Have you seen a lean person who is so strong and yet healthy? All those features are among the packages you get from strength training.
It helps you lose body fat and increase your lean muscle mass while calories are burnt with more efficiency.
What is strength training? What does it entail and why is it efficient for weight loss? Stay tuned.

So, what is strength training?

Strength training is a major fitness program that focuses on building your strength through selected workouts exercises. If you are looking to get strong and fit, strength training is the perfect option for you.

Why begin strength training?

As you age, your lean muscle mass diminishes naturally, but as a replacement, the body fat will increase in percentage if caution is not taken.
Strength training helps to prevent the percentage growth of the fat by preserving and enhancing your muscles at any age in time.

Asides this, here are some other reasons why you should engage in strength training:

It helps to develop strong bones :

Strength training exercises put a good amount of stress on bones. It helps to increase the density of your bone^[1]. This helps you to reduce the risks of osteoporosis.

It helps to manage your weight appropriately :

Exercises involved in strength training are calorie burning exercises. It increases your metabolism and helps to burn out your body fat

It enhances your quality of life :

Fitness is undoubtedly an important recipe to living a quality life. When you are in a fit physical condition which can be built by strength training, you will be able to do your everyday activities more efficiently, get a good balance, and keep your independence as you age.

It helps to manage chronic conditions :

Strength training is good to help you minimize the symptoms and effects of chronic medical conditions such as heart disease, back pain, arthritis, obesity, diabetes and depression.

It helps to enhance your thinking :

Some modern research suggests that engaging in aerobic and strength training regularly may improve thinking and learning skills in older adults.

Now that you have known the reasons why you should engage in strength training, the next stop is knowing what exercises are involved right?!

Strength training exercises

Luckily, strength training exercises can be done by anyone with or without equipment. You can do them in a gym or at home as you please.

A good thing about strength exercises is that there are varieties to choose from, and common choices are:

Body weight exercises

Body weight training includes pull-ups, push-ups, planks, squats and lunges. These exercises can be done at home and they require little or no equipment.

Resistance tubing

Resistance tubing are exercises that involve the use of cheap lightweight elastic tubes that give a level of resistance when stretched. Resistance tubes are of different types and sold in sports stores.

Free weight exercises

Free weights are the classic barbells and dumbbells, kettlebells or medicine balls. You can find these equipment in most gyms. If you do not have weights at home, you can improvise by using soup cans.

Weight machine

Weight resistance machines are mostly found in the gyms. However, you can invest in a weight machine so you can do weight machine exercises at the comfort of your home.

Cable suspension training

Cable suspension exercises involve the suspension of a part of the body while you do some body weight exercises. For example, you can hang your legs while you do planks or push ups.

How to get started

Starting any new type of exercise at all requires you to consult your doctor especially if it is some aerobic fitness or strength training program and you have a chronic condition or you are above the age of 40. If your doctor tells you to avoid the exercises, then it is best you stay away and find exercises less strenuous that your health is compatible with.

Start all strength training exercises with warm-ups. When your muscles are cold, they are prone to injury. You need about 10 minutes of warm-up exercises to get your muscles and joints ready for the tasks to come.

You should always start slow and not go for weights that would strain you too much to lift. You should go for weights heavy enough to make your muscles tired after 12-15 reps. You should then increase the weight, reps and sets with time as you can do more than before.

You should fix a recovery day in between your training days. This will allow your muscles to relax and recover ahead of the next training.

Proper techniques are important in strength training, you may develop injuries without it. It is okay to work with a fitness trainer for a start.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, you must always listen to your body as you engage in strength training exercises. You should stop any exercise that causes you pain and reduce the weight, or you can try again after some days . Workouts are supposed to be uncomfortable, not painful.
Also, you should be moderate in all your training. Eating well is important too, so eat well always.