How does strength training increase muscle mass. What impact does resistance exercise have on bone density. Can strength training improve joint flexibility. How does building muscle affect weight control. Does strength training enhance balance in older adults.

Understanding the Fundamentals of Strength Training

Strength training is a fundamental component of fitness that offers numerous benefits for individuals of all ages. This form of exercise involves using resistance to induce muscular contraction, which builds strength, anaerobic endurance, and the size of skeletal muscles. Contrary to popular belief, strength training isn’t limited to lifting weights in a gym. It encompasses a wide range of activities that can be performed with various equipment or even just body weight.

Types of Strength Training Exercises

• Free weights (barbells and dumbbells)
• Weight machines
• Resistance bands
• Body weight exercises

Body weight exercises are particularly accessible and require no equipment. Some popular examples include:

• Pushups
• Squats
• Lunges
• Abdominal crunches
• Step exercises

For those looking to incorporate equipment, resistance bands and tubes offer versatility and can be used for exercises such as arm curls, kicks, and squats.

The Science Behind Muscle Growth and Strength Gains

To truly appreciate the benefits of strength training, it’s crucial to understand the physiological processes that occur during and after these exercises. When we engage in resistance training, we create microscopic damage to our muscle fibers. This damage triggers a repair process that results in muscle growth and increased strength.

Neurological Adaptations

How does our nervous system adapt to strength training? Initially, the body improves its ability to recruit muscle fibers more efficiently. This process, known as neural adaptation, allows for increased strength without significant muscle growth in the early stages of training.

Muscular Hypertrophy

With consistent training, the body begins to increase the size of muscle fibers, a process called hypertrophy. This growth is primarily responsible for the visible changes in muscle size and shape that many associate with strength training.

Increasing Muscle Mass: Reversing the Age-Related Decline

One of the most significant benefits of strength training is its ability to combat the natural loss of muscle mass that occurs with aging, a condition known as sarcopenia. But how exactly does strength training increase muscle mass?

Resistance exercises stimulate protein synthesis in the muscles, leading to growth and repair of muscle fibers. This process not only builds new muscle tissue but also helps maintain existing muscle mass. Regular strength training can effectively slow down or even reverse the age-related decline in muscle mass, contributing to improved overall strength and functionality in daily life.

Optimizing Muscle Growth

To maximize muscle growth, it’s important to follow certain principles:

1. Progressive overload: Gradually increasing the weight, frequency, or number of repetitions in your strength training routine
2. Proper nutrition: Ensuring adequate protein intake to support muscle repair and growth
3. Sufficient rest: Allowing time for muscle recovery between workouts
4. Consistency: Maintaining a regular strength training schedule

Strengthening Bones: The Impact on Bone Density

Bone health is a crucial aspect of overall well-being, particularly as we age. What impact does resistance exercise have on bone density? Strength training has been shown to significantly increase bone density, reducing the risk of osteoporosis and fractures.

When muscles contract against resistance, they pull on the bones they’re attached to. This mechanical stress stimulates the bones to increase their density and strength. Over time, consistent strength training can lead to stronger, more resilient bones that are less prone to fractures and other bone-related issues.

The Role of Weight-Bearing Exercises

While all forms of strength training can benefit bone health, weight-bearing exercises are particularly effective. These include:

• Squats
• Lunges
• Deadlifts
• Step-ups

These exercises place direct stress on the bones of the legs, hips, and spine, areas that are particularly vulnerable to osteoporosis.

Enhancing Joint Flexibility and Reducing Arthritis Symptoms

Contrary to the misconception that strength training leads to stiffness, it can actually improve joint flexibility and reduce the symptoms of arthritis. But how exactly does strength training improve joint flexibility?

Strength training helps maintain and improve joint flexibility by strengthening the muscles surrounding the joints. This increased muscle strength provides better support for the joints, reducing stress and improving overall joint function. Additionally, the controlled movements involved in strength training help to maintain and sometimes even increase the range of motion in joints.

Benefits for Arthritis Sufferers

For individuals with arthritis, strength training can offer several benefits:

• Reduced joint pain
• Increased joint stability
• Improved joint function
• Enhanced overall mobility

It’s important for those with arthritis to work with a healthcare professional or certified fitness instructor to develop a safe and effective strength training program tailored to their specific needs and limitations.

Weight Control: The Metabolic Advantages of Muscle

Weight management is a common goal for many individuals, and strength training can play a significant role in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. How does building muscle affect weight control?

As you gain muscle through strength training, your body’s metabolism undergoes positive changes. Muscle tissue is more metabolically active than fat tissue, meaning it burns more calories even at rest. This increased metabolic rate can make it easier to control your weight and maintain a healthy body composition.

The Afterburn Effect

Strength training also contributes to weight control through a phenomenon known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), or the “afterburn effect.” After a strength training session, your body continues to burn calories at an elevated rate for hours, sometimes even days, as it works to repair and rebuild muscle tissue.

Balancing Strength Training and Cardiovascular Exercise

While strength training offers significant benefits for weight control, it’s most effective when combined with a balanced diet and cardiovascular exercise. This combination helps to create a comprehensive approach to weight management and overall health.

Improving Balance and Reducing Fall Risk in Older Adults

As we age, maintaining balance becomes increasingly important for preventing falls and maintaining independence. Does strength training enhance balance in older adults? Research strongly suggests that it does.

Strength training improves balance by:

• Strengthening the muscles that support posture and movement
• Improving proprioception (the body’s sense of position in space)
• Enhancing overall body awareness and control

These improvements can significantly reduce the risk of falls and related injuries in older adults, contributing to greater independence and quality of life.

Functional Exercises for Balance

Certain strength training exercises are particularly beneficial for improving balance:

• Single-leg stands
• Heel-to-toe walks
• Squats
• Lunges
• Core strengthening exercises

Incorporating these exercises into a regular strength training routine can help older adults maintain and improve their balance over time.

Getting Started with Strength Training: Tips for Success

While the benefits of strength training are clear, getting started can seem daunting for beginners. Here are some tips to help you begin your strength training journey safely and effectively:

Consult a Professional

Before starting any new exercise program, it’s wise to consult with a healthcare provider, especially if you have any pre-existing health conditions. Additionally, working with a certified fitness professional can help ensure proper form and technique, reducing the risk of injury.

