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Preserve muscle mass as you age

Do you know, along with building strength, lifting weights have infinite benefits. Let us learn all the reasons which may inspire you to pick up a pair of dumbbells today.

Preserve muscle mass as you age

Representational image: Getty Images

Along with building strength, lifting weights also consist of infinite benefits. Let us learn all the reasons which may inspire you to pick up a pair of dumbbells today.

It helps to lose weight and burn extra calories

Since everyone is aware of the fact that cardio helps to get rid of the belly fat, similarly lifting weights helps to build more muscles, which can eventually help to burn more calories. This is why muscles are metabolically active, means they burn calories even when you’re not exercising.

A study conducted on Obesity in 2017 suggests that weight training combined with a healthy, low-calorie diet, can help preserve lean muscle mass that’s lost through aerobic workouts. “When weight loss occurs in the absence of strength training, all facets of body composition are lost,” Reed says.

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It helps to protect bones

With growing age, human bones become more brittle and weaker, especially if you’re in the post-menopausal stage, which is due to lower estrogen levels, (estrogen is the hormone responsible for maintaining bone mass). But lifting weights can help you build bone mineral density through Wolff’s Law, which states that bones can grow in response to forces that are placed upon it. In other words, creating pressure on your joints through weight-bearing exercises can actually help you build stronger, healthier bones.

In fact, in an October 2017 study ‘the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research’ it has been claimed that high-intensity resistance training exercises, like deadlifts, overhead presses, and back squats, can help improve bone mineral density in women with osteopenia and osteoporosis.

It helps to manage stress and boosts mood

Just like any form of exercise, strength training can enhance or improve your mood by releasing feel-good hormones called endorphins. A recent research also suggests that exercise, including weight training, may also help protect against Alzheimer’s and dementia. Researchers from Columbia University discovered that the hormone irisin, which is released during exercise, may help promote neuronal growth in the hippocampus ‘the area of the brain dedicated to learning and memory.’

“The scientists themselves claim that any type of exercise is a mood booster, but weight training makes you much stronger and it builds the back and neck muscles that are most directly associated with stress.”

It helps to improve posture

People who are sitting on a chair all day long would definitely agree with this, as there are chances that they might be dealing with a case of rounded shoulders and a hunched back, which places additional pressure on the lower back. This can lead to bad posture and limited range of motion in the shoulders, which are the most flexible joints in the body. But; lifting weights can help reverse this by opening up the chest, strengthening the back muscles, and improving freedom of movement.

It also helps to reduce back pain

As we know that, there’s no single reason for back pain, whereas muscular imbalances like weak knees and an unstable core, can contribute to encourage back pain. Most people think aches and pains are due to strains, but sometimes, it’s a result of bad biomechanics. Scientifically our muscles work in a kinetic chain, so if there’s a weak link, it can often manifest into a bigger problem in different areas of the body. But by building total-body strength, most of the body injuries could be removed.

It helps to improve memory and brain health

When the body is in motion, it pumps oxygen-rich blood towards the brain, while boosting neuroplasticity, which generally is the brain’s ability to create new neural connections and to adjust changes in environment. By increasing neuroplasticity, your brain can better handle stressful situations of life.

A 2016 review from the British Journal of Sports Medicine shows that physical activity can help prevent or delay cognitive decline in people over 50.

It helps us to stay in coordination with the body

It’s been scientifically claimed that, there’s nothing like lifting a pair of weights to help you tune into your senses when you work out. Whether you’re doing an overhead press, a plank row, or a goblet squat, lifting weights creates greater awareness around using your breath to help you get the most out of each rep. Plus, doing complex moves can test your listening and cognitive skills—it takes some brain power to process a trainer’s cues and execute a move properly

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