When it comes to health and wellness, resistance exercise is a funny one. Many people think that you only need to do resistance exercise if you want to have abs to show off to the world, or you want to be an elite sportsperson. In fact even the recommendations from doctors and government agencies will suggest that a half hour walk or run a day is all you need to stay fit and healthy. But the reality is that we all need to be doing well-rounded exercise, including some resistance, if we want to be healthy and well.
According to the Better Health website set up by the Victorian Government, resistance exercise helps to:
- Increased muscle strength, power, endurance and size
- Increased bone density and strength
- Reduced body fat
- Increased muscle-to-fat ratio
- Boosted metabolism (burning more kilojoules when at rest)
- Lowered heart rate and blood pressure after exercise (thought to reduce the risk of heart disease)
- Improved balance and stability
- Enhanced performance of everyday tasks
- Reduced risk of, and improvement of, medical conditions - for example, diabetes (NIDDM) and arthritis
In fact many people don't realise that resistance exercise will have a bigger impact on your bone density than dietary changes will. So don't fall into the trap of thinking that cardiovascular exercise alone will make you fit and healthy. We often hold up endurance athletes like marathon runners as ‘the fittest people in the world', but in reality they would be unable to complete some of the simplest resistance exercise routines. You will also find that resistance exercise will have immediate benefits in terms of your daily activities. You will find that your daily tasks become easier, you will have more energy, better posture and you will feel and look great.
Of course when you are doing resistance exercise it is important to do it right. Technique is vital when it comes to resistance training, so you may want to get a personal trainer to help make sure you are not doing yourself more harm than good. And if you are going to be putting this sort of strain on your body then you will want to be sure it is well aligned and functioning properly too, so a check-up with your local chiropractor might be in order as well. People often forget that you are doing resistance exercise every day, like when you pick up those heavy bags of shopping. Learning how to do it right can save you many problems later on.
And remember: you don't need to be doing Olympic lifting to get some resistance exercise. The key is to start small and gradually work your way up. You can get resistance exercise by swimming in a pool, doing aqua aerobics, taking a class at your gym or even doing simple exercises at home. Whatever you do, start including some resistance exercise into your routine and you will quickly realise what you have been missing out on.
How do you get your resistance exercise?
Subscribe to this comment's feed