Start Slowly and Progress Gradually

Begin with lighter weights or resistance and focus on mastering proper form. As exercises become easier, gradually increase the weight or resistance to continue challenging your muscles.

Frequency and Duration

The American Heart Association recommends strength training at least twice a week. Sessions can be as short as 20-30 minutes and still provide significant health benefits.

Listen to Your Body

While some muscle soreness is normal after strength training, especially for beginners, pay attention to your body. If you experience sharp pain or excessive soreness, it may be a sign that you’re pushing too hard or using improper form.

Consistency is Key

Regular, consistent strength training is more beneficial than sporadic, intense sessions. Aim to make strength training a regular part of your routine for the best results.

By incorporating strength training into your fitness regimen, you can enjoy a wide range of health benefits, from increased muscle mass and stronger bones to improved balance and weight control. Remember, it’s never too late to start reaping the rewards of this powerful form of exercise.

5 Benefits of Strength Training

Strength training can help you get stronger and look and feel better with just a few short sessions each week. You can do strength training with free weights such as barbells and dumbbells, weight machines, or with no equipment at all.

Exercises that use your body for resistance include:

• Abdominal crunches
• Lunges
• Pushups
• Squats 
• Step exercises

Resistance bands and tubes can be used with:

• Arm curls
• Kicks
• Squats 
• Other exercises

Strength-training tips

• The American Heart Association recommends strength training at least twice a week.
• You may want to consult with a fitness professional to learn the right way to do each exercise.
• Doing each exercise 8 to 12 times is usually enough to work your muscles.
• You know you’re doing enough work if your muscles are so tired you can barely get through the 12^th repetition.
• Start slowly, and gradually increase the resistance or weight as the exercises become easier.

Benefits

Men and women of all ages can benefit from strength training, but get a doctor’s OK before beginning, especially if you haven’t exercised in a while.

Two or three 20- or 30-minute strength training sessions every week can result in significant health benefits:

1. Increased muscle mass: Muscle mass naturally decreases with age, but strength training can help reverse the trend.
2. Stronger bones: Strength training increases bone density and reduces the risk of fractures.
3. Joint flexibility: Strength training helps joints stay flexible and can reduce the symptoms of arthritis.
4. Weight control: As you gain muscle, your body begins to burn calories more easily, making it easier to control your weight.
5. Balance: Strengthening exercises can increase flexibility and balance as people age, reducing falls and injuries.

Resistance training | exercise | Britannica

Full Article

Resistance training, a form of exercise that is essential for overall health and fitness as well as for athletic performance. Resistance training often is erroneously referred to as weight training or “lifting,” but is more complex.

Adaptations to resistance training

Resistance training adaptations are both acute and chronic. Acute responses to resistance training occur primarily in the neurological, muscular, and endocrine systems. Chronic responses to resistance training are seen in the muscular, skeletal, endocrine, cardiovascular, and neurological systems. Anthropometric (body composition) adaptations are also seen as chronic adaptations to resistance training.

When a force is applied to a muscle, a signal is transmitted that activates the muscle cells. When a person performs resistance training, the number and intensity of signals that are transmitted to that muscle are increased until the muscle gets tired. The two neurological factors that govern muscle force are motor unit recruitment and rate coding. The former is simply the size of the muscle force created by the muscle contraction for a given task. For example, fewer motor units in the biceps brachii muscle are recruited when performing a biceps curl with a 10-pound (4.5-kg) dumbbell than with a 50-pound (22.5-kg) dumbbell. According to kinesiologist and author Roger Enoka, motor unit recruitment is based on the size principle, which states that the motor units that recruit slow-twitch fibres recruit fewer fibres than the motor units that recruit fast-twitch fibres. Rate coding governs motor unit firing. During resistance training, the muscles grow more tired with each repetition of a given movement pattern, and, as a result, the rate coding becomes impaired and the firing sequence becomes less and less precise.

Chronic neurological adaptations result in a more efficient sequence of recruitment of motor units, making the muscle less apt to tire from neuromuscular factors. Other chronic adaptations to the neurological system include increased motor unit firing and decreased co-contraction of the antagonist muscles. Co-contraction takes place when both agonist and antagonist muscles fire at the same time. The decrease in the co-contraction of antagonist movement when the agonist muscles are being called on for work allows for greater movement efficiency.

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One of the acute effects in muscle during resistance training is the depletion of metabolic substrates, such as creatine phosphate and glycogen. The depletion of those two fuel sources during resistance training causes muscle power production to decrease. Another significant acute muscle adaptation during resistance training is the intramuscular elevation of hydrogen. That results in a “burning” sensation in the muscles on multiple repetitions. The elevation of hydrogen ions in the muscle results in decreased intramuscular pH.

Chronic adaptations to resistance training include increased cross-sectional size of the muscle fibres, also known as muscle hypertrophy. Hypertrophy of muscle occurs in type I (slow-twitch) and type II (fast-twitch) muscle fibres; however, type II muscle fibres have a greater response. Manipulation of volume and intensity of resistance training will cause more or less hypertrophy to those respective muscle fibre types. The chronic adaptation of increased cross-sectional size of the muscle fibres results in an increase of muscle strength and power. Another chronic adaptation to the muscles, which has been proven in animals but not yet in humans, is a phenomenon called hyperplasia. That occurs when the number of muscle fibres increases. The resulting hypertrophy and possible hyperplasia of muscle fibres cause a relative increase in protein synthesis, which is essential for the repair of muscle fibres in acute response to resistance training.

There are two major types of hormones produced by the pituitary glands that respond to resistance training: protein and steroid hormones. Growth hormones and insulin are major protein hormones, and testosterone and estrogen are major steroid hormones. Resistance training acutely increases the concentration and release of both anabolic and catabolic proteins and steroid hormones. Growth hormones, testosterone, and insulin are anabolic hormones that facilitate the growth and recovery of muscle tissue after a resistance training session. However, equally muscle-degrading hormones, or catabolic hormones, are released during and after resistance training. The increase of cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine secretion during resistance training can have positive short-term effects, but the long-term effects are negative. Higher volume and intensity of resistance training routine elicits a greater release of epinephrine. Therefore, it is prudent to eat proteins and carbohydrates before and after resistance training to prevent a catabolic effect from cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. Chronic adaptations to the endocrine system include an increased resting level of testosterone and increased sensitivity of tissue response to the release of protein and steroid proteins.

