Are you considering taking on the weight lifting challenge? Do you want to tone up and drop some weight?
Weight lifting is popular among fitness lovers due to its numerous benefits. Resistance training is a fun workout that helps you develop all aspects of your fitness: strength, endurance, flexibility, and cardiovascular fitness.
The advantages of weight lifting apply to both men and women. Understanding its advantages enables you to make the best decisions when customising your exercises and maximising your progress from each session.
What Happens to Your Body When You Start Weight Lifting?
When you lift weights, your body experiences a variety of physiological responses. This all relies on what aspect of your fitness you want to improve and what strategies and modifications you intend to incorporate into your programme.
If you want to attain "muscle growth," you should consider lifting harder and doing fewer repetitions. If you want to improve your "muscle endurance," you should consider lifting lighter and doing a lot more repetitions.
Adaptation Phase
Let's begin with adaption. This phase normally lasts 4-6 weeks and is the most mentally taxing.
It is normal for everyone to feel sore when they begin weight training (most people complain about this in their arms and legs). This is the body's natural reaction to recognising new physical activities.
This could be because your muscles haven't been active in a long time, or it could be the first time. They simply need time to adjust to the new habit.
This soreness, stiffness, and achiness usually appear 48-72 hours after conducting weight training on certain muscle areas. This sensation normally passes after a few days.
During this stage, many people may become demotivated or feel tempted to quit. The reasons vary, but the most prevalent one is that people have high self-expectations or do not expect their body's immediate response.
The important thing to remember is that your body will go through this during the adaption process. These symptoms will fade after each workout and will be gone in about a month.
When adjusting to weight training, it is also critical not to over-exert your body. Overdoing it too soon can result in injury.
Begin with easy workouts rather than intricate moves. Choose lower weights over heavier ones and execute a high number of reps to get your body adapted to weight training.
You can then focus on more fitness goals, such as muscle gain through weight training, as your body becomes accustomed to the physiological response of exercise.
Muscle Breakdown and Growth
Your muscles must mend and develop before they can expand by tolerating small microscopic tears immediately following a rigorous weight training session.
The repetitive contraction of the muscle(s) performed in a single weight training activity causes tears in your muscle fibres. This is the initial step towards developing lean, active muscular mass.
Hypertrophy is the most effective means of breaking down muscle cells so that they can heal and develop. Hypertrophy is best achieved by lifting the most weight possible for 8-12 repetitions in a single exercise of a particular set.
BUILDING MUSCLE THROUGH HYPERTROPHY
Mechanical injury and metabolic failure are two significant aspects in muscle growth through hypertrophy.
When we lift weights, two contractile proteins, actin and myosin, in our muscle cells help generate force to overcome the resistance we are lifting. Mechanical injury to these proteins triggers a response in our bodies that causes our muscles to grow.
Your muscles may take 2-5 days to recover, especially if you are a beginner. Allow at least 48 hours of recuperation after training a specific muscle group before undertaking more weight training activities.
When we lift weights, we exhaust all of the energy in our muscle cells, which is referred to as metabolic failure. ATP is the name given to the energy molecules found in our cells. On your last rep, you can definitely feel these stores depleted.
These energy reserves renew relatively quickly. As a result, it is recommended that you rest for 30-60 seconds before beginning the following set of exercises.
Refer to the National Association of Sports Medicine recommendations for further excellent information on the fundamentals of hypertrophy.
Muscle Endurance
Perhaps you're more concerned about gaining that bulkier appearance? Maybe you just want to feel better, look better, and be stronger. As a result, you should work on improving your muscle endurance.
We put our muscles through a hard weight-training session without breaking down as many muscle fibres when we perform greater repetitions without generating hypertrophy. This helps us get a more toned appearance as opposed to when we tear and mend more muscle fibres, resulting in aesthetic development or a bulky aspect.
Muscular endurance is the ability to contract a muscle against a constant resistance. It entails doing more reps with less weight and increasing muscle stamina.
Exercises that require you to hold a position for an extended length of time (e.g., plank, wall sit) are another technique to improve muscle endurance.
If your fitness goals are to enhance repetitive functional activities in your daily life, such as gardening or house restorations, then boosting your muscular endurance is essential.
From a sporting standpoint, the same may be said. If you want to ride your bike up a mountain or down lengthy hills, you must practise endurance to build fatigue-resistant muscles.
Myths About Women and Weightlifting
The frequent misconception about women and weightlifting is that "if women lift weights similar to men, they will begin to become more masculine."
This myth has created a "mental block" for many women who want to build lean muscle mass through resistance exercise - the irrational fear of having bulky muscles like men. Although women can lift the same weight as males, they do not have the same capacity for developing muscular mass.
Men produce far more testosterone than women due to differences in human structure. So, no matter how many times a week women do resistance training, they will be able to develop muscle mass but not bulk up like males.
