Lifting Weights Improves Your Quality of Life
Updated: Sep 15, 2021
If you are unsatisfied with your overall lifestyle and want to form a better version of yourself, lifting weights is the answer. Lifting weights is beneficial for your health, both physically and mentally, and it is a key factor to living a longer life. Many people who are unwilling to get in the gym and lift are often fearful of the concept itself and how intense it may be, or they are insecure about how others will perceive them and the amount of weight they are lifting. However, the positive effects that come with lifting weights may influence you to start the process.
Why should you lift weights?
One of the main misconceptions people have when comparing weight lifting with cardio is that weight lifting makes you bulky while cardio helps you lose weight and develop a lean body. Although the two help different parts of your body in various ways, studies have proven that lifting weights is the more effective way to lose fat and burn calories. For all the women who fear that they will look too muscular and bulk up from weight lifting, think again! Women do not possess the high amounts of testosterone that men do so they cannot gain the same amount of muscle that men gain. Yes, lifting weights helps strengthen your muscles and become stronger, but more importantly it is the key to developing a toned body. Running can help you burn some calories and lose fat, but lifting weights will help define your muscles and have a more lean body. You also want to make sure you are maintaining muscle mass while losing fat, which is another reason why weight lifting is more effective than running.
What are the health benefits of lifting weights?
There is more to weight lifting than just strengthening your muscles. Firstly, lifting weights helps boost your metabolism, which helps you burn more fat. Not only do you burn calories when you are moving and lifting weights, but you continue to burn them after when you are relaxing, watching TV or even sleeping. Lifting weights helps strengthen your bones and joints. As you get older your bones become less dense and get weaker, therefore, weight lifting will help fight off osteoporosis and keep your bones strong. Lifting weights can change your mood and energy levels. When working out your body releases endorphins that help relieve any pain and fight off stress and anxiety, boosting your mood and changing your mentality for the better. Lastly, weight lifting is essential for improving the health of your heart. Studies in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise showed that women involved in lifting weights were at a 17% lower risk of getting cardiovascular disease than those who did not participate in weight training. Additionally, simply lifting weights for less than an hour a day will reduce your risk of a heart attack or stroke by 40% to 70%. If this statistic does not influence you to get in the gym then I do not know what will!
How lifting weights helped me!
I can never revert back to not lifting weights because I would not be happy and satisfied with myself if I was not introduced to this process. I was never someone who needed to watch my weight or lose any fat, but I did want to gain more muscle. I did not truly get into weight lifting until freshman year of high school, and up until that point I had been playing soccer for 11 years. Since I was constantly involved in great amounts of cardio, I was skinny and I was unhappy and insecure about the way I looked. Once I got into lifting weights, my mood was completely changed and it changed the way I perceived myself. I was confident with the way my body looked, my self-esteem was boosted and I was satisfied with my overall quality of life.
Lifting weights can dramatically change your life, and if it only takes 30 minutes to an hour out of your day, what is stopping you from doing it?
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