Strength Training | Fitness and Health |Workout

Resistance Training: What Is It and What Are The Benefits?

In the world of Fitness and Health, I’ve been hearing a lot about resistance training lately, so I thought I’d write about it and give you my take on what it is and how it could benefit your health.

First of all, resistance training is a type of exercise where there is some sort of opposite reaction to the muscle movement you are doing. This opposite reaction is usually some sort of counterweight. It can be barbells, weight machines, resistance bands or heck, even gravity.

Think of it this way, It’s the feeling you get when you want your muscle to go one way and there’s a force pulling or pushing in the opposite way.

Here’s an example. Have you ever played tug-of-war with your dog? Or have seen someone else do it? The dog is pulling one way and you want to pull the other way. The dog is resisting you and you’re resisting it. It’s a counterbalance, so to speak.

Another example is the swinging door. I’m sure you’ve seen a comedy show or movie where two people are on opposite sides of a swing door pushing against it, and the door isn’t moving. That’s because the two people are pushing against each other, or for fitness purposes, they are resisting each other.

These two examples are the same concept of resistance training for your muscles.

It’s sort of like the opposite of cardio training. (yes, I know that’s a stretch to look at it that way, but I feel it helps with the understanding of the definition)

Think of it this way, when someone thinks of a cardio workout, they think of running or biking and not lifting weights, right? Well, the opposite is lifting weights is NOT running or biking.

It’s called resistance training because your muscles are going up against the opposite of what it’s trying to do, therefore, there is a resistance to your movement. Are you getting this?

Without going all scientific and doctor on you, just know that this kind of workout is designed to grow your muscles and give you strength.

A Couple Of Benefits Of Resistance Training

The most obvious one is it increases strength.

Of course, when someone goes to the gym, most of the time their goal is to get stronger, right? Well, when you put resistance against your muscles, they will naturally have to work harder to complete that task. When your muscles work harder, they will eventually get stronger.

Then, when we get stronger, we feel better and our self-confidence increases, which is a great thing, right?

Another benefit is that when your muscles get stronger, they will need more energy to work.

This energy can come from fat cells stored in your body. When energy is used from these fat cells, guess what? Your body uses excess fat and, in theory, you’ll be losing weight! See how this all ties together?

Oh, let’s say you don’t need to lose weight but you want to GAIN weight. No problem. When doing this resistance workout, if your body can’t find the fuel it needs, it will send a signal saying, “Hey, I need fuel, how about eating something so I can get that fuel!” In other words, you’ll feel hungrier and, hopefully, start eating more!

Let me ask you this, when you have a body that is strong and fit, what does that do for you? It gives you more energy, which causes you to be more active, which makes you feel younger!

Now, we can go on and on, but if you can understand this much about resistance training, it’ll be a great start! Of course, if you already know about the benefits of resistance training, then you’ve been nodding your head and smiling all through this read.

If you want to take this new found information and enlightenment to the gym, I say go for it! BUT, the one MAJOR thing to ALWAYS do before starting any new exercise regiment is to check with your physician! That is number one. Once you get the ok, then start with basic resistance exercises.

If you’re still unclear about this resistance stuff, you can always ask me, or go to Top Fitness Strategies and look around. There are all kinds of tips and techniques that can help you on your Health and Fitness journey.

Andrew writes in several different categories. Health and Fitness, Family, Lifestyle, Humor and Business. A few of his Medium stories are linked below.