No matter how you define “heavy,” the benefits of lifting (with the right form and consistency) impact every aspect of your life – not just how you look. When we strength train, consume ample protein, and get our beloved sleep, we build MUSCLE!
Muscle helps us recover from illness. It improves our immune function. Although it may seem a long way away, it helps us remain independent longer.
Lifting has so many benefits! Here are six of them.
1. Improves Muscle & Bone Health
Strength training builds muscle and encourages bone regeneration, increasing the integrity of your bones and preventing conditions like osteoporosis and chronic diseases like diabetes, obesity, and sarcopenia. This muscle also supports your bones and connective tissue, acting as a crucial first line of defense against injury.
Muscle also boosts metabolism. Muscle tissue is metabolically active, which means it requires more energy (calories) to maintain than fat. For every pound of muscle, your body burns roughly 6–10 calories/day, compared to just 1–2 calories for fat. The more muscle you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate (RMR), and you burn more calories even when you’re not moving.
2. Helps Manage Your Weight
Strength training challenges the whole body to strengthen and prevent weight gain, especially in the belly. How? Because when you lift heavy, you MUST conduct your exercise with pristinely perfect form. When we have correct form, we…yes you guessed it..tighten our abdominals and gluts to prevent injury and build tension. Heavy lifting also increases your metabolism (which we discussed above!), helping you maintain or decrease weight more effectively than cardio alone.
3. Enhances Functionality & Injury Prevention
Building muscle supports your bones and connective tissue, which is typically the first line of defense against injury. This training of functional movement also keeps us independent and active. Biomechanical exercises mimic daily movements—like pushing, reaching, squatting, stepping, and lunging—to keep our core muscles and joints healthy.
4. Boosts Confidence & Mental Well-being
When you lift more than you imagined possible, the confidence you feel transcends into other areas of your life like decision-making, saying “no” more, and prioritizing yourself. Strength training also improves mood, reduces stress and anxiety, boosts mental health and thinking, and even helps prevent dementia.
5. Improves Energy & Vitality
Strength training can increase libido, regulate cycles, and manage chronic conditions. So if you think you are too tired to workout, you may find that strength training three times a week actually does the opposite; it can bring you more energy.
6. Gets Your Sweat On
If you think you won’t sweat with strength training, you haven’t met me then! When you challenge your entire body with heavier loads and focused movements, you’ll absolutely get that satisfying and well-deserved sweat, along with heart pumping euphoric metabolic conditioning.
Get strong this year by joining me and my community in one of our programs. Let’s chat to talk about the best one for you!
