Physical health is one of the most important possessions a person can have. As such, it is the responsibility of a person to keep his or her physique in top shape. This can be done by regularly engaging in activities that promote healthy living and fitness; examples of which include eating healthily, exercising regularly, and avoiding unhealthy products and activities. When a person’s health is taken care of, the person will become noticeably stronger, fitter, and resistant to diseases. In doing so, he or she will be ensured of a fruitful and productive life ahead.
As mentioned earlier, one of the activities a person can engage into in order to achieve, maintain, and develop an optimum state of fitness is physical exercise. There are two commonly accepted forms of exercising: cardiovascular exercise, which is known more colloquially as cardio; and strength training. Any exercise that involves getting a person’s heart rate to its maximum can be classified as cardio – examples of such include swimming, biking, and jogging. Cardio is known to pump up the circulation in the body thus raising its caloric activity which will aid in burning fat. Strength training, on the other hand, consists of activities that involve lifting, pushing, pulling, and any form of resistance in order to develop and grow the muscles in the body. While strength training can also be done to burn fat, its primary purpose is to build muscles in the body in order to become stronger.
Our muscles become stronger due to weight training. When force such a weight, is exerted onto the muscles in the body their fibers breakdown. The human body is s self-correcting system; hence, it will heal the muscles. It is the healing process that increases the overall rate of metabolism in the body. The broken or ruptured muscle tissues then recover during states of rest. This, in whole, is how the muscles grow and become stronger – they break down and then they are built back again in times of recovery by utilization of protein in the body. Therefore, it is recommended for bodybuilders to include an ample amount of protein in their diet (Yabsley).
There are also studies which prove that the body does effectively get stronger when exposed to resistance training compared to a body that is not. For example, a study in 2010 aimed to measure if teens will do significantly better in power performance exercises if they engaged in strength training. The results proved that resistance training is in fact a requisite for people to become stronger as the teens in the study show an increased performance in their squats after the test (Azeem& Kumar).
Aside from making the body stronger, weight training has a lot of other benefits to the body; such as, adjusting the body for efficient calorie consumption, preventing osteoporosis in women, allowing the body to maintain its proper posture as it becomes older, and fat loss.
When one is using strength training for fat loss, it is recommended to engage in the activity thrice a week. In doing so, there is ample recovery time between workouts, which in turn will give the muscles time to grow and adjust. It is also recommended to start at weights that one can manage, and go higher from there. For compound exercises—exercises that target groups of muscles instead of just one—higher weights are encouraged so as to get the most benefits out of them.
Works Cited
Azeem, Kubab& Kumar, Rajesh. “Effects of Weight Training on Power Performance”. Journal of Physical Education and Sport vol. 11 no. 2, 2011, http://yw6vq3kb9d.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fsummon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Effects+of+weight+training+on+power+performance&rft.jtitle=Journal+of+Physical+Education+and+Sport&rft.au=KAUKAB+AZEEM&rft.au=RAJESH+KUMAR&rft.date=2011-06-01&rft.pub=University+of+Pitesti&rft.issn=2247-806X&rft.eissn=2247-806X&rft.volume=11&rft.issue=2&rft.spage=124&rft.epage=126&rft.externalDBID=DOA&rft.externalDocID=oai_doaj_org_article_2365080ea696430f9d0ef460f9eb70c8¶mdict=en-UK. Accessed 4 Sept 2016.
Yabsley, Charmaine. “Weight Training: FITNESS”. Sydney Morning Herald. 22 Aug 2013, http://yw6vq3kb9d.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fsummon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Weight+training&rft.jtitle=Sydney+Morning+Herald&rft.au=Charmaine+Yabsley&rft.date=2013-08-22&rft.pub=Fairfax+Digital&rft.externalDocID=3050305801¶mdict=en-UK. Accessed 4 Sept 2016.
