Lifting weights has innumerable benefits, and scientists continue to discover new ways of doing things that improve health and well-being. Like all forms of exercise, lifting weights boosts cardiovascular and metabolic health, leading to less risk of developing chronic diseases and dying from any cause. Here are some benefits specific to lifting weights.
Helps With Healthy Body Composition, Weight Loss, and Maintenance
Lifting weights increases your metabolism, which is a factor in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. Because lifting weights can help build and retain muscle when eating fewer calories during weight loss efforts, consistently performing it will improve calorie burning, even at rest.
This effect is due to muscle tissue being more metabolically active (burns more energy) than fat tissue. Weightlifting also increases your ability to use fat as energy (fat oxidation and lipolysis) and reduces amounts of visceral and subcutaneous fat, which means better body composition.
Increases Strength
Muscle strength facilitates your body's ability to perform any task, allowing you to walk, carry, run, climb, lift objects, and open pesky jar lids. But muscle size and strength begin to decline with age. Including resistance training to build muscle and preserve strength as you age is crucial.
Even without considering the aging process, being strong and capable improves your daily life. In many ways, it allows you to be independent, feel empowered, and carry out tasks with less difficulty. Stronger muscles mean better protection for your joints, too, and can even make simple tasks like walking more functional and easier.
Builds Muscle
Muscle tissue is built by creating a stimulus that forces it to adapt in order to meet the demands being placed on it. The best way to do this is by lifting weights or performing any kind of resistance training. Lifting weights is an extremely effective, efficient, and easily trackable way to build muscle. Although healthy for many other reasons, cardiovascular exercise that doesn’t include resistance training is not effective for building muscle.
Building muscle improves several factors of your health because having low levels of lean body mass which includes muscle and bone, increases your risks of chronic diseases, injuries, pain, and all-cause mortality. Lifting weights is essential for building the muscle that will improve your health and boost longevity.
Improves Bone Health
Weightlifting also stimulates bone development and increases bone mineral density. Lifting weights is a first-line treatment for conditions that affect bones and has been shown to reduce lower back pain and ease pain caused by arthritis and fibromyalgia.
A study published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research Plus found that specific types of training are safe and effective for improving bone health. The study examined male sprinters between the ages of 40 and 85 over the course of 10 years. Those who lifted weights throughout that time saw improvements in bone strength.
While bones typically decrease in density and strength with age, this study shows that lifting weights can not only maintain but also build bones. Conversely, those who did not consistently maintain their training habits throughout the study experienced a loss in bone density and strength.
Although that particular study was performed on active males with less risk of bone loss, other studies—including those observing women with low bone mineral density, osteopenia, and osteoporosis—show that lifting weights increases bone density and improves painful conditions that lead to bone fractures and breaks.
Prevents Injuries and Pain
Pain and injuries sideline most people at some point in their lives. Back pain alone affects up to 80% of adults during their lifetime. Lifting weights reduces your risk of injuries and pain by boosting muscle and tendon strength and functionality so you can move better, recover more easily, and be more resilient. Moreover, lifting weights can prevent and manage pain better than pharmacological treatments, like painkillers and NSAIDs, or instrumental therapies such as heat or spinal manipulation.
Hip, shoulder, and general muscle weakness, limited core strength, and inactive "sleepy" muscles are the biggest culprits for pain and injury. Sitting for long periods creates muscle tightness and weakness in the body that leads to dysfunction, muscle compensation, and becoming injury prone. Lifting weights consistently works wonders to combat these effects.
Another effect of lifting weights is improved muscular endurance. Increasing your muscular endurance or stamina reduces the risk of musculoskeletal injuries, improves your performance in the gym, and helps with functional performance. It even wards off cardiovascular diseases.