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Are you doing enough strength training? What are its benefits?
Topics Discussed in this Episode:
5 reasons why you should add strength training and lifting weights into your routine:
- Bone density
- Body composition
- Metabolism
- Injury risk
- Strength and functional fitness
Key Takeaways:
- Strength training is good for your bone density. When we lift weights, we increase the strength of our bones.
- Lifting weights improves your body composition because you can change the ratio of fats to water to bone to muscle.
- A healthy percentage of body fat varies from men to women. Increasing our muscle mass can help balance out that ratio of predominantly fat to muscle but water and bone as well.
- Muscle is more metabolically active than any other tissue. This means a pound of fat versus a pound of muscle will have a different metabolic burn rate. The muscle will have a higher caloric burn than the fat will.
- You burn more calories when you carry more muscle mass, so it increases your metabolism as well. That is a fairly significant point in terms of appetite regulation and body weight management.
- The more musculature we have, the better we hold our skeleton together.
Action Steps:
- Include strength training in your workout.
- Consider getting a hex bar.
- Get some assistance, either through someone who knows what they’re doing or watching some online videos. Just make sure you’re comfortable with the form and the technique.
- Consider getting online coaching or a personal trainer for guidance.
- Don’t go heavy and don’t go hard. Ease yourself in.
Leanne said:
“Lifting weights isn’t about getting bulky with it.”
“[Functional fitness] is what we should focus on over and above the aesthetic.”
As always, if you want to register your interest in some of the ideas that I’m putting together with Bodyshot Performance, send an email to anne@bodyshotperformance.com.
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Links to things mentioned in the episode:
Leanne’s TEDx talk on Why fitness is more important than weight