5 Health Benefits of Strength Training
It’s easy to get caught up in the glamor of heavy lifting, especially with CrossFit. When us CrossFit athletes think of building strength, obviously it’s so we can finish the speed ladder at the CrossFit Games. I mean, really the only thing that matters when it comes to being strong is being able to snatch 300lbs with your shirt off and sunglasses on in front of a couple hundred people, right?
If those truly are your goals for building strength, hell yeah! Go get after it! But this article isn’t necessarily going to help you build elite strength. In fact, there are tons of great reasons to strength train aside from attempting to be as strong as humanly possible. Strength training does so much for improving your overall health, especially as you age, that EVERYONE should be doing it in order to push off the nursing home for as long as possible. Here are five of the ways that strength training can improve your health:
1.) As you age, the amount of muscle that you actually have decreases. When you strength train and recover properly, muscle mass increases. Continuing to strength train as you get older can combat against natural muscle deterioration. Essentially, you get to keep the muscle you have for a longer period of time. This means you will also have the ability to take care of yourself for a longer period of time.
2.) Bone density tends to decrease as you age as well, making your body more prone to fractures. Consistent strength training helps to increase bone density, keeping your bones strong as you age.
3.) Strength training increases proprioception (your body’s awareness to the space around you) and balance; therefore, strength training as you age makes you less susceptible to losing your balance and falling.
4.) Strength training will improve your flexibility and joint mobility. As you age, joint health can begin to deteriorate and arthritis can develop. Consistent strength training will help prevent against this, as well as decrease the symptoms of arthritis by keeping joints as healthy and mobile as possible.
5.) Lastly, maintaining muscle forces your body to use more energy (burn more calories) than maintaining excess fat does. This means that the more lean muscle you have, the more fat you will burn. Strength training consistently is the best way to build and maintain lean muscle.
Need a good program to follow for building strength? Talk to one of our coaches, or hop on our GAINZ TRAIN cycle starting April 13th!
