strength training

Strength Training for Beginners

June 27, 2022

Strength training is much more than just building a muscular body. It offers a variety of benefits for your body, including better cardiovascular fitness and health, healthier bones and joints, weight loss, and improved mental health. Because of these and various other reasons, you might want to learn more about strength training. Hence, we are here with a complete guide about strength training which includes everything that you wish to know. What is Strength Training? Strength training is often referred to as resistance training or weight training. It essentially includes physical exercise designed to increase the strength and endurance of your muscles by targeting a specific muscle or group of muscles against external forces. Strength training can be considered as an activity or set of workouts that help different muscles in your body get stronger. When someone has strong muscles, they have more stamina and strength for everyday activities. If the muscles are strong, their physique will heal quickly from injuries and burn calories more effectively. The most important thing to understand is that strengthening training isn\’t solely about bodybuilders who lift weight in the gym. Training your body is beneficial for individuals of all fitness levels and ages in various ways. It can be great for weight loss, preventing muscle mass loss due to aging, and aid patients who suffer from chronic health issues like arthritis, obesity, or heart conditions. 5 Different Forms Of Strength Training The fundamental principle behind strength training is to use resistance and weights through a series of repeated exercises. These exercises then change the strength, endurance, and size of your muscles or a specific group of muscles. Although, depending on the weights or resistance that you are using, there are various types of strength training out there. The five different forms of strength training include: Resistance Band Training Resistance bands or resistance tubing can also be used for strength training. Since resistance bands are flexible, exercising with them requires a force that helps you train your muscles. This lets you attain impressive results via the extension and contraction of muscles. You can even use multiple resistance bands at once to change the resistance or the force required to make your strength training even more intense. Bodyweight Training Simple bodyweight training exercises are an excellent option for strength, flexibility, and overall health gains. They are easy to do anywhere and cost nothing since you don’t need any fitness equipment for the same. And since there are all kinds of bodyweight training exercises like squats, push-ups, planks, lunges, pull-ups, crunches, and many more, bodyweight training is perfect for all fitness levels. Cable Machine Training Cable machines use weight stacks connected to pulleys or cams by cables. They only move in one direction. Cable machines are great for anyone new to strength training. This training isolates one muscle at a time and provides controlled motion. And depending on the weight, it can also be used for intense workouts. Free Weight Training In free weight training, weights don\’t need to be attached to a machine. This can include using dumbbells or barbells depending on the exercise. Start small with some dumbbells if you prefer to train at home. And if you are experienced, you can use heavier dumbbells and barbells with weights at the gym. Free weight training allows you to add or remove weights as per your expertise and the exercise. However, make sure that your form is correct else you may face injuries while using heavy weights. Weight Machine Training Other than cable machine training, you can even find weight machines in many gyms. While they might not allow natural and free movement like free weights, weight machine training helps you safely maintain the correct form. However, Weight machines are generally more expensive, regardless of whether you purchase one for home use or pay for a gym membership. 6 Wonderful Benefits of Strength Training Exercises Irrespective of the type of strength training you are going for, it is going to offer various benefits. And down below, you can find some of the best benefits of strength training exercises: Better Cardiovascular Health Visceral fat is a type of fat that gets deposited around your abdominal organs like the liver and the intestines. And a higher quantity of this fat can increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. This is where strength training comes into play since it can help you lose visceral fat. More importantly, since strength training also increases your blood oxygen flow and lowers your blood pressure, it can help in improving your heart health as well. Reduce Body Fat The size of your muscles determines your basal metabolic rate or BMR. As you build lean muscle mass, your metabolic rate increases which essentially means that you will burn more calories. Not only that but strength training will increase your TDEE over time. And all of these changes will help you lose fat from all over your body since your calorie consumption will change. Improved Quality of Life Strength training can enhance your overall health and help you carry out everyday tasks easily. It can also prevent injuries in your body joints as you grow muscle mass. The development of muscles can also lead to better body balance and mobility. And this will allow you to stay active and fit even as you age. Develop Muscles Other than losing weight, you would also want to increase your muscle mass to get a muscular body if you want the body of your dreams. Apart from having a great-looking body, strength training will also help you prevent muscle loss from your body in the later stages of your life. In people over 30 years of age, this can prevent joint aches and muscle loss since your body’s muscle mass naturally declines with age. Chronic Disease Prevention There are various chronic diseases that can be caused due to an unhealthy lifestyle. Some of these chronic diseases include fatty liver, diabetes, heart conditions, arthritis, and much more. And if

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Metabolism and Weight Loss: Affects of Metabolism