Why Gaining Weight When Strength Training Happens

Have you noticed that your weight is going up while you increase your strength training workouts? That number on the scale simply means you weigh more or you weigh less. It is not a readout on the intensity of your workouts, your body composition, or your level of fitness.

Watch Now: 4 Reasons Weight Gain is Worth Celebrating

Key Reasons for Weight Gain

There are several different reasons that you may notice an increase in weight when you begin strength training. In some cases, the higher number means that you are making progress.

Increased Muscle Mass

Weight training can cause weight gain due to an increase in muscle mass. If you strength train regularly and improve your fitness level, your weight on the scale may increase while your body fat percentage decreases. Muscle is denser than fat and takes up more space.

This switch in body composition happens over months. You can confirm that it is happening by looking in the mirror at the changes in your body, trying on that pair of jeans you have owned since before you started your weight training program, or using a simple body fat percentage calculator.

If your body fat percentage shows more muscle and less fat, then that is the change you are looking for. If your jeans are baggy or loose, or if you look in the mirror and a more muscular person is staring back at you, then your strength training efforts could be causing a bit of an uptick on the scale. Breathe easy, you are making positive changes in your health, body definition, and physical appearance.

Water Weight

Water can change your weight. Ever notice you weigh less after a sweaty workout session? That loss of sweat can cause a decrease on the scale, just as a salty dinner can cause your weight to increase because your body is retaining water. Your weight can fluctuate due to your water retention versus water loss, and it is not related to your strength training at all. No matter what, stay hydrated all day.

Stress

Stress can cause weight gain. When you are under stress from tough workouts or a tough day at the office your body produces the stress hormone cortisol. More cortisol released in the body can cause fluid retention.

Lack of sleep due to stress can make you hungrier too, and you may eat more than you normally do. Make sure you plan some downtime to do the things that recharge you mentally and physically to alleviate some stress. Be sure to take a recovery day during your workout week, so you are not over-exerting your body.

Diet

A change in your diet may affect the number on the scale. Do not use workouts as your green light to eat whatever you want. Sometimes when you have an intense sweat session or you push yourself in a new way, you can look to food as a reward for a hard workout completed.

Your body does need fuel (especially when you train), but an intense workout is not a license to eat whatever and as much as you want. Eat clean and watch your portions—even when you are working out hard.

Other Factors

There are many factors that can change your weight such as hormones, stress, sodium intake, water consumption, and your body getting too accustomed to the same old workout. These variables can make your weight can go up and down. Keep making healthy decisions and use tools other than your scale to track your progress such as using a tape measure to track your chest, waist, hip, and leg circumference.

Weight Loss Benefits of Strength Training

Think of strength training as your long-term solution to weight loss instead of fearing that it will cause weight gain. Strength training offers many health benefits, including an increase in the number of calories burned. The more muscle you have in your body, the more calories you burn through every single day. So strength training is the best way to gain muscle mass and lose body fat.

“Muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue, and building muscles costs a lot of energy. As you increase the amount of muscle you have, you will also increase your resting metabolic rate.” —American Council on Exercise

A Word From Verywell

If you gain a little bit as you invest in regular strength training, do not panic. You are training your body to be a calorie-burning machine. Check your body composition or take a good look in your full-length mirror. You will see that your body is changing for the better.

Don’t Make These 4 Mistakes When Lifting Weights – Cleveland Clinic

No matter what your gender or age, lifting weights is a great way to increase your resting heart rate, lower body fat, improve balance and motor coordination, and enhance joint stability. For a total body workout, it’s recommended lifting weights for 20 minutes to 30 minutes three days a week.

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However, it’s easy to make common mistakes that can cause injuries or delay the results you hope to achieve. Exercise physiologist Christopher Travers, MS, breaks down common mishaps to avoid while you’re lifting weights. 

1. Holding your breath

It’s a natural inclination. Holding your breath while doing anything strenuous is something most of us have experienced. But Travers explains why this is potentially harmful. “Holding your breath as you’re lifting weights can lead to a rapid increase in your blood pressure,” he says. In some cases, this can cause a hernia and in more extreme cases, you can even lose consciousness.

The best way to make sure you breathe steadily during strength training is to breathe out (or exhale) when you exert the most effort, and breathe in (or inhale) when you return to your original resting point. Exhale when lifting; inhale when returning to start. 

This technique will help you better control your blood pressure.

2. Failing to rest between workouts

As you begin strength training, you’ll notice your muscles get sore after each session — at least you should experience some muscle soreness if you’re pushing your muscles to grow. Travers explains that the soreness is a good thing. “This is because as you lift, you’re causing microscopic tears in your muscles and damaging the tissue,” he says, and this is what builds muscle. 

But it’s important to allow for adequate rest between workouts. “You have to allow those tissues time to recover before exercising them again,” says Travers. 

Sometimes you may find your muscles are most sore a day after a good workout. So it’s a good rule of thumb to allow that particular muscle group to rest for 48 hours to give your muscles time to recover between workouts. For example, if you lift weights on Monday morning, workout again on Wednesday morning.

Travers says, “Working the same body parts on consecutive days over and over can lead to overuse injuries such as tendinitis and tendinosis.” Always vary your workout. For example, add in cardio-only days between strength training sessions. 

3. Using improper form

Using improper form and technique during resistance training won’t yield any beneficial results — and may even lead to an injury.

If you’re just getting started, work with a fitness specialist who is familiar with proper weight training techniques and can help you find the right weight for your fitness level. If you’re concerned about exposure to COVID-19, many fitness clubs offer virtual fitness training right now. 

“Even if you’re more experienced, it doesn’t hurt to schedule a session with a fitness specialist so they can double-check your form and identify any adjustments you may need to make,” says Travers.

4. Working through injuries

Finally, listen to your body. Travers reminds “You will feel sore after lifting weights — that’s part of strength training. However, if you’re injured, don’t work out through the pain.”

While muscle soreness is normal, sharp pain is a sign that you may have overdone it. If your injury is causing you discomfort, take a break from lifting weights. “If it’s one or two days, you can chalk it up to muscle soreness. If your injury persists beyond that, seek medical attention,” says Travers. ​

Weight Training With Osteoarthritis

Weight training, which involves using weights while you exercise, can help a person strengthen their muscles, including the ones surrounding the joints. Strong muscles help in stabilizing the joints. While that makes sense and sounds like something we all should be doing, you may wonder whether weight training is appropriate for people with osteoarthritis.

