STOP DOING CARDIO! The Importance of Strength Training for a Healthy and Fit Body & Mind.
Alright, I don’t mean stop doing cardio entirely. You need to do cardio to keep your heart healthy and, if it is your goal, to help you lose weight (it is only an aid, not a magic trick).
In actuality, strength training does so much more for you health and fitness wise.
By increasing muscle mass, you not only feel stronger but your body changes shape (fat percentage decreases and muscle tone increases), your joint stability increases (less risk of falls, dislocations and ruptures) and your bone density increases (less risk of broken bones!).
These all sound like massive positives to me.
As someone who has been strength training for 4 years, my personal favourite pro’s are the shape changes in my body and my joint stability.
1kg of fat takes up much more space in the body than 1kg of muscle. Sounds strange, I know. This is because muscle is denser than fat. So when I say your body changes shape when you build muscle, I mean that the shape of your muscles starts to show. Women (typically) get more of an hourglass shape and men (typically) gain more of an upside down triangle shape (men can build their upper body quite quickly).
One of the biggest concerns I hear from females about strength training is that they are worried about looking “bulky” or “like a man”. Ladies, rest easy: the only way to look like a man, is to have the testosterone levels of a man. For a female, unless you are strength training AND taking testosterone supplements/boosters, you will not get bulky or “look like a man”. Instead, you will look fit and strong!
A common goal I hear from men about strength training is wanting to look “leaner with bigger muscles”. Unfortunately, these are REALLY hard to do at the same time. You can drop body fat, and you can build your muscle. But if your goal is to look bigger with your muscles, maybe just pick one first and work on that for a while. Why?
In order to build muscle MASS (not strength, these are different things), you need to be consuming more energy via food than you are using. You also need to be implementing a good recovery routine e.g. stretching, rolling, massage, sleep, hydration, etc. in order for your muscles to grow happy and healthy.
In order to lose body fat, you need to be consuming less energy via food than you are using. For this, you need to be careful, take it slow and also have a good recovery routine in place e.g. stretching, rolling, strategically planned diet breaks, massage, sleep, hydration, etc. in order for your body to not go into panic mode when the weight starts to drop (this can happen if you drop weight too quickly).
Now for my second favourite result of strength training: joint stability! I myself have hypermobility, which basically means my joints are WAY too flexible for their own good (just an anatomical mutation that many of us have). Because of this, my ligaments are overstretched and weaker than average, and while it doesn’t happen to all hypermobile individuals, I do suffer from consistent dislocations in a number of joints. In order to keep my joints healthy and to minimise dislocations, I have to strengthen the muscles surrounding the joints – I do this via weight training with specific rehabilitation exercises targeting each joint individually. Thanks to strength training, I have limited dislocations from multiple times per week, to just a few times a YEAR; still more dislocations than I’d prefer, but much less than I was previously experiencing.
If you have been tied to the treadmill, bike or rower of late – take a break from “getting your steps in” and head on over to the dumbbells, but if you have no experience with strength training – please start slow and seek the assistance of a professional. An experienced friend/family member is also a brilliant gym buddy to give you tips when you first start out!
If you wish to know more about how strength training and massage go hand in hand, or if you are just starting on your fitness journey and are feeling a bit sore, feel free to book in for a treatment with one of our qualified professionals.
In health,
Aimee
Remedial Massage Therapist