Since its inception more than 40 years ago, the month of May has served as a vehicle for highlighting the significance of physical activity, physical fitness, and sports participation. Participating in recreational sports leagues, going to the gym on a regular basis, taking after-dinner walks, and chasing your children or grandchildren around the playground are all valid and beneficial methods of physical activity. As a frequently misunderstood and undervalued component of a healthy lifestyle, resistance training—also known as muscular training and strength training—provides benefits that improve not only sports performance but also the capacity to maintain function and independence as we age. In this blog, we will concentrate on resistance training. In addition, resistance training is an important part of getting ready to play pickleball and ultimate frisbee in safety. When it comes to resistance training, the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend that adults perform muscle-strengthening activities of moderate or greater intensity and that involve all major muscle groups on two or more days per week.
Benefits of Resistance Training
The benefits of resistance training to one’s health, fitness, performance, and overall well-being are significant, and it can be performed with free weights or gym equipment, as well as with simple exercises done with one’s own body weight. When deciding whether or not to incorporate resistance training into your exercise routine, you might want to take into consideration the following significant advantages: Physical capacity—the capacity to work or exercise—is a measure of health that declines dramatically with age in adults who do not exercise resistance. This is because adults who do not exercise lose an average of 5 pounds of muscle tissue every decade. Enhanced metabolic function: The previously mentioned loss of muscle also results in a decrease in resting metabolic rate—the amount of calories burned at rest—which eventually leads to an increase in body fat. Again, resistance training is the best way to combat this and prevent unwanted weight gain. Reduced injury risk and disease prevention: Strong muscles improve the ability to safely perform weight-bearing activities such as running, walking and climbing stairs. In addition, balanced muscle development reduces the risk of injury.
Additionally, resistance exercise may: Increase bone mineral density, reducing the risk of osteoporosis
Improve body composition (that is, the ratio of muscle tissue to fat tissue), which is associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease
Improve your health in the back Reduce pain associated with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis
Eliminate the incidence of depression.
Enhance the functional capacity of older people Developing a Workout So, what is the best way to get started with a program if you are a newcomer to resistance training?
Identifying your objectives and level of experience is the first step. The Training Variables section of The ACE Workout Builder for Split Routines provides additional information regarding how these variables affect your workouts. You should do one to four sets of each exercise, eight to fifteen repetitions per set, with two to three minutes of rest in between each set for general muscular fitness. The next step is to consider the equipment you have at your disposal. For instance, you probably have access to machines, free weights, and kettlebells if you have a gym membership. If you want to start working out at home, you might not have any equipment at all, but you might have some light dumbbells, resistance bands, or a stability ball. Choose your exercises last. Organize your workouts so that you are targeting each major muscle group (chest, back, arms, shoulders, core, hips and legs) during each workout.
You can begin by visiting the ACE Exercise Library, where you’ll find exercises listed not only by body part, but also by experience level and equipment. You can make a full-body workout that you can do twice a week with the exercises there. Create two distinct full-body workouts to perform each week if you want more variety. Keep in mind that you can safely do a full-body resistance training workout up to three days a week that are not consecutive. Last Thoughts No matter where and how you decide to incorporate resistance training into your routine, it’s important to recognize that it is a vital component of a healthy lifestyle. Resistance training will not only help you get in better shape and perform better in sports, but it will also help you stay healthy and keep your body functioning properly as you get older. The benefits of this type of exercise are too important to ignore, so use the process outlined above to get started today.
