Weightlifting can have many positive long-term effects on your overall well-being, especially on bones and joints. The four primary benefits are:
· Improved strength
The longer you lift weights the more overall strength you will gain. With weightlifting, the body becomes better able to use its muscle fibers to produce force. Even with everyday tasks such as lugging shopping bags, moving furniture, lifting kids and strollers, and so on, stronger muscles will help prevent injuries.
· Increased muscle mass and metabolism
Muscle building or increased muscle mass occurs when muscles grow bigger than they were prior to the performance of the exercise. Bigger muscles also improve your resting metabolism since maintaining the amount of muscle you have requires extra energy. Finally, it helps to tone, lift, firm, and shape your body.
· Improved coordination
Long-term weight training will improve your overall body coordination. This is especially important for the elderly who are more prone to injury due to losing balance. In addition to better coordination for injury prevention, the coordination improvements translate into sports related activities and can make you a better athlete.
· Improved bone mineral density.
Stronger muscles can also improve your posture and help keep your body in balance. And, weight training can help prevent osteoporosis.
Of course, like everything else, weightlifting should be conducted in careful moderation. Increasing weights too early or too much, may cause injury. Be sure to consult a training professional for your best weigh training plan.