PeopleImages / Getty Images

Before we answer that question, let’s sort out some terms that are often used interchangeably: strength training, weight training, and resistance exercise. Strength training is the broader term that encompasses the other two.

Strength training refers to any exercise that uses some form of resistance to strengthen the muscles. The resistance forces the skeletal muscles to contract. The resistance can be created by using weight machines, hand-held weights, resistance bands (e.g., Therabands), and resistance balls. Resistance can be created using your own body, too.

People with osteoarthritis, as well as the other types of arthritis, have long been encouraged to keep moving and to participate in regular physical activity or exercise. Primarily, low-impact exercise and range-of-motion exercise is recommended for people with arthritis. That’s exactly the source of confusion. If weight resistance is added to an exercise regimen, does it hurt more than help someone with osteoarthritis?

Weight training can be helpful, as stronger muscles can take some of the load off your joints. But you have to be careful. You could make arthritis worse if you injure the joint. If your workout causes pain in the affected joints, you may need to scale back the weights or choose other exercises.

Research on Weight Training and Osteoarthritis

A systematic review and meta-analysis published in 2020 analyzed the effects of strength training on muscle mass gain in older adults with osteoarthritis. Focusing on older people is significant because they are commonly affected by muscle weakness as well as osteoarthritis. The results showed that strength training was beneficial in increasing the lean muscle mass and muscle size in older adults with osteoarthritis.

Peak muscle strength normally occurs in your mid-20s and is maintained into your 60s. However, strength declines. By the time you are 80 years old, your strength is about half that of a normal young adult. The loss of muscle mass and strength that occurs with age is called sarcopenia.

Muscle weakness is also common with osteoarthritis, especially of the knee extensors. Muscle weakness occurring with osteoarthritis is linked to an increased risk of functional limitations and disability. Muscle strength, especially knee extensor strength, has been found to be protective against developing functional limitations in those with osteoarthritis.

Appropriate Level of Weight Training

It must be remembered that strength training, if overdone, can stress joints affected by osteoarthritis, possibly increasing pain and decreasing function. Before starting a weight training program, if you have osteoarthritis, you should:

• Discuss weight training with your doctor to become more aware of potential benefits and risks.
• Consult with a physical therapist about weight training with osteoarthritis. Get a physical therapy referral from your doctor. The therapist can then evaluate you and make recommendations that are customized for you.
• Seek out a supervised weight training program at a gym with a personal trainer or at a physical therapy clinic with a therapist. A supervised setting is better than a home-based program, especially in the beginning. There seems to be greater commitment and adherence to a supervised setting.
• Be mindful of the potential effects of your medications. If you take analgesic medication, for example, it may mask your pain and you may unknowingly push beyond your limits, risking injury or causing your osteoarthritis symptoms to worsen.

As you prepare to engage in a weight training program, you should:

• Warm up as you begin! Do light stretching exercises as well.
• Utilize light weights, especially at first, as you become familiar with the proper technique. Increase the weight in small increments when you feel that the current level has become too easy.
• Maintain proper body alignment during weight training—yet another reason that supports having supervision. Proper alignment helps to lessen the strain on joints.
• Work opposing muscle groups to achieve balance. When there is a balance between muscle groups, joint stability is enhanced.
• Consider wearing orthopedic braces or supports on affected joints. However, weightlifting belts are not recommended for people with osteoarthritis.
• Consider using a hot pack on affected joints and muscles before starting your routine to reduce pain and increase circulation. Cold packs may be used following exercise to decrease inflammation.
• Wear appropriate, comfortable footwear. If you wear an orthotic, try to keep it in place to ensure the best support and alignment.
• Alternate between weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing exercise, to lessen stress and strain on your joints.
• Cool down after your routine.

Possible Dangers of Exercise

There’s no evidence to suggest that older adults with osteoarthritis who exercise face a greater risk of adverse events (e.g., worsening pain) or that they are unable to effectively strengthen their muscles compared to younger adults. In fact, some level of exercise is possible no matter one’s age or the severity of osteoarthritis.

Reasonably, we can assume that increased age or increased severity of osteoarthritis may necessitate using less weight in weight training. However, it can still be done—just at the level that is appropriate.

Be smart. Stop exercising and notify your medical team if you experience:

• Increased pain or swelling in muscles or joints
• Popping, locking, or buckling of an affected joint
• Pain in muscles or joints that was not previously present
• Abdominal pain
• Chest pain
• Groin pain
• Shortness of breath

Weight Training Effectively Relieves Back Pain

When you’re experiencing back pain, your impulse may be to keep your back immobile, so you don’t trigger further pain. This idea seems like it would be especially true for adding resistance to your workout in the form of weight machines, free weights, or resistance bands.

Supine Hamstring Stretch (Towel Hamstring Stretch) for Low Back Pain and Sciatica Relief Video

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Stretching while using some form of resistance, like a towel, can help you strength train at home. Watch Supine Hamstring Stretch (Towel Hamstring Stretch) for Low Back Pain and Sciatica Relief Video

Studies have shown that weight training may be safe and can in fact help relieve pain when done correctly and for the right conditions.^1,2,3,4 Read on to see how you may safely participate in strength training to help your back.

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Weight training develops muscle health

When you have back pain for a prolonged period of time, your back muscles may have less mass, greater fatty content, and more stiffness, which can cause them to fatigue more easily and result in worsening pain.^1,4 Over time, this pain and easy fatiguability may lead to fear of movement, resulting in deconditioning and instability in your back.⁴

See Back Muscles and Low Back Pain

Weight training exercises can improve the health of your back by¹:

• Increasing the function of the muscles in your back and core
• Improving muscle strength
• Increasing your lean muscle mass
• Increasing the range of motion of your spine
• Decreasing your body fat

Weight training exercises work on the basic principle of progressively increasing the loads, as tolerated, to gradually improve your capacity of performing daily activities.¹

See Bodybuilding, Weightlifting and Back Pain

3 essential guidelines to follow while using weights for back pain relief

When you consider weight training, it is important to understand the following guidelines to safely help relieve your back pain. While weighted exercises may be the right treatment for some, others may be prone to further injury depending on the underlying pain source:

1. Make sure your pain is not serious in nature.

If your back pain originates from an issue such as a previous spinal surgery, tumor, nerve root compression accompanied by neurological symptoms (sciatica), spinal fracture, and/or spinal infections, weight training may not be suitable for you.³

A trained medical professional can help provide an accurate diagnosis and determine if weight training is safe to perform with your back pain.

