Cardio seems to be the go-to exercise for most women, and while it certainly has significant health benefits, doing cardiovascular exercise alone is not enough to help you reach your fitness goals. Resistance training, which uses an external force (such as weights) to add resistance to a muscle group, has a multitude of health benefits including reducing your risk for heart disease, diabetes, metabolic disorders, osteoporosis, as well as decreasing your risk for injury. In addition to these benefits, here are five little known benefits of resistance training:
1. LOSE MORE FAT: With cardio, weight loss is from a combination of fat and muscle, but with resistance training, because you’re building muscle, the weight you lose comes primarily from fat.
2. BURN MORE CALORIES: Following a resistance training session, you will continually burn calories throughout the day because of your body’s increased need for oxygen to add in recovery (known as Excess Post-Exercise Consumption or EPOC). Another amazing fact is the more lean muscle you have, the more your body will continue to burn calories-even at rest!
3. CLOTHES WILL FIT BETTER: I encourage clients to go by how their clothes fit rather than the scale, and here is one of the reasons why: Many have heard the myth that “muscle weighs more than fat”, which is erroneous and misleading. A pound is a pound, however fat takes up four times more space in the body than muscle. So you could weigh the same, but because your body is made up of lean muscle, you will be leaner and more stream-lined and your clothes will fit better.
4. PHYSICAL STRENGTH=MENTAL STRENGTH: This is a huge focal point for me, because as women we are being pulled in a million directions, that the need for feeling mentally strong is crucial, and is a natural side effect of lifting weights. In addition, there is evidence that resistance training also reduces symptoms of clinical depression.
5. MORE PRODUCTIVE: Being physically strong and feeling mentally capable will help in your daily lives, between work, home, and extracurricular activities. No one understands this need better than a mom!
I’d also like to add one of my personal favorite reasons to add resistance training to your routine: We all have different body types, and there is the external pressure on women to look a certain way. But when you lift weights, you understand what it FEELS like to be healthy and strong! There comes a natural sense of empowerment in realizing your own body’s capabilities, and it truly leads to greater self- happiness and self-acceptance!
So don’t ditch your cardio-it’s essential-but consider adding a resistance training component to your fitness routine! If you need help getting started, contact me at (413) 374-7477.
Michelle Crean is a Certified Personal Trainer through the American Council on Exercise, a Fitness Nutrition Specialist through the National Federation of Personal Trainers, and also holds certifications in Kickboxing Fitness and Core and Functional Fitness. She lives in Springfield with her husband, two sons, and their dog Emily. You can follow her on Facebook here.
Michelle Crean is a Certified Personal Trainer through the American Council on Exercise, a Fitness Nutrition Specialist through the National Federation of Personal Trainers, and also holds certifications in Kickboxing Fitness and Core and Functional Fitness. She lives in Springfield with her husband, two sons, and their dog Emily. You can follow her on Facebook here.
