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Apart from adding muscle mass, there are multiple benefits to strength training. Therefore, it is important to add strength training to your routine even if the goal is not to add mass but to become fitter.
While you can probably improve your fitness levels with cardio, and that has to be intense cardio, you will not achieve the desired results without strength training.
Now, before understanding why strength training, also known as resistance training is important to raise your fitness levels, let’s quickly understand strength training.
Why is strength training important?
As mentioned, there are several great benefits to strength training that go beyond just benefiting your muscle mass.
1) Improves endurance
Resistance training requires you to put in more energy during the routine. As a result, your body will constantly push to improve its muscular endurance levels to keep up with the intensity. With time, your body will adjust to the intensity and improve its endurance levels based on the same.
As your endurance level improves, you will become fitter and be able to move around in daily life without losing breath as often.
2) Improves heart health
It’s a proven fact that heart health depends on physical fitness levels. In order to keep yourself healthier, you must take your cholesterol and blood pressure into account. When you indulge in strength training, the blood circulation improves with stronger blood vessels.
Moreover, a healthier heart will be in more control of blood sugar levels.
3) Improves mobility and flexibility
Keeping muscle mass and physique aside, you will be able to significantly improve your body’s overall flexibility and mobility when you indulge in resistance training. It so happens that resistance training enables you to push your muscles through an entire range of motion, which results in releasing tension and stress and improving flexibility.
4) Aids with bone strength
When you make strength training a part of your routine, you’re essentially not just working on your muscles but also your bones. During resistance training, your bones take some of the pressure. When this external pressure is absorbed by the bone cells, they take charge and rebuild stronger bones.
Bone strength is especially important as you grow older.
5) Burns calories throughout the day
Resistance training and high-intensity training (HIIT) routines are such that they help you burn calories throughout the day. During strength testing, the metabolic rate increases, which means the body needs to burn more calories to provide excess energy. Now, the increase in metabolism has a ripple effect for up to 72 hours i.e., you burn calories up to approximately 72 hours after the workout session.
6) Focuses on weight control and balance
Resistance training has the ability to do weight control. This happens as you remain consistent with your training routine and indulge in progressive overload. When you add muscle mass and strength, your body burns more calories, which helps with weight control.
7) Helps with joint pain
If you focus on doing only cardio, some of your joints do not get adequate movement. To ensure your joints are not becoming rusty, it is important to have some amount of resistance training in your routine.
Other benefits of strength training
While a beginner's strength training routine is enough to help build your physical fitness, there are other benefits that showcase the importance of resistance training.
Improves brain health and mood: When you workout, there is an adrenaline rush in play. This rush helps you workout better. When you workout better, you will feel better. More often than not, individuals leave the gym in a better mood after resistance training.
Makes you stronger: Strength training acts as an external force on the muscles. When this happens, the muscle fibers improve muscular strength and rebuild themselves to be thicker to withstand the external pressure.
Physique becomes leaner: When you focus on strength training, you will notice changes in your physique. Unless you are actively bulking, you will observe your physique becoming leaner with time if you balance your workout routine with a proper diet.
There is no ounce of doubt that strength training is of utmost importance when focusing on physical fitness. You could become fitter through cardio alone, but it will never be as effective as it would be with resistance training.
Finally, only strength training and cardio will not help you become fitter, leaner, and stronger. You need to have a diet, either calorie deficit or calorie surplus, that compliments your workout efforts at the gym or wherever you choose to workout. Diet is the primary factor for which physique or fitness level you aspire!