2. Take guidance from a trained therapist or instructor.

Whether you have used weights before or not, the techniques for weight training to alleviate back pain can be different from regular weight or resistance exercises. A trained physical or occupational therapist can provide guidance on the correct technique, frequency, and type of training that is suitable for your condition.

Training under a therapist can significantly reduce the risk of further injury and damage to your spine. After an initial training period, you may continue to perform the exercises by yourself, as prescribed.

See Physical Therapy Benefits For Back Pain

3. Use smaller weights to build your strength progressively.

Don’t hit the heavy squat rack right away—there are other ways you can effectively load your spine:

• Start with smaller weights and exercise slowly. Begin your weight training program with smaller, tolerable weights and exercise slowly. Using rapid movements or incorrect lifting, pulling, or resistance techniques may cause additional damage to already susceptible tissues.¹ It may be necessary to start with low-load motor control exercises (simple stretches) without weights to activate and stretch the muscles and improve balance.

  See Stretching for Back Pain Relief

• Exercise machines may be better than free weights. Exercise machines can provide a safe and effective method of delivering progressive resistance to your exercises. These machines may also help reduce the potential for injury compared to using free weights.¹ Maintaining proper support on your back with a leg press or chest press machine may be helpful.
• Consider combining regular walks with your weight training program. Low impact aerobic exercises, such as walking helps increase the flow of blood and essential nutrients to the muscles and soft tissues of the back, which can promote healing and reduce stiffness.⁴

  See Low-Impact Aerobic Exercise

Research indicates that combining a regular walking routine with weight training exercises can be more effective in managing back pain.⁴

Dos and don’ts for strength training with back pain

If you’re ready to give weight training a try, keep these tips in mind:

• To reap the most benefit from strength training, aim to do it 2 or 3 times a week for half an hour.
• Focus especially on exercises that can build strength in your core muscles (back, abdominals, obliques, buttocks, and proximal leg muscles).
• You don’t have to join a gym or buy expensive equipment to do strength training. You can do it at home, and the resistance can come from small hand weights, resistance bands, or even gravity.
• To protect your back, avoid exercises that involve extreme or abrupt moves. Instead, focus on slow, steady resistance training that takes advantage of the eccentric (muscle lengthening exercises) and concentric (muscle shortening exercises) strengthening.
• If you’re experiencing a sustained increase in your back pain, take some time off or modify from strength training until it subsides.
• Some soreness is okay and to be expected, but sharp pain is not normal. If you feel any sharp, sudden pain while exercising, stop right away.

Warm up for a few minutes before exercising by using heat therapy and doing simple stretches. Ice therapy can be beneficial when used after exercise to decrease inflammation and alleviate pain.

See How to Use Ice Massage Therapy for Back Pain

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Make a note of your progress

Record the baseline measurement of your weights when you begin your training and make a note every time you progress to a higher weight. Consistent improvements in your pain, flexibility, strength, and function, can help you stay motivated to continue with the exercise program.¹

Weight training can help alleviate your back pain and improve your ability to perform everyday activities. Talk with a certified medical professional today to see if weight training is a suitable and safe treatment for your back pain. Once you have your doctor’s consent, follow these suggested tips to experience effective and lasting pain relief.

Learn more:

Back Strengthening Exercises

Strengthening Exercise Program for Low Back Pain Relief

References

• 1.Dreisinger TE. Exercise in the management of chronic back pain. Ochsner J. 2014;14(1):101–107.
• 2.Michaelson P, Holmberg D, Aasa B, Aasa U. High load lifting exercise and low load motor control exercises as interventions for patients with mechanical low back pain: A randomized controlled trial with 24-month follow-up. J Rehabil Med. 2016;48(5):456-63.
• 3.Welch N, Moran K, Antony J, et al. The effects of a free-weight-based resistance training intervention on pain, squat biomechanics and MRI-defined lumbar fat infiltration and functional cross-sectional area in those with chronic low back. BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med. 2015;1(1):e000050. Published 2015 Nov 9. doi:10.1136/bmjsem-2015-000050
• 4.Lee JS, Kang SJ. The effects of strength exercise and walking on lumbar function, pain level, and body composition in chronic back pain patients. J Exerc Rehabil. 2016;12(5):463–470. Published 2016 Oct 31. doi:10.12965/jer.1632650.325

How Does Lifting Weights Impact Your Joints

There’s a common misconception that lifting weights will lead to ruined joints, but research shows the opposite is true. Numerous studies have demonstrated that weightlifting and strength training help strengthen your joints as well as your muscles and bones. The long-term effects of weightlifting can provide you with decreased pain, even if you have arthritis. While some soreness is typical, the overall impact of weightlifting is positive, as long as you incorporate the proper methods, which will help you get the most out of the exercise. 

Why Do My Joints Hurt When I Lift?

A common question many people have is, “Can weightlifting cause arthritis?” The good news is that it does not. A follow-up question then might be, “Why do my joints hurt when I work out?” The answer to that question is a little more complicated, since there are several reasons you might have sore joints immediately following a workout. 

The two most common are that you’re lifting more than your body can handle or you’re lifting using incorrect form.

Too Much Weight

When you’re exercising, it’s vital to listen to what your body is saying. Pain is a way for your body to alert you to the fact that something’s not right. If you experience joint pain after a workout, double-check the amount you’re lifting, because it may be too much for you. You may feel tempted to show off how much you can lift, but if you take on more than your body can handle, you’ll be putting excessive pressure on your muscles and joints, causing them to hurt after. You can even end up pulling or tearing muscles as a result.

The more complex your lifting methods, the higher the chances of injury when you take on too much. For example, lifting heavy weight over your head can cause you to lose your balance and experience a severe injury.

Incorrect Form

Like most exercises, lifting weights requires your body to stand in the correct form to minimize the risk of injury. Even a slight shift in balance or positioning can lead to undue stress on your joints. If you’re only beginning strength training, it’s a good idea to work with a professional who will show you the correct form for your body. Because everyone is different, sometimes a minor change in your position can be beneficial. But finding the line between the correct and incorrect form can lead to joint pain or even hospitalization with a more severe injury.

