The days when bodybuilders and professional athletes were the only ones who lifted weights are long gone. According to fitness experts, all adults should perform at least two full-body strength-training workouts per week. The advantages of strength training extend to all elements of your physical, mental, and emotional health.

Already regularly lifting weights? Or don’t believe you need to strength train? Here are some advantages of strength training to celebrate, no matter how you currently feel about lifting weights.

Solid Muscles

Any fitness-related activity that causes your muscles to contract against resistance qualifies as strength training, also known as resistance training. Additionally, it stresses your muscles, which encourages them to expand and get stronger.

It happens quickly. A study found that older persons dramatically increased their overall muscle strength following 16hour long resistance exercises.

Solidity, stability, and balance

Many strength-training exercises need your body to be mobile and in balance. Your major muscle groups and the minor muscles throughout your body become stronger and more stable as you move in various planes of motion and angles throughout strength training.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, falls are the greatest cause of injury-related death in individuals over 65. As a result, it gets crucial to feel solid and balanced in your body as you get older.

Optimal Levels of Body Fat

Researchers from Harvard University discovered that strength training regulates age-related belly fat better than exercise, minute by minute, in a significant obesity study published in December 2014. Numerous explanations exist. Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) is the exercise term used to describe the transient metabolic surge brought on by strenuous weightlifting activities.

Your body requires more oxygen to calm down and heal after lifting weights, which is why. Additionally, long-term lean muscle mass gain raises your resting metabolic rate. Strength exercise may also sustain appropriate body fat percentages by modifying hormone levels and decreasing inflammation.

Good mental and emotional health

Many people begin weightlifting because it is suitable for their physical health, but they continue because of the benefits to their mental and emotional health. According to research, including a study published in JAMA Psychiatry in May 2018, resistance training lowers the frequency and severity of depression symptoms. And that holds true despite any physical changes. It aids in the control of anxiety as well.

Strength exercise raises feel-good chemicals like endorphins and endocannabinoids in the brain. Additionally, it impacts BDNF levels, a neurotrophic factor that promotes brain function.

Comfort During Activities of Daily Living

These daily activities, often known as ADLs, include taking a shower, carrying groceries, walking, and using the stairs. For example, if you constantly lift a large kettlebell at the gym, you feel much more secure — and safer — taking up boxes for, say, moving. Simply put, strength training makes you stronger inside and outside the gym.

The bottom line

Strength training offers a wealth of health advantages that can prolong life and improve quality of life.