What is resistance training, and why is it important?
First let’s define resistance training: Resistance training is any exercise that causes the muscles to contract against an external resistance with the expectation of increases in strength, power, hypertrophy, and/or endurance. The external resistance can be dumbbells, exercise tubing, your own body weight, or any other object that causes the muscles to contract.
For example when you slowly lower a weight, you are resisting the force of dropping it to the ground, or when using a band/tubing you are resisting so it doesn’t snap back. Make sense? How about lowering yourself to a chair? I’m sure everyone at one time or another has misjudged where a chair was and without resistance you drop too fast or fall, body weight resistance, right?
Now for the why: This is taken from Internal Journal of Exercise Science (2016) – Strength training exercise offers many benefits for individuals of all ages and is perhaps critically important for the elderly.
The benefits associated with strength training are:
1) Increase in lean body mass – gives you strength to tackle everyday tasks, carrying bark to the garden, groceries, picking up children;
2) Increase in metabolic rate – muscle burns more calories than fat, so you will burn more calories at rest.
3) Increase in bone density – Less broken bones or the crooked walk
4) Decrease of injury – strength and stability is enhanced
5) Building back lost muscle tissue that occurs with aging.
I’m gonna say that again for the ones in the back, BUILDING BACK lost muscle tissue.
You actually lose muscle as we age occurring at a rate of 5% per decade after the age of 30. Do you think this might be why you have a harder time losing weight? Because your engine is getting smaller, needing less gas. Did you hear what I said back there? You can build back muscle tissue!!! If you haven’t started resistance training, what are you waiting for? Need help starting – I’m here for you.
