Strength training is good for everyone

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Have you ever heard the term strength training? What about resistance training? If you have, many of you may be thinking of people like Arnold Schwarzenegger when picturing someone strength training or lifting weights. Maybe you have never heard of it. Whether you have or haven’t, I am here to tell you Strength/Resistance Training will benefit everyone. And I mean EVERYONE: men, women, young and old. Technically, strength training is the process of applying increased amounts of stress to your muscles. With resistance exercises your muscle responds to progression and will gradually become larger and stronger. With that being said, I need to clarify something to the women reading this. Muscles are lean and the ONLY way you can “Bulk Up” is if you have a high level of testosterone in your system. Women in general have only a small amount of this hormone in their body and therefore can NOT build the bulk that men can. Who benefits from strength training? I hope I already clarified that (everyone) but specifically the two demographics that benefit most are women and the elderly. What are the benefits? The benefits include: injury prevention, improved performance of daily activities, improve your composition, metabolic function, enhanced self image and improve muscle and bone health with aging. Increased muscular strength helps prevent injury because it helps a person maintain good posture and appropriate body mechanics when doing everyday activities. Strong muscles in the abdomen, hips, lower back and legs support the back in proper alignment and will help prevent lower back pain, which 85 percent of all Americans experience in their everyday life. All this helps you perform everyday tasks better and things like climbing stairs and carrying groceries are done with more ease and less effort. Strength training leads to enhanced self image by providing stronger, firmer looking muscles. Your body appears healthier and more “toned.” Men will tend to build larger, stronger, more shaped muscles while women tend to lose inches, increase strength and develop greater muscle definition. That’s right women, you will lose inches, which turns into decreased dress or pants sizes. A regular strength program will help to prevent muscle and nerve degeneration, which is a natural part of life as we age. After age 30 the body naturally loses muscle mass each year. A strength program done on a regular basis can slow down or stop this process. It also can, in some cases, increase the body’s muscle mass. Did you know strength/resistance training stresses the bones which make them stronger? This is very important when we are talking about bone loss or osteoporosis. Studies show that taking medication is equal to doing a regular strength training program for bone health. I know our society wants a pill to correct everything. So let me ask you this: If you could do a regular routine of strength training instead of taking medication (that may have side effects) and receive the same results for bone health, would you do it? What if you strength trained and received all of the above added benefits and have healthier bones. Would you do it? If you could walk without shuffling, without a cane or a walker when you become older, would you want that? Do you want to live the best you can right now and when you are 90? I don’t know about you, but I do. I want to be as healthy as I can for as long as I can. And if I can do that without taking medication, then I will do what it takes. What about you? Are you convinced you need strength training yet? If so, you may want to know what to do next. Lifting weights is not the only way to strength training but a very beneficial way. Strength training uses any resistances — weights, rubber tubing, selectorized machines (the Cybex machines in the Y) and your own body weight. Doing such exercises as bench press, triceps dip, torso rotation machine, abdominal crunches and push ups are all considered strength training exercises. Here is some terminology for you to know. Repetitions are the number of times you perform an exercise without stopping. A set is a group of repetitions followed by a period of rest and an interval is the rest between sets. Strength training is a very individualized exercise program and sometimes hard to get started. I recommend a personal trainer or a strength training program to help. However if this isn’t possible, start by doing push ups and crunches in your home. The “push up” is the most perfect exercise there is. If done on the toes and in correct form you will utilize just about every muscle in your body to perform one. Start by doing as many as you can until you can’t do anymore. If you are unable to hold your body weight up, go to your knees. But if you can hold your body up on your hand and toes, going to your knees will defeat the purpose of this exercise. Every day, add just one or two more. Before long you will be able to do many in a row. Same thing goes for your crunches. Correct form is like this … hold your hands cupped behind the ears (do not lace fingers), keep your chin off your neck, elbows out wide away from your ears and lift toward the ceiling as your shoulder blades come off the floor. I know it’s hard but nothing worth having or doing is easy. Here are some guidelines to consider when strength training. Don’t forget to breathe. Holding your breath can result in injury. Exhale on the difficult part of the lift or on the exertion of energy. When lifting weights or using selectorized machines, we recommend eight to 12 repetitions and one to three sets per muscle group. Don’t forget to warm up and cool down for five minutes and stretch the appropriate muscles after your workout. If you don’t know where to start, the YMCA, its certified wellness coaches and/or I are here for you. We have many great programs that will help you get started. You can do it. You need to do it. And we can help. For more information, call me at the YMCA at 792-4006.