The importance of weightlifting
What does the term weightlifting or resistance training mean to you? For some, it conjures up the image of a massively muscled figure posing and flexing in the mirror; for others, it summons the idea of an athlete chucking around a barbell at the Olympics. The reality is, it’s just a common form of exercise. Weightlifting is important for the body for many reasons and is not just people who want to flex and pose or lift competitively.
Firstly, what IS resistance training?
Resistance training (also called strength training or weight training) is the use of resistance to muscular contraction to build strength, anaerobic endurance, and size of skeletal muscles (hypertrophy).
Resistance training is based on the principle that muscles of the body will work to overcome a resistance force when they are required to do so. When you perform resistance training repeatedly and consistently, your muscles become stronger. Resistance training is part of a healthy lifestyle rather than as a specific therapeutic intervention.
How does it impact my body?
Lifting weights has numerous benefits to the musculoskeletal system which are imperative for a healthy lifestyle.
Regular resistance training can decrease the risk of heart disease by lowering body fat, decreasing blood pressure, improving cholesterol, and lowering the stress placed on the heart while lifting a particular load. Improving muscular fitness is very important for enhancing quality of life at present and in the future.
Resistance training improves your strength (this may be kind of obvious!). In the form of weight training, it can reduce the occurrence of sarcopenia, which is the age-related decline in muscle, and decrease the risk of osteoporosis. From the age of 30, muscle mass can decrease by 3-8% per decade, which increases to 5-10% after ago 50. This can lead to a multitude of other issues, which include loss of function, weakness, and injury. In other words, use it or lose it! Although all exercise can help with natural muscle loss, resistance training has been shown to be the most beneficial.
Resistance training is beneficial to body fat reduction and increase in lean body mass. This is the main way you will build and ‘tone up’ your body. It is by far the best way to alter your body shape. Additionally, the effects and calorie burn from weightlifting typically outweigh that of cardiovascular exercise. Stavres et al, 2018, looked at the effect of resistance training in sedentary adult women and found that functional weightlifting elevated the participants’ overall basal metabolic rate (BMR) for up to 48 hours. The BMR is the number of calories that the body burns at rest. Focusing on compound movements, such as a squat or a deadlift, utilise more muscles and joints, therefore burning more calories at low impact, as opposed to a high impact exercise such as running. The fact that the effects last for several hours after the exercise was performed is a bonus!
As strength training is certainly going to increase your lean muscle mass, this in turn helps your body burn off more of the fuel you consume from food every day rather than store it as excess energy in the form of fat cells. This type of energy optimization is important if learning how to lose fat and gaining muscle at the same time is one of your fitness goals.
Women and weightlifting
Specifically, women are often discouraged from weight training by the dogma that it will create a “masculine” physique by excessively exaggerating muscle growth (hypertrophy). This is simply not true and is exacerbated by constructed gender roles that regard women as “weaker” than men, and that looking “toned” is not “feminine” (Cholewa, 2018). The female body does not create the same levels of testosterone as men, known as the male hormone, so female muscles will not grow to the same level as males. Unless a female wants to alter her hormone production by taking testosterone supplements, dedicate herself to the gym and eat a perfectly clean diet, she will only create a toned physique and the many positive effects listed above!
Women are more at risk of developing osteoporosis than men, which increases during the early stages of menopause. The female hormone oestrogen is essential for healthy bones. After the menopause, oestrogen levels fall which can lead to a rapid decrease in bone density. Weight training is therefore essential to maintain and increase bone density, and whilst it may not have much impact on some menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes, it will help to minimise weight gain and boost a sluggish metabolism, as well as inducing a flood of mood-boosting hormones.
Impact on mental health
A study by Strickland and Smith, 2014, outlined the many benefits of weightlifting on mental health. They found that the effects were so positive that they recommended weightlifting as part of treatment for anxiety disorders.
In addition to helping with symptoms of depression and anxiety, lifting weights can improve your cognitive performance – which essentially means how well your brain works. This could result in improved memory, more creativity, better productivity, sharper focus, or more clarity of thought. All great benefits for when you get back to work or study after your workout!
Your older self will thank you for lifting weights, because studies show that resistance training can actually delay age-related decline in memory, focus, and decision-making. The aptly named SMART (Study of Mental and Resistance Training) study by Singh et al, 2016, showed that resistance training plus traditional brain training improved mental performance for up to 18 months afterwards.
Increased sense of self-confidence, positive body image and self-talk are other positives that can be gained from weightlifting. There are a few reasons why weight training is so good for self-esteem. Firstly, you'll end up visibly altering the appearance of your body. But you'll also have the powerful knowledge that every gain you get in the gym is from your own hard work. That's empowering! There's something about lifting heavy weights that makes you feel like a superhero. Start lifting heavy weights and you'll begin to use more positive self-talk. Weight training has a magical way of making you look at your body differently. You will start seeing yourself as strong, powerful, and capable. Training with dumbbells and barbells creates a tangible connection between your body and brain, putting you in touch with yourself in a uniquely personal way. You execute the training with your body, and the outcome of the training is your body, too. Lifting weights sets off a feedback loop of proprioception and physical awareness that will leave you with a deep appreciation for yourself.
All exercise has the power to increase the so-called happy hormones dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins. But evidence suggests lifting heavy weights is particularly good at boosting natural levels of dopamine (the feel-good hormone associated with learning, memory, and motor system function) and endorphins (the body's natural pain reliever). This means that if you push yourself to do your work out when you’re not in the mood, you will feel much better for it afterwards!
Lifting weights sets off a cascade of neurochemicals that can drive away stress and help you focus, clearing brain fog and helping you get on with the rest of your day. A great reason to invest in some home gym equipment and get a quick workout in at lunchtime!
How do I start?
Ideally, a beginner weightlifting routine should include eight to ten exercises targeting the major muscle groups. You may aim to start with two or three sessions per week and target different areas each time. For example, on Monday you could target legs, Thursday could be back and arms, Saturday could be shoulders and chest. Alternatively, you could do a whole-body approach at each session.
Start small with your weights, but remember the weight needs to be challenging. Choose a weight to complete ten repetitions (reps). If you can perform ten reps comfortably and could probably do more, then the weight is not heavy enough. The last two or three reps should be a challenge to your muscles, otherwise, what’s the point? Complete three sets of each exercise and review the weight. If you find it easy, try increasing the weight on the last set, and use that weight next time. If you are performing a compound exercise such as a squat, remember this uses a lot of large muscle groups, so you can push yourself.
You don’t have to go to the gym if you really do not want to! You can utilise your body weight initially and perform a home routine. If you are short on time or have other commitments, a short and intense home routine can be effective. To progress, you will need to increase the resistance regularly over time to continually challenge your muscles and body.
If you are really unsure what to do or where to start, it may be worthwhile contacting a qualified personal trainer, or just asking for help. Social media and the internet can be overwhelming, so it may be best to avoid the likes of “fitness influencers” until you feel more confident and are ready to explore different exercises.
Moving forward
Are you surprised by anything you have read here? Hopefully you feel inspired to begin weightlifting in some form and start reaping the benefits on offer. Taking a step into the gym for the first time can be a scary prospect. Even if you make it there, remember this is still a really big step forward. Similarly, completing an intense fifteen minute workout at home, after a period of not exercising at all, is a big, positive step in the right direction.
To conclude, your body is amazing, and is capable of many things. Why not find out what it can do?