Have you ever wondered why your friend can eat anything and everything and still look the same? And you might wonder about the relationship between metabolism and weight loss and then continue to blame your metabolism? In fact, if you have ever tried to lose weight you must have heard about having a slow metabolism as well. Thus, further in this article, we will look at what exactly is metabolism and the factors that affect your metabolism. You will also learn the role of physical activity, and lastly, what can you do to improve your metabolism. So, let’s explore everything you need to learn about metabolism and how it affects weight loss. What is Metabolism? Before moving on to the factors affecting metabolism, let’s look at the basic definition of it. Metabolism is the process by which the body converts the food you consume into energy. It determines the rate at which your body burns calories. Since it’s a complex process that combines calories and oxygen to create and release energy, it is broken down into two separate processes: Catabolism: It is the breakdown of food into simpler components, releasing energy. Anabolism: It uses the energy from catabolism to build and repair cells as well as for bodily functions. These both processes come together to make up your metabolism which helps in your daily bodily functions. What is BMR? Your body burns calories even while doing basic functions such as respiration, digestion, nervous functions, and more even while being at rest. And the rate at which your body burns calories to keep the body functioning at rest is determined by BMR i.e. Basal Metabolic Rate. In fact, it accounts for about 60-70% of the daily calories burned because of which BMR can affect weight loss as well. Slow v/s Fast Metabolism for Weight Loss In the past, you may have heard about having a slow or a fast metabolism. So, let’s see why different metabolism exists. The speed of metabolism varies from person to person and some part of it depends on genetics as well. Hence, you can have a slow or fast metabolism irrespective of your body size. If your body is burning fewer calories than required, then the excess energy is stored in the form of fat. Hence, if you have a slow metabolism with a slower calorie-burning rate, it can result in difficulty in losing weight. While on the flip side, if you have a fast metabolism, your body burns calories at a faster rate which explains why your friend still looks the same even after having literally anything in their diet. Major factors that define how your metabolism is the way it is are lifestyle-related; so you may be able to control how your metabolism works. Metabolism and Weight Loss The reason you are not able to see changes in your weight cannot entirely be your metabolism’s fault. The process of weight loss or weight gain is a complicated one, so there’s no one specific factor that affects your progress. To lose weight, you need to be in a calorie deficit which essentially means consuming fewer calories than what you burn in an entire day. If you are gaining weight, then it is most probably because you are consuming more calories than you are burning. Metabolism can affect your weight loss as it can be a bit easier to lose for those with a fast metabolism. Because if you have a fast metabolism, you will be burning more calories which can make up for the calories that you consume throughout the day. However, a slow metabolism cannot make you gain excess weight unless you have some sort of medical condition or you are in a calorie surplus. Factors affecting Metabolism and Weight Loss Genetics are just a small part of the reason why your metabolism might be affected. Instead, a major part is played by two types of factors including lifestyle and medical factors which are as follows: Lifestyle factors affecting Metabolism Unlike what you would expect, your metabolism is not only affected by medical factors but also lifestyle factors like the following: Age: With increasing age, BMR lowers and people tend to lose muscle mass which causes their metabolism to slow down. Physical Activity: With regular workouts, you can burn more calories than your BMR and build lean muscle mass which can effectively fasten up the metabolism. Body size and composition: Higher the weight, the higher is the BMR. Hence, it is more likely that a person with a higher weight will burn calories at a faster rate. Gender: Men have relatively more muscles than women of the same age and weight which helps them burn more calories. Sleep: Sleep plays an important role in keeping your metabolism normal. Lack of sleep slows down your metabolism and can trigger food cravings as well. Stress: Cortisol is a stress hormone that your body produces naturally. An increase in stress levels can increase cortisol levels which can affect your carbohydrate and fat metabolism. While this is useful for basic human survival, it can cause cravings which can cause weight gain due to increased calorie consumption. Medical factors affecting Metabolism Medical conditions can play a significant role in determining the cause behind your metabolism as well. Hence, it is important to be aware of these factors: Hypothyroidism: It happens when there isn’t enough thyroid hormone in the bloodstream which slows down the metabolism. Cushing’s disease: Here, the cortisol levels are high which leads to increased appetite resulting in an effective slower metabolism. Polycystic ovary syndrome: Women with PCOS, particularly with insulin resistance, have a low BMR which leads to a slower metabolism that can hinder weight loss. Pituitary gland disorders: The pituitary gland secretes hormones for the proper functioning of your body. Hence, any disturbance in this process can cause hormone imbalances which can affect your metabolism. Improving your Metabolism for Weight Loss By now we know what metabolism is, what all types are there, and the

Strength Training for Beginners

Metabolism and Weight Loss: Affects of Metabolism

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