Utilizing Strength Training

Women sometimes make the mistake of avoiding weights or resistance training… don’t.

Natural strength grows in the moments when you think you can’t go on but you keep going anyway!

Strength training is a form of exercise that uses resistance to induce muscular contractions. This allows you to build strength, endurance and increase muscle size as well as bone density. Doing usually happens in small incremental weight increases using a variety of equipment. It uses anaerobic training which produces lactate, a measure of muscle endurance. Common exercises include weightlifting, powerlifting, javelin throw, and shot put. It can also be found in various sports such as football, track and field, basketball, hockey and soccer.

According to a study in NCBI, it found that strength training promotes cardiovascular health by reducing blood pressure, decreasing bad cholesterol, and increasing good cholesterol. Moreover, It also promote bone development such as bone density which helps reduce conditions such as back pain and arthritis.

Strength Training Tips:

Warm up – it is important to stretch your muscles before doing any activities. It is recommended to do 5-10 minutes of muscle foam rolling and stretches.
Duration – rather than time, aim to set reps and sets per session. To begin with, it is recommended to do 15 reps and 3 sets per exercise. Moreover, do incremental increase in weights as you go forward.
Frequency- do not do it daily immediately, for starters it’s recommended to do it twice a week and build up from there
Cool Down- this is probably the most important thing in the training as if you don’t cool down properly, you will feel muscle soreness the next day. Cool-downs are also done 5-10 minutes using stretching.
Of course, don’t forget to re-hydrate after each workout.

FURTHER READING

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22777332

https://www.self.com/story/10-strength-training-tips-for-beginners-that-will-make-your-workout-more-effective

https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/ss/slideshow-start-strength-training

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