You need to do resistance training (weights) and aim to increase your muscle mass. If you disagree with me, or think this does not apply to you, sorry, but you are wrong, and I am right. Read on and I’ll try to explain why…
Everyday I talk to people who do exercise to maintain and improve their health (this is a fantastic reason to exercise). But then a very large portion of them go on to say they don’t want to touch any weights, but only do some cardio. As if only cardio makes you healthier, and resistance training doesn’t.
Strength Training with Pressups
I’m afraid this just demonstrates a lack of understanding on their part. But that’s ok, they don’t get paid to understand the human body and be a nerdy geek…I do 🙂 We all need plenty of strong muscle to be healthy. And anyone exercising for health who doesn’t split roughly equally between cardio and weights is just kidding themselves. Because they are not actually training for health. I have had the privilege of helping several people with illnesses, handicaps and disabilities. These people know and appreciate the vital role strength plays in our everyday health and quality of living. Just some of the health benefits regular, proper, strength training provides include:
- Improved cardiovascular fitness (so you stay “fitter”).
- Improved bone density (osteoporosis is the condition when your bones reduce in density and get weaker. For more information on osteoporosis, click here.)
- Reduced risk of falling
- Improved joint health and mobility (joints are less stiff and have greater range of motion).
- Reduced risk of injury (because your body is physically tougher and stronger, it withstands physical trauma better).
But I heard a documentary from the BBC World Service that explains it much better than I can. Here is a link to their webpage: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009hrwq#synopsis . Their summary of the programme goes like this:
“We’re all familiar by now with being told to “use it or lose it” when it comes to certain aspects of our health and bodies, and never more so than for muscles.
But in this edition of Discovery, Vivienne Parry hears how new research into muscle wastage is turning the accepted view on its head.
Startling results from a large-scale study have seen elderly peoples’ muscles completely rebuilt through diet and exercise.”
But because the link probably won’t be live for long, you can download the 28 minute mp3 by clicking on the following link: BBC Discovery – Muscle Wastage Trust me, it is well worth it. And after you have listened to it, make sure you start doing some serious resistance training. Because trust me…you do not want to only realise how vital your strength is once you have lost it. If you know someone who might benefit from anything you have read/heard here, remember to share/email it to them using the button thingies below… UPDATE: Click here to read part 2 of this article.