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There are so many incredible benefits to strength training. When most of our clients initially come to us for coaching and personal training they are surprised to find out that we do not incorporate ‘running’ into our routine. You see, strength training offers so many benefits that after 45 minutes to an hour you can experience great carry over that helps you reach your goals more quickly and efficiently. The carry over is so fantastic in fact, that if done properly it will help you to stay fitter, healthier and age more gracefully than ever.

Alex & I are going to cover some of the key benefits of proper strength training in this article.

1. You actually burn more calories while strength training. How incredible is this!? I love knowing that weight training offers such a great caloric expenditure, not only during the actual session but AFTER. Medium to heavy resistance training can even help you increase your metabolism up to 20%! This is much more bang for your buck.
2. Strength Training helps you MOVE better. The benefits of weight training far exceed the benefit of a great looking physique. Your balance, flexibility, coordination, stability/mobility and power output all increase. They have even coined the term ‘barbell medicine’ as it helps to decrease your risk falling by as much as 35-40%. This is a wonderful routine to incorporate especially as you age.
3. Strength training helps you to reach (and maintain) your goals. It has been found that people who engage in a proper weight training routine two to three times per week actually increase the amount of calories they burn daily during normal activities helping you to further maintain weight loss and experience long term results.
4. Strength training is one of the most integral pieces to improving and maintaining bone health. Usually after the age of 30 you can lose 2-6% of muscle mass and strength every decade if not exercising and eating poorly. Engaging in a medium to heavy resistance training protocol helps to diminish bone loss and helps bone reformation. In many cases, you can even see an increase in bone density through a bone density test.
5. Strength training can make you fitter and more conditioned. When you engage in a proper weight training routine, you stimulate and optimize all of your energy systems and can increase your oxygen consumption and VO2 max as well as cardiac output. Proper strength training can also increase oxygen concentration in the blood and helps in strengthening blood vessels. This means you can do your favorite activities, with more ease for longer periods of time.
6. Strength training helps in disease prevention and overall quality of life. The benefits of strength training are many. From alleviating arthritic pain, improving functional capacity of daily living to helping prevent osteoporosis or osteopenia, the benefits of weight resistance training and plentiful. It has also been found to improve blood sugar and insulin sensitivity as well as psychological wellbeing and mood. Proper strength training can help balance and improve hormonal status as well as transfer over to a more restful nights sleep.

Alex & I hope our article gives you more insight into the many benefits of strength training and why you should incorporate these into your daily routine. If you need help or guidance, we welcome questions, comments and feedback. You can simply contact us via our website or call us at 770-905-7400.

In health,

Alex & Ashley Poptodorov

A+A Wellness