Why weight training is vital for adults
Practicing weight training is incredibly beneficial for people of all ages. It helps strengthen our muscles and bones, makes us more functional and independent, and allows us to live a happy and fulfilling life.
Weight training is also great for the mind: it reduces the risk of depression, boosts our mood, and makes us more confident.
This post will explore why leading an active lifestyle is vital for adults and why the lack of time is a poor excuse. Let’s dive into it…
“I Don’t Have The Time.”
As adults, life always has something in store for us. The to-do list never seems to end, obligations pop up all of the time, and it feels like there is always something to do or somewhere to be.
When life gets hectic, it’s easy and tempting to play the lack of time card. After all, you’re busy, right? You can’t always find the time to train and be active. But let’s be honest:
This is nothing but an excuse that helps us feel better and eases our conscience. No matter how busy a person is, there will always be opportunities – even if small ones – to train. As the old saying goes, “If you don’t make time for exercise, you’ll probably have to make time for illness.”
It’s our responsibility to take good care of ourselves. With that in mind, let’s go over what benefits you can reap from weight and functional training.
The Vital Importance of Weights and Functional Training
According to Brad Schoenfeld – a foremost expert in the field of resistance training – lifting weights is among the most beneficial ways to exercise. He suggests that if a person can only choose one way to stay active, they should pick weight training because its benefits are excellent. Let’s see what they are:
1. It Makes You Physically Capable
Socrates has once famously said, “No citizen has a right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. What a disgrace is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.”
The most apparent benefit of training is that you get to develop your physical abilities. You become stronger, more endurant, and more capable of contributing to life.
2. Creates a better sense of Well-being
Well-being is challenging to put into words, but we’ve all experienced it at some point. Think of a time when you made beneficial choices and took good care of yourself. Perhaps you woke up earlier than usual, had a workout, got back home, showered, prepared yourself, and had a healthy breakfast.
Then, you went out and tackled your day with vigor and enthusiasm. You felt calm, collected, and productive. You kept making good choices that boosted your sense of self-worth.
Weight and functional training are fantastic precisely because they help elevate our sense of well-being. Each workout contributes to self-improvement and pushes us closer to our goals. The more consistent we are with our workouts, the better we feel, and the more we get to enjoy the associated benefits
3. It Helps You Retain More Muscle As You Get Older
Losing our muscle mass is certainly not something we think about when we are young. But, as we get older, we tend to experience it.
In medical fields, this is known as sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss) and is tightly related to loss of physical capabilities, low quality of life, and general disability. Sarcopenia is also related to reduced physical activity, a lower metabolic rate, and weight gain.
By taking good care of our physical development through weights and functional exercise, we can prevent this from happening. As a result, we get to feel better, stay capable, and maintain a healthy metabolism.
4. It Helps You Become (And Remain), Independent
This benefit ties in with the previous one, and it all has to do with the age-related muscle and strength loss.
A fantastic long-term benefit of training is that we get to offset the effects of sarcopenia. Having more muscle helps us develop functional fitness and remain capable for many decades, well into our forties, fifties, and beyond.
Think about it like this:
How great would it be to retain your ability to move and contribute to life even as you get older? Weights and functional training can help you achieve this.
