ATLETA Fitness

Benefits of Resistance Training

Resistance training is one of those things: many people don’t want to start because they fear they’ll end up ‘too bulky’, where others take it beyond the point of reason, often resulting in a disproportionate and unnatural physique. As a health tool, however, resistance training offers benefits for all levels of health, fitness and well-being; making it the perfect inclusion for your regular health and fitness program.

Optimized-Chick rowingResistance training encompasses a mass of different training techniques, each with their own specific benefits. Different forms of training can be used in conjunction to reach specific training goals. Here’s everything you need to know:

1. Resistance Training can improve muscle size and tone
2. Resistance training also improves and lowers resting blood pressure
3. Resistance training also improves neurological messaging and function
4. We can use body-weight, resistance bands and ‘weights’ to add resistance to movements
5. Individually specific combinations work best for achieving your personal training goals

Read on to find out more detail, on why resistance training could be the perfect tool for you health and fitness…

Benefits of Resistance Training:

More than just muscle growth and improved tone, resistance training offers a host of physiological benefits to athletes of all ages and skill levels.

Musculature:

Regular resistance training is a great way to maintain and improve muscle size. For those looking to gain lean mass, training programs can be suited towards volume, with gains in muscle mass made in response to training stimulus. Resistance training is also great for older populations, as maintaining muscle mass can allow the completion of daily tasks with greater ease. Similarly, maintaining muscle mass can help to improve energy expenditure and keep excess body fat from accumulating.

For those not wanting to look ‘too bulky’, but more interested in achieving a lean look, training can be suited towards improving muscle tone without major increase in muscle size. This is coupled with related improvements in body composition.

Body Composition:

Improved muscle tone and mass acts as a protective factor against fat mass accumulation. Greater muscle mass results in a greater energy burn at rest, meaning more energy is burned while at rest. The improved muscle tone will also result in a leaner look, as muscle size and resting tone push out against the skin; giving you that ‘ripped’ look!

Blood Pressure:

Not usually the first benefit associated with resistance training, but resistance training offers the greatest improvement in resting blood pressure, compared to all other training modalities. Better than cardiovascular training (such as running), resistance training can offer up to a 15mm.Hg blood pressure drop for sedentary populations, compared to running which offers around 8mm.Hg to sedentary populations.

Neurological:

Resistance training with moderate to heavy weights can improve neurological functioning and the messaging capability of the body. Within the first 6 weeks of starting a training program, strength can double due only to the improved ability of the nervous system to stimulate greater muscle contraction. This means that more muscle fibres are able to be stimulated by the brain, improving the connectivity of the body. This is great for our nervous system, and can improve your sense of self-awareness and spatial awareness.

So we know that resistance training offers muscle mass, body composition, body shaping, blood pressure and neurological benefits, but how exactly can we train to achieve these? Let’s take a look at different types of resistance training.

Types of Resistance Training:

Bodyweight:

Glen Carroll ATLETAThe best way to start resistance training is to start with your own body weight. This can ensure a safe progression towards higher resistances. Great body-weight exercises include push-ups, squats, burpees, jumps, dips, bear crawls, chin-ups and a large selection of other exercises. Despite common perception, bodyweight training can benefits and muscle mass, muscle tone and strength.

Resistance Bands:

Resistance bands are a great progression from body-weight training, increasing resistance and opening up a whole bunch of new exercise ideas. Resistance bands are also great as they increase in resistance towards the end of a contraction, matching the strength-angle relationship of most muscles. That is to say, most muscles are stronger at smaller muscle angles (later in a contraction). Resistance is higher at this point of a contraction when using a resistance band to load a muscle. Resistance bands can also be used to make weight training harder, by adding higher resistance at these stronger, smaller muscle angles.

Weights:Resistance Training ATLETA

Most people think of weights training when asked about resistance training. The addition of free-weights and machine weights opens up many new possibilities for exercises, and can allow us to get more specific with our training aims and targeted muscles.

Application of Resistance Training:

A combination of all 3 types of resistance training is most beneficial, as it takes the positive factors of body-weight, resistance bands and weights training and adds them all into one great package. This can then be suited to individual training goals, training loads and training experience. Our qualified team is perfectly suited to structuring resistance training programs to suit your specific goals, whether they be strength, tone, muscle growth or just general health. Get in contact today to get started working towards your health goals, and let our expert team help you achieve your highest level of health.

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