If your goal is to become a stronger athlete or you want to build bigger muscles, lifting weights not only assists you with looking great in your favourite pair of jeans and T-shirt, however it can support healthy joints, improve your heart health as well as promote weight loss.
It’s very tempting to hit the squat rack every single day if you’re seeing (or looking for) these gains, however as with all things, too much of a great thing can be bad. If you don’t allow your muscles sufficient time in order to recover, lifting weights every day can backfire on you – badly.
When you don’t give your muscles at least one day of rest between heavy workouts, it lowers the amount of time that your body’s cells have to recover as well as form new proteins. If one muscle group is particularly sore, it’s as it is still recovering from the tough workout which you put it though earlier. In other words, fighting through muscle soreness does your body absolutely no favours.
In order to avoid the negative symptoms of lifting weights everyday – such as excessive fatigue, reduced performance, mood as well as sleep disturbances, and nagging injuries – try to give each muscle group at least a day of rest between each of your weightlifting workouts.
You Burn Fat And May Lose Weight
Lifting weights every single day may support your weight-loss goals by assisting you with burning calories as well as reducing total body fat. Even though you can’t spot-reduce specific areas, such as your belly, strength training encourages body fat loss through building lean muscle and boosting your metabolic rate.
Muscles burn more calories at rest as opposed to fat and will burn calories even after the workout session is done (potentially) for up to 48 hours. With individuals who weight train consistently they will have physiological changes which include decreased percent body fat, more lean body mass as well as increased bone density.
The lengthy calorie burn is due in part to a process which is called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). It is also known as workout afterburn and is a measure of the oxygen it takes for your body to recover. Taxing your body during resistance training means that you need more oxygen afterward in order to restore normal metabolic function. This process burns calories.
Strength Training Increases Energy Levels And Improves Your Mood
Strength training has been noticed to be a valid treatment option (or an additional treatment) to quell symptoms of depression. All types of exercise boosts mood as it increases endorphins. However for strength training, additional research which is looked at neurochemical and neuromuscular responses to such workouts offers further evidence it has a positive effect on the brain.
Your Bones Remain Strong
After you turn 30, you start to suffer the loss of muscle mass by between 3 and 5% per decade, a process called sarcopenia. This loss in muscle mass results in less mobility as well as an increased risk of falls and fractures. Sarcopenia is mostly the result of changes in hormones owing to ageing.
The good news is that you are able to help prevent sarcopenia through lifting weights regularly (although days off are still important). Concentrate especially on strength-training exercises which stimulate your fast-twitch muscle fibres, because most of the muscle loss you experience from sarcopenia affects those type II fibres.
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