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If you’ve been enjoying muscle-building exercises for a while now, you hardly need someone to tell you that it’s good for your body. It feels stronger, leaner, and energized – but the benefits are far greater than the immediate boost of confidence and a tighter body.
When you’re pushing your body to get stronger, you’re also preventing a variety of physical and mental diseases, as well as making you a smarter and more balanced person in general.
The difference between strength building and bulking up
While strength training is recommended for both genders and during most stages of life, some people shy away from it. They don’t want to bulk up or become much bigger – which is particularly relevant for young women who think they’ll end up with massive muscles. This is, of course, not the case and we should learn to encourage our daughters to become stronger.
Women are in anyway more prone to the loss of bone density with age, and strength-building exercises are ideal to keep our bones healthy and strong for as long as possible.
Strength and Alzheimer’s
Did you know that certain exercises are excellent for your brain power? Ping-pong was, for example, proclaimed as the best brain boosting sport of all times; it might not be weight-lifting, but it’s worth mention nonetheless. A study has found that when sedentary adults over the age of 65 started to work out, their brains still benefited from it and increased in size as well as function.
Another study focused on women between the ages of seventy and eighty who were diagnosed with MCI; after six months, they found that the women who participated in strength exercises outperformed all the other cardio groups when it came to improved brain functions. Keep lifting, in other words, and pump that brain up as well.
Strength and Osteoporosis
As mentioned, women are especially affected by this disease – and the best prevention is an active youth filled with calcium-dense food. Sometimes, it’s too late for prevention, though but people who are already diagnosed can greatly benefit from muscle-building exercises as well.
Anything that can keep your bones strong and healthy is excellent news; with resistance training, you’ll be able to strengthen them as well as with regular weight-lifting. Combine your regular medications with this kind of exercise and bulk up on leafy greens, canned sardines, and low-fat dairy as well.
After talking to your doctor about it, you can also consider a calcium supplement which may increase your bone density. Read about the AlgaeCal side effects and ask your doctor if this is a good choice for you.
Besides from increasing our lifespan and letting us enjoy a strong and healthy body while we’re here, building strength is great for your mental health. It keeps you active, striving, and makes sure you take full advantage of this wonderful shelter you’ve been given – so that it can keep you safe for a long time to come.