How Do I Avoid Joint Injuries When Lifting?

As mentioned, lifting weights the wrong way will lead to sore joints after a workout. Luckily, there are some do’s and don’ts to follow to ensure you get the most out of your workout without risking the injury.

• Do stretch beforehand: Warming up is a great way to get your body loosened up and allow for a broader range of motion for your joints. Start by moving around, marching in place and swinging your arms and legs to raise your core body temperature. Once your muscles are warm, stretching helps reduce the risk of swelling.
• Don’t overdo it: When you feel yourself getting tired after strength training, it’s a good idea to take that as a signal that your body has had enough. Pushing yourself harder only increases the likelihood of joint injury. That means stopping even if you haven’t finished your workout — don’t risk an overload injury by overdoing it.
• Do rest as needed: Your body needs rest, especially after working out. Avoid strenuously exercising the same areas two days in a row. Instead, switch it up every day or opt for full-body training two or three times a week, so your body has enough time to recharge between workouts.
• Don’t rush it: When lifting weights, it can be tempting to quickly work through your set in hopes of getting more reps in. However, that not only ends up putting unnecessary pressure on your joints, but also increases the risk of injury, since you’re not allowing yourself time to notice how your body is moving. Pay attention to how you’re lifting by doing it in slow, controlled moves, which is also a great way to spot any inaccuracies in your form.
• Do listen to your body: Like when you feel yourself tiring, listen to your body when something starts to hurt or doesn’t feel right. Don’t power through the pain, because it could end up making the injury worse, sidelining you with recovery time. Trust your body when it tells you something’s not right and work to fix it.
• Don’t binge eat: Many people mistakenly believe they can eat whatever they want if they exercise enough, but your diet directly relates to the health of your joints and muscles. Strength training puts your joints at a higher risk of inflammation, and eating the wrong types of food can only increase that risk further. Instead, opt for healthy foods, which will help reduce the risk of inflammation of the joints.

Unfortunately, injuries are common when it comes to athletics, with approximately 8.6 million people reporting some injuries resulting from sports. With weightlifting specifically, the spine, shoulder and knees are the three most common parts that get injured.

Common Joint Injuries

Due to what weightlifting requires, it’s no surprise that the shoulders, knees and spine are the three most vulnerable parts of the body. They’re the areas of the body that see the most pressure, with the spine opening up the potential for injury to the lower back and hips as well.

Shoulder injuries are the most common joint injury resulting from strength training, with shoulder dysfunction likely to be the cause of most of the injuries. Shoulder dysfunction occurs when the scapula and the arm move in an uncoordinated way, forcing unnecessary strain on the shoulder itself. Regardless of what type of injury it is, shoulder injuries are hard to ignore, sending sharp pinching pain at the front or back of the shoulders. The injury can also manifest through the deltoids — the muscle that curves around the shoulder. You’re most likely to feel the pain of a shoulder injury when reaching your arms up, either for exercise or grab something off a high shelf.

The good news is you can easily prevent shoulder injuries by warming up properly. A thorough warmup before strenuous physical activity will reduce the chances of injury by preparing your body for exercise. If you feel shoulder pain despite warming up properly, talk to a professional to see if there may be something wrong with your form.

Knee injuries are another common result of weightlifting, which is unsurprising considering the strain we put on our knees even with day-to-day activities, like walking or running. While all our joints feel pressure regularly, our knees experience it more than others because they’re so essential in our lives. However, that doesn’t mean weightlifting and knee pain have to go hand in hand. While tight muscles or torn tendons are a common cause of knee pain, incorrect form can also lead to pain in the joint — either because of a tear or pull, or because of undue pressure on the joint.

Like with shoulder pain, warming up ahead of lifting weights will go a long way to reduce the likelihood of a joint injury. Also like shoulder pain, your overall form can make a significant difference, so you have to make sure you maintain the appropriate balance of strength and coordination between the muscles of the front and back of the leg. For knees, in particular, post-workout care, such as massages and gently rolling the knee, also help keep the tissue healthy and reduce the chances of an injury. 

What Are the Benefits of Weightlifting for My Joints?

With all this talk of joint pain from lifting, you’ll be happy to hear that there are many benefits of lifting weight for your joints. There are even benefits to weightlifting if you already live with arthritis. Though it won’t cure arthritis, weightlifting can help alleviate your pain and discomfort.

Reduce Joint Pain

Contrary to popular belief, regularly lifting weights will not cause the pain itself — or cause arthritis, as we mentioned. Instead, one of the primary benefits of lifting weights is a reduction in joint pain. Indeed, studies show those who live with arthritis and lift weights experience less pain than those who do not. With regular weightlifting, the movement of the strengthening exercises helps loosen stiff, achy joints. And it’s not only people with arthritis who benefit from it — people who live with other conditions that result in inflamed joints can find the same relief with strength training, allowing them to feel more relaxed and less stiff.

Strength training is also a great way to prevent pain. Because it strengthens the muscles and joints, it allows them to remain more flexible and maintain a wider range of motion, which helps reduce the likelihood that you’ll experience joint pain later. 

Strengthen Muscles

The muscles surrounding the joints also play a part in reducing joint pain. Weightlifting directly targets those muscles, strengthening them and helping them function at their full capacity. When those muscles work as they should, they can carry the burden of pressure, leaving your joints without any undue strain.

When you do regular strength training, you’ll find any joint pain slowly decreases as your muscles get stronger.

Improve Mental Health

Any exercise will create endorphins in your body, which inevitably boost your mood. When you’re feeling happier and more motivated, you’re more likely to keep moving around — and movement is one of the best ways to keep your joints healthy and pain-free.

In a similar vein, the boost in mood also doubles as an antidote to the potential depression or feelings of loss that can accompany arthritis or other joint conditions.

Decrease Body Weight

While weight loss shouldn’t be the only goal of the exercise, it is one of the results of weightlifting. Sometimes an excess of weight becomes a burden on the joints, leading to pain. Weight loss resulting from weightlifting lessens the strain on the joints, leading to less pain. That is especially pertinent to knee pain, since your knees support every pound of extra weight your body carries. 

What Are the Long-Term Effects of Weightlifting for My Joints?

Weightlifting and joint pain often go hand in hand because of the misconception that exercise causes discomfort. We now understand that the opposite is true, and that weightlifting can help alleviate and even prevent joint pain, even for those who live with debilitating conditions like arthritis. 

