Resistance training is considered any exercise which forces your muscles to contract against some type of resistance coming from the outside.

This could be done by lifting weights, working a circuit, using elastic bands, or even by using your own body weight such as when you do push-ups or even some more difficult poses in yoga. Resistance training has several benefits.

 



1. Helps to lower body fat
Resistance training helps to rid the body of excess fat, while simultaneously building muscle. Muscles burn more calories than fat, therefore the more muscle you have, the more calories you need to maintain it. Coupled with the right diet, lifting weight can help you shed pounds or even gain weight (by way of adding extra muscle) if this is what you desire.

2. Increases Strength and Bone Density
Resistance training not only aids in building muscle strength but the strength as well. This is something that becomes extremely important as we enter our thirties and muscle mass and bone density starts to decrease. Have you ever heard the phrase, If you don't use it, you lose it? It is true when applied to our body's muscle and bones. Resistance training will help to ward off osteoporosis by aiding the bone minerals to stay dense. It will also keep our muscles strong helping us to keep a more youthful, slimmer figure, because muscle burns more calories than fat does, and the more muscle we have, the more our body has to utilize all the calories we eat.

3. Helps with Heart Function
Making resistance training a part of your regular exercise regimen can be help to keep your heart rate in a normal range, as well as lower blood pressure.

Resistance training should be performed no less than three times a week. When it comes to resistance training, the key is to remember to allow your body to rest.

Rest, you ask? How can my body rest if I'm training the whole week? There are 650 muscles in the human body. When resistance training, you want to focus on a certain set of muscle groups.

For example, on Monday, you may choose to work on the muscles in your legs. If that is the case, it is important on Tuesday you allow the muscles in your legs to rest and focus on another group of muscles. When we resistance train, catabolism takes place. Catabolism is when small rips in the muscle fibers occur.

The body responds to this by re-growing muscle tissue. This is called anabolism. The muscle re-grows during the resting period, which is why it is so important not to train the same muscle group two days in a row. Many people like to work two to three muscle groups in one session, such as abdominals, chest and legs, and then work on the back, shoulders and arms. This way, you guarantee you are able to work out the various muscles groups several times a week.