Strength training, according to the American Council on Exercise, can cause women to create more somatotropin. This hormone aids in fat metabolism and is thought to slow the effects of biological ageing. However, it does not stimulate the response of muscular bulking.
What Are the Benefits of Lifting Weights?
Lifting weights produces a variety of physiological responses that are beneficial to both men and women. Here are the top five reasons why lifting weights can help you live a better life:
1. WEIGHT LOSS
When it comes to weight loss, modern exercise research has taught us that weight training is just as effective as aerobic exercise.
When done correctly, weight training allows our bodies to use both their aerobic and anaerobic systems. This indicates that when performing resistance exercise, we can burn calories from all energy stores - carbs, sweets, and fats - while still targeting muscle regions and gaining lean muscle mass.
Weight loss is aided further when we begin to build lean muscle mass in our bodies. When you eat energy or food, your active muscles require calories before they can be stored in your body.
Having new muscles helps you lose weight and improve your metabolism to new heights. Even when at rest, lean muscle mass can burn calories.
2. MUSCULOSKELETAL HEALTH
Your muscular and skeletal systems combine to form the musculoskeletal system. This system's job is to support the entire body by supporting bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints, and organs.
Weight training can help with joint lubrication and reduce joint pain and stiffness, which can help with the symptoms of musculoskeletal health disorders. It also reduces muscle tension and imbalances.
We can avoid biomechanical abnormalities that can lead to bone and organ problems by properly training our agonist and antagonist muscles (opposite muscle groups).
This is especially crucial for persons who have sedentary lives, sit for lengthy periods of time, or exhibit poor posture throughout the day. Weight training for your hip flexors and postural muscles is vital for musculoskeletal health because ignoring it can lead to spinal or pelvic issues.
3. IMPROVED MOOD, CONFIDENCE, AND SELF ESTEEM
Building muscle or feeling slimmer can undoubtedly improve our physical balance and functional strength. It also has a positive impact on our mental wellness.
Looking and feeling better aesthetically improves sentiments of self-confidence and self-esteem, which benefits our social health. Lifting weights also improves serotonin levels and releases feel-good endorphins, helping us feel more alert and productive!
The release of feel-good hormones in our bodies also lowers our chances of despair and anxiety.
4. SPORTS-SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE
If athletes want to perform well on game day, they must practise what they preach. Depending on the sport, you should replicate your weight-training programme to mirror what your competitors are doing.
For example, if you are a 100m sprinter, you will want to complete a leg strength programme to improve your explosive power. If you want to outjump your opponent as a basketball player, you need to incorporate a plyometric programme into your training regimen.
Regardless of your talents, it may be a good idea to meet with an experienced strength and conditioning coach if you want to take your weight-training programme to the next level.
5. HEALTHIER HEART
While cardio is obviously important for maintaining excellent cardiovascular health, weight training has also been shown to help strengthen your heart.
Although weight training can provide a good cardio workout, there are various reasons why resistance training can benefit your heart health.
How Long Does It Take to See Benefits From Lifting Weights?
Everyone wants to see quick results from weightlifting, but it is a game of patience.
You will notice more bodily benefits than cosmetic ones throughout the adaption phase (4-6 weeks). In other words, your body will learn to cope with recuperation throughout this period.
Your muscles will become less sore with each workout (there will be some off days), and you will begin to feel stronger, believing you can take on more.
Within the first month, you will notice visual alterations due to changes in your body composition.
Small to considerable changes in lean muscle mass against body fat may be observed. The intensity of your workouts (sets, reps, speed, rest time) will determine how your body composition changes throughout this time.
Although you may not yet recognise the warrior in the mirror, your jeans may be fitting better.
If you are new to weight lifting, your body should adjust to gaining muscle mass within 4-6 weeks. Then, cut the reps, raise the weight, and shorten your rest periods slightly.
Your body should now be prepared to withstand the muscle tears required for muscle growth. If this is your primary goal, you should notice significant improvements within 8-12 weeks if you stick to your programme.
Tips to Takeaway
When it comes to weight training, it is critical to be specific about your fitness goals.
My recommendation is to exercise all parts of your fitness because they are all required at various periods and aspects of your life. Lifting weights has numerous advantages, and you have the ability to maximise them.
Musculoskeletal health is particularly crucial. Maintain a dynamic weight training programme that includes a lot of movement. This is beneficial to your cardiovascular health.
If you work in an office and sit for lengthy periods of time, it is critical that you improve your posture, hip strength, and core strength through corrective exercises.
If your profession needs heavy lifting, such as working in a warehouse, you must train your strength and endurance.
Whatever your position, putting what you've learned into practice will help you enjoy the final years of your life.
If you want to compete at a high level, I recommend speaking with an experienced personal trainer in your region.