Consistent strength training will inevitably build and strengthen your muscles, including those surrounding your joints. By strengthening these muscles, you’re allowing yourself to become stronger overall. That strength is a boon for your body, since it will help prevent your joints from deteriorating, allowing them to be pain-free and fully functional for longer. Contrary to popular belief, regular use of your joints will end up making them healthier and more functional for longer than not using them will.

However, it’s crucial to remember that these positive effects are only possible when you practice weightlifting correctly to avoid injury. Because the body has so many different moving parts, they need to work together in the right combination for you to reap the benefits of the exercise you’re doing. And understanding your body and its unique differences is just as essential. 

Many people think symmetry is the secret to successful weightlifting, but that’s not necessarily the case, because not all bodies are the same. Most people have a dominant side or hand, so whatever weightlifting workout you develop for yourself must take these things into account. 

When performed correctly and regularly, weightlifting provides long-term pain relief and overall strength.

Get Relief From Joint Pain in the Heart of Houston

Sometimes, no matter how much you try to avoid it, joint pain can make your life difficult. Instead of living with the discomfort or even spending weeks recuperating, get in touch with Dr. Muffadal Gombera, a trained orthopedic surgeon specializing in injuries to the shoulders, hips and knees. Using the latest advanced treatments, Dr. Gombera provides expert care to all patients, often preventing the need for surgery altogether. Instead, Dr. Gombera’s goal is to find minimally invasive treatments for joint pain and injuries to get every patient back on their feet sooner.

Located in the heart of Houston, Dr. Gombera welcomes patients to his practice at Fondren Orthopedic Group and Texas Orthopedic Hospital. If you’re suffering from a joint injury, schedule an appointment with Dr. Gombera by calling 713-794-3457 or request an appointment online by filling out the form.

90,000 12 Reasons to Start Strength Training – HEROINE

It is high time to forget the stereotype “women should not carry weights”: there is no better way to improve their own physical and mental performance than to start strength training. This will not at all lead you to look muscular like a man – in principle, a woman’s body does not produce as much testosterone, which stimulates muscle growth. But if you are still skeptical about this type of training, there are several reasons that will make you change your mind:

1.More fat and calories burned

Weight lifting workouts should be added to your workout routine if you want to burn fat more efficiently and be able to get rid of calories faster than with classic cardio. And even after you’ve finished your lifting session, your body remains in fat-burning mode. This is called the effect of excess post-workout consumption, and it does not occur if you do low-intensity cardio.

2. Reduces the risk of loss of muscle mass

After the age of 30, your body gradually begins to lose muscle mass.And when this happens, the buttocks, stomach, chin and arms begin to sag. If you don’t start taking action when you’re in your twenties, you can easily find this extra baggage on your body, and the only way to prevent this from happening is to work with weight.

3. Reduced risk of injury

Strength training helps prevent the risk of injury, as muscles, bones, ligaments and tendons are strengthened faster with such exercises. In fact, the production of collagen, the primary fiber of connective tissue, only accelerates when you start lifting weights.And due to the fact that bones become less fragile and muscles are strengthened, the risk of injury is reduced.

4. Metabolism accelerates

Your metabolism slows down with age, and it becomes more and more difficult for you to lose those extra pounds. There is a direct link between your metabolism and muscle mass: muscles have mitochondria that convert glucose into usable energy. With the loss of muscle mass, the number of mitochondria decreases, which means that metabolism slows down.Since it is muscle mass that increases during strength training, the number of mitochondria in cells does not decrease, and metabolism does not slow down.

5. Decreases the risk of diabetes

Diabetes is one of those diseases that significantly complicate a person’s life, regardless of his age. And the best thing you can do to combat this complex disease that requires a boring diet throughout your life is strength training! A group of scientists conducted an experiment with a high fructose diet.They found that those who do strength training have increased glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity.

6. Heart function improves

Scientists from the Canadian Medical Center have proven that patients with strength training on muscles also improve their heart function. Including people with coronary insufficiency, they stabilize heart rate, heart muscle strength and general endurance.

7. Posture is corrected

Curved posture is what most of us are to blame for ourselves.Fortunately, you can improve your position by working with weights and following the instructions of your trainer correctly. This will help you increase bone and muscle strength, which means you get rid of slouching and distortions.

8. Energy increases

Once you start strength training, you will find a huge difference in your energy levels throughout the day. This comes from the fact that each muscle wakes up and begins to work efficiently to convert food into energy.This not only helps to shed excess fat, but also reduces inflammation in the body, which means that you will start to feel light and mobile.

9. Helps to get a beautiful figure

The best part of strength training is being able to get your curves rounded enough. Use dumbbells, barbells, resistance bands or your own weight for training, and with their help you can quickly build the right muscle mass and highlight your body shape.

10. Flexibility is improved

Stretching and squeezing movements not only help build strong muscles, but also improve the overall flexibility of the whole body. Try different workouts on different body parts, alternating with stretching exercises to maximize the benefits of the activity.

11. Stress Relief

Strength training also has a positive effect on mental health. When you lift dumbbells at least twice a week, all your attention is focused on getting it right without hurting yourself.If your brain does not think about problems at work or at home, it is less anxious, which means there is a release from stress. Moreover, by noticing positive changes in your body, you will learn to worry less and will be able to focus on the positive changes in your life.

12. Sleep improves

After spending so much time on maintaining the tone of your body, you will sleep better and forget about the problem of insomnia. If lately you have not been able to fall asleep for a long time and get up for dinner, try strength training and pay attention to the change in your state.

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90,000 Main Reasons for Stopping Strength Training Progress

The reason may also be the natural limitations of the body, but it is unlikely that someone who is engaged in strength training at an amateur level reaches their limit, usually halfway through other reasons, on which we will stop, interfere.So what could be causing your strength training progress to stall?

First, , it can be a state of overtraining, the symptoms of which are pain in muscles and ligaments, constant fatigue, depression and much more. An unambiguous symptom is a significant increase in resting heart rate. Overtraining affects many inexperienced gym goers: they constantly feel tired, they feel that they need to train even more, although, in fact, they need to take a break from training, rest for a week or even two.

