You might think of strength training as being primarily for the muscle-bound set, but it actually offers an array of health benefits to anyone trying it beyond simply building muscle.

It Doesn’t Just Build Muscle, It Builds Bone, Too

As we get older, we start to lose lean muscle mass, which in turn affects bone density. Strength training helps to not only recoup and save some of that muscle, but also helps to maintain bone density, which in turn improves your overall bone and joint health.

It Boosts Your Metabolism

You burn calories during strength training in the same way you burn them during strenuous aerobic exercise, but you also burn them after the workout. As your body is recovering, a process called “excess post-exercise oxygen consumption,” or EPOC occurs. During your body’s return to its resting state after a workout, the calories keep burning.

It Makes You Feel Better in More Ways than One

Strength training is shown to boost the level of endorphins in your body - joggers will know it as the “runner’s high” - which increases your energy levels and improves your all-around mood.

A Little Goes a Long Way

Maybe you don’t have time to hit the treadmill for an hour. Perhaps the weather outside isn’t conducive to an hour-long jog. But fifteen minutes of doing some reps on the bench press or some bicep curls? You’ll get a similar benefit in a much shorter time frame.

And You’ll Look Good, Too

Who doesn’t like showing off a little once you’ve built up some muscle? Go on, flex a little, show off what you’ve got. You put the work in, enjoy the results!

The beauty of strength training is that you don’t need a huge gym or an expensive membership to try it. Simple exercises you can do at home, like push-ups and planking, that use your own body weight as resistance work well and can be done in a small space.

So get off the couch and drop and give me twenty, then check out the Olympus Steelyard blog for more healthy activities in and around Chandler, Arizona.