words digesting a large amount of food slow is not a good option.
Why can resistance training help with that?
Resistance training builds muscles. Muscles are metabolically active tissue. That means that the more we have, the more calories we will need to do what we usually do every day. Suppose we take two people and have them performing a squat. The one that has more muscles will burn more calories than, right?
That is an advantage, as everything today is pretty much calories. It doesn’t look much, but it is. A handful of food is so calorie-dense that we don’t even realize how much more we eat every day. And we can’t stop it, right. We do go out, try new foods, and enjoy time with family and friends. We won’t be resisting all the time. Why not create some extra room for calories with resistance training?
2. Resistance training builds muscles.
When it comes to changing the way we look, we often refer to aesthetically gifted and shaped people. For example, if we look at the way Greeks sculpted their statues, we see, of course, six-pack abs, but also broad shoulders, thick back, and chest and shaped legs.
Now, we all have muscles, but even if we somehow magically remove all the fats, we are still not going to look like a Greek statue. Why? Because in order to have broad rounded shoulders, we have to build them first. If we want to have big and strong legs, we must exercise them and build muscles there. If we want to have thick and rounded glutes, we have to work to build them by exercising.
My point is that if our goal is to look a certain way, there is no other way but to work for it. If we want to look muscular, we have to train accordingly. Just losing fats is not enough to build the desired physique.
3. Building muscles makes you stronger.
Speaking of Greek gods, what do you imagine when you see a statue of one, maybe in a museum or exposition? I see strength. All those muscles represent the strengths of the gods and worriers. Now, we obviously won’t get the strength of an Olympic weight lifter or a strong man. However, we can improve our quality of life by becoming a bit stronger and learning how to lift stuff.
Everybody can benefit from applicable strength. Being able to put your luggage up by yourself. Being able to squat down to pick something up while holding your child. Being able to pick up something heavy, like a bag of dog food, or groceries, without help. These are all examples of independence. Of course, I do not mean to carry a whole fridge to the fifth floor by yourself. Please, get help with that!
4. Being strong is empowering.
This one is tightly connected to being strong. Man, there is nothing more empowering than being in control. It gives you this sense of independence and self-belief. Especially for women. If you are able to lift up your body weight from the floor or press overhead weight, equivalent to your kid. I am not saying that you should compete in a powerlifting competition. I am saying that with today’s discrimination towards women, getting physically stronger is definitely an advantage. Not to kill somebody, even though being stronger is definitely an advantage in self-defense. Being physically strong is mentally empowering and gives you a sense of achievement and self-confidence.
5. Everyone can do resistance training.
The beauty of it is that it is an activity and not a sport, which makes it very customizable. There are so many variations to squat that you can do if you cannot perform a normal one. There are thousands of exercises that can be customized and performed in a way that is going to benefit your needs.
Think about it. Let’s take somebody that has a physical disadvantage, for instance, missing a leg. It will be way harder to start playing football, especially if that person has never played before. But if he/she chooses resistance training, only the sky becomes the limit. Yes, bilateral exercises, obviously won’t be an option, but there are so much more.
Young people, old people, people with imbalances, or disadvantages, people with specific needs, even people that can’t do any intense activity no more.
For a 20 years old guy, resistance training can be a powerlifting-based routine 5 times a week. For an 80 years old lady, resistance training can be just learning to sit and stand up without any support or picking up balloons from the floor without rounding her back.
There are no limits when it comes to resistance training, as long as it is done in a way that does not hurt you. But every activity is dangerous at the end of the day, right? Everything is if you are not careful.
Resistance training is not something new or revolutionary. It has been here for many years, but we just did not have the need to use it as much. If you are someone who is eating very little calories and likes to do long-distance, endurance-type training, then resistance training is not for you. If you rather do any other form of activity, then resistance training is not for you. But, if you are someone who wants to be in shape, does not want to restrict calories all the time, and have some spare time for activity, then I highly recommend considering trying some form of resistance training for few months.
I mean, what is the worst that can happen? To fall in love with it?
