I gotta be real, I am actually a little surprised to need to be talking about why strength training is awesome, for everyone, in 2018. Seriously. When I started working as a personal trainer (possibly before some of you were born), this was a conversation I had with at least 70% of my clients. And despite the internet being the amazing resource that it is can be, this is still a conversation I have pretty regularly.

Many people, especially women, think that strength trainers lift for one of two reasons. First, those amongst us who want to compete in fitness challenges or look like a bodybuilder. And if you do fall in that category, my hat’s off to you because training for those goals takes dedication. The second category of lifters in the average person’s eye: athletes. And again, if that’s you, keep on keeping on.

However, there are a huge number of benefits that strength training holds for each and every one of us. Benefits that many are missing out on because they are concentrating on what they think is the most heart healthy, because there is a lack of knowledge, or because they are simply nervous or intimidated. Well, no more! I’m gonna break down the many reasons why everyone should be strength training. And if you want to read the latest research related to any area, just follow the links.

But first, let’s clarify: strength training simply refers to any exercise where resistance (weight, load, or force) is used to induce muscle contractions with the goal of reconditioning muscle to improve. Yeah, that’s a lot of fancy words. Simply put that means any exercise where a weight is moved or stabilized in a way that forces the muscle to contract. The contractions will result in improvements in how that particular muscle functions. Size and strength are the two most well known advantages of strength training, but strength training also contributes positively to weight loss and management, prevention of chronic diseases (including heart disease), increases in stability and mobility, better body image, and improved mental health.

That’s a pretty rad list. So let me take a minute to explain how all that awesome happens. When a muscle is exercised by causing muscle contractions, microtears in the muscle occur. You know that soreness you get after a going out and doing something you haven’t done in a while or moving in a new way? That’s called delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS, for short. And like John Cougar Mellencamp said, it hurts so good. DOMS is your muscle rebuilding and repairing itself. It is during this repair process that all those amazing things happen. Reconditioning muscle does not necessarily equate to size gains (unless you are training and eating in very specific ways to encourage that).

Reconditioning our muscle tissue does equate to an increase in metabolic rate. Muscle tissue is active tissue, meaning it burns calories when we are otherwise not doing anything else. An increased metabolic rate will help with both weight loss and weight maintenance. This increased metabolic rate also allows us to burn visceral fat, the stuff that lies in our abdomen and is bad for our heart and lungs, thus positively affecting cardiovascular health. Increased metabolic rate also has huge implications for those dealing with diabetes or glucose control issues. A muscle that has a higher metabolic rate needs more glucose (or sugar) to keep doing what it needs to do. Guess where our muscles get their sugar? From our blood, meaning lower circulating levels of blood sugar. The increased metabolic rates also have huge potential implications for cancer, including helping keeping our cells healthy and contributing to positive recovery outcomes.

Reconditioning our muscle tissue also equates to increases in stability and mobility. By using our muscles, and in fact, asking them to do more challenging things than they are used to, we ask them to learn to anchor and move our bodies in ways that are healthier. As we age, any number of chronic diseases can affect our stability and mobility (osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, osteoarthritis, etc.) and strength training helps mitigate and alleviate the potential onset and symptoms of all of them. The outcomes from falls as we age are scary and healthy muscle tissue is the best way to combat the probability of falling. Muscles that are asked to work regularly will also better be able to manage pain.

Reconditioning our muscle tissue has another benefit which relates to brain function. The first strength benefits when you start lifting weights are not actually because the muscle is stronger, but because your muscle tissue and your brain learn to communicate better. Anything that allows you to use your brain in new ways has potential benefits. The benefit of seeing your body transform into something stronger and leaner obviously cannot be undersold. It is the motivation so many clients have to “lose weight and tone up.” The mental health benefits of strength training are hugely important. And any type of exercise that can enhance mood and help stabilize depression and anxiety is a type of exercise that I am on board with.

So, to sum up: strength training is awesome and the benefits are far reaching. If you aren’t strength training right now, you need to ask yourself why not?