Niagara Personal Trainer Fitness Training Embrace Fitness Andrea Andi Miller
Niagara Fitness Articles
Why Strength Training is So Important to Fitness
The #2 fitness trend worldwide is the addition of strength training into exercise routines. Note the word "addition". Many people still believe that strength training is only for "muscleheads" or people interested in bodybuilding. Not true, and fitness professionals will recommend adding some form of strength training into fitness routines for one simple reason: they produce greater results.
Here's why.
When you exercise, you raise your body's metabolism for a while. How long you raise it for and by how much depends on the intensity of exercise and how your body's muscle mass. The body's muscle tissue is metabolically active, meaning it requires calories even when you are at rest. Simply put, the more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn at rest. That's about 50-100 calories burned per pound of muscle gained.
Many studies have shown that strength training raises your metabolism for hours or even days after the workout session. This means that your body continues to burn calories after the workout as a direct result of weight training. Aerobic exercises must be done consistently if you want to have an overall boost to your metabolic rate. Since time is at a premium for everyone, one session of pure weight training will have a longer impact on your metabolic rate than one session of pure aerobics.
Of course, the best approach in my view is to combine aerobic and strengh training in your workout sessions. The programs I recommend to my clients are based on this balanced approach. You don't have to fear strength training. Unless you're trying to, you're not going to "bulk up".What will happen is you will increase your body's lean muscle mass and decrease fat leading to a much healthier and more resilient body. And you probably won't mind the compliments you get as a result!