Strength Training for Fitness

Health is wealth! Overweight increases the risk of many diseases. So if you are overweight, it’s high time you did something to shed a few pounds off. Aerobic exercises or cardio exercises increases the metabolism in your body, which burns the extra calories and help you to lose weight. But aerobic exercises alone will not prove to be effective. You should also include strength training in your exercise program. Strength training strengthens your bones, muscles and joint functions. It also increases metabolism, improves the functions of your heart and controls cholesterol. A balanced nutritious diet combined with aerobic exercises and strength training, keeps your body fit and healthy.

Aerobic Exercise:
Aerobic exercise increases your heart rate, which increases your metabolism, thus making your body burn more calories. These exercises also increase the oxygen consumption of your body, and make your heart and lungs function better. Aerobic exercises like walking, jogging, cycling, running, skiing skating, swimming, treadmill, stationary cycling etc. brings about overall fitness to your body and make all the organs of your body function effectively.

Interval Training:
As mentioned earlier, both aerobic training and strength training are required for your body fitness. Interval exercise is a combination of both these exercises. It is a method of combining slow exercises with fast exercises. This helps you to lose weight and strengthen your muscles in the same program. This method of exercises increases the metabolism in your body and strength of your muscles, and makes the muscle mass burn more calories for fuel. Two minutes of easy exercise followed by two minutes of hard exercises, will build the muscle mass, which burns more calories. Interval training increases the overall fitness of your body.

Resistance training:
Resistance training also helps to keep your body fit. This method of exercising increases the muscle mass of your body. The muscle mass helps to burns more calories in your body, even when you are sleep. How does this happen? The increased muscles need fuel for their maintenance. Well when you are resting these muscles will burn the fat in your body as a source of fuel. 20 minutes of resistance exercises everyday will reduce enough fat from your body. Women should not feel shy to do resistance training, because it strengthens their bones, increases calcium in their body and help them to overcome osteoporosis when they grow older. Some types of resistance training are weight lifting, using exercise ball, water aerobics etc. The more resistance training you do the more you are exerted and the more calories are burnt. But remember, don’t overdo. In the beginning, go slow. See that you use slow movements and try to skip a day between workouts; otherwise it can result in tearing of muscle fibers.

Strength training is an effective way to improve the strength and durability of your muscles. Whatever age you are, strength training will improve your overall fitness. Aerobic exercises combined with strength training and resistance training, helps to keep your body fit, strong and healthy. But start first with body exercises before you use equipments and increase your workouts gradually. Also use the right equipments. But first consult a doctor before you start you start strength training, as he will be able to advice you, as to what type of workouts suits you.

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