In general, every two months of serious training you need to take such weekly breaks during which your body will rest and gain strength to achieve new results. Do not think that for the fastest possible progress you need to spend several hours in the gym, seven days a week, all year round. Strength training is just different in that it does not take a lot of time and requires a lot of time to rest and recover after the exercises themselves.

Secondly , this is a bad training program.There can be many options here, such as overstressing the upper body and neglecting leg workouts. A very common mistake is to abandon basic exercises (bench press, squat, deadlift) in favor of isolated exercises. Arguments can be concerns about health, the desire to “work out the relief” or even the fear of “pumping over”. All of them do not stand up to criticism.

Basic exercises are not more harmful, and often even safer than isolated exercises, since isolated movements are unusual for our body, so they can injure joints and ligaments.Very harmful, for example, for the knees are leg extensions in the simulator, and for the elbows – the French press. It is better to replace them with squats and bench press.

“Working out the relief” is generally relevant only for professional bodybuilders who already have a serious base. The vast majority of newcomers to the gym simply do not have enough muscle to “work out the relief.” You need to build mass first, and basic exercises are best for this.There is nothing to say about the fear of “pumping over”. Many people exercise for years and cannot gain the desired ten kilograms of muscle.

Thirdly , this is a little amount of time elapsed since the beginning of classes. Do not expect instant results from the gym, which should appear almost a week after the start of training. The first noticeable visual changes for most people appear after about six months of class, so tune in to long and hard work.For example, trying to “pump up” a couple of months before the beach season, as many inexperienced beginners do, is completely useless.

With the growth of strength indicators, everything is more difficult: they begin to grow quite quickly almost immediately with the start of training, but after a couple of months the growth can practically come to naught, and then suddenly move off the ground again. This is due to the fact that the body unevenly adapts to the load: after a slight increase in strength indicators, endurance usually begins to grow, the blood supply to the muscles improves (the number of small blood vessels increases), etc.that does not directly affect the development of strength. But in the long term, this allows the body to adapt to the increasing stress, you will be able to do more exercise than before.

Fourth , the problem may be due to improper power supply. In general, there are many myths around nutrition in strength training and fitness: many are trying to go on special diets in order to lose weight, or consume some special foods for gaining muscle mass.You need to understand one simple thing: for weight loss and weight gain, only the amount of calories consumed plays a role, even the ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates in the diet is not so important.

A variety of protein shakes, etc., which many consume during or after training, give a noticeable effect only for professional bodybuilders who need to spur the body. So it is highly advisable to focus not so much on the choice of sports nutrition, but on the scrupulous calculation of calories consumed, for this you will need to purchase special scales for weighing portions, they are now sold in literally every home appliance store.

Often inexperienced athletes simply do not realize exactly how many calories they consume, whether they are enough for gaining muscle mass, or, conversely, too much, which can lead to excess weight gain in the form of subcutaneous fat. A person thinks that he is eating enough, and when weighing his daily portions, it turns out that there are too few calories. There are a large number of tables on the Internet for the required calorie intake depending on gender, age, weight, desired goals (weight gain or, conversely, weight loss).

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90,000 Why are there no results from training? Top 6 Reasons

Motivation makes us get off the couch and go to the gym to work out.Photos “was-now” in advertising of nutrition programs, sports challenges inspire us that life and figure will change dramatically – we just need to act.

We decide, start exercising, go to the gym or fitness. Life is changing, of course, and mostly for the better. But where is the impressive result from the category “minus 8 kg per month”?

Before you get disillusioned with sports and lose your motivation, let’s see why you don’t see results from your sports training?

1.You are obsessed with the number on the scale.

Most of us are pushed to workout by a banal goal – to lose weight. And weight loss is presented in the form of a cherished figure on the scales. But the scale is not the best way to measure progress, losing weight does not mean that you are losing fat. It can be water or muscle.

The result can and should be measured in other ways.

• Bioimpedance analysis can be used to assess changes in the proportions of fat and muscle in the body.
• The fitness testing methodology will show how your strength parameters have changed: endurance, strength, flexibility.
• With the help of the before and after photo, you can visually assess the changes in your body.
• Measurements with a centimeter on your waist, buttocks, arms, legs before training and after a few weeks of training will show how your body volume has changed.
• In THE BASE club you can use the Test yourself service. This is a special study that includes analysis of body composition, measurement of muscle flexibility and endurance, assessment of the response of the cardiovascular system to stress and other parameters.Based on this data, a certified trainer will create your personal training plan – safe and most effective.

2. You have not decided on a specific goal.

Defining your goal is the first thing to do. It is difficult to assess the result without specific criteria.

What are the goals of the training program?

• Increase in strength (for example, double the number of repetitions in strength training).
• Development of endurance (increase the distance of jogging from 5 to 10 km).
• Gaining muscle mass (increase the biceps girth by 2 cm).
• Fat burning (lose 5 kg in 2 months).

The goal must be achievable! So, the normal rate of weight loss is a loss of about 0.3-0.5 kg per week, but minus 10 kg per month is already extreme.

3. You eat a lot.

Exercise is a good way to burn calories and keep fit.But you need to spend more calories than you get, that is, create a deficit.

In one workout, a woman burns about 300-500 kcal. To maintain daily physical activity, another 600-800 kcal is spent. To lose weight at the same time, you need to calculate your calorie intake, taking into account daily activity and lean body mass, balance it in macronutrients (proteins, fats, carbohydrates).

For weight loss, nutrition is no less important than sports!

• Do not overeat to justify your appetite with increased metabolism.
• Remember the balance of BJU and the fact that carbohydrates cannot be excluded. You can create a calorie deficit by varying the amount.

4. You eat little.

Another common mistake in pursuit of results is to increase physical activity and cut calories in the diet. This can cause chronic fatigue, irritability, swelling, and, in the long term, lead to health problems.

The body needs energy to live and train, your job is to find safe sources of energy.For example, a small amount of buckwheat before training will provide the body with energy for work, and after training, it will create an anti-catabolic environment and will not lose muscle in a calorie deficit.

Research confirms that exercise and a healthy diet with enough macronutrients can lead to weight loss and muscle gain at the same time.

Give preference to protein foods, but do not neglect slow carbohydrates (whole grains, cereals), saturated and unsaturated fats (vegetable oils, seafood, nuts, seeds).

5. You adhere to the regime only on weekdays.

Work, everyday life, training turn into a routine, impose restrictions, and on weekends you want to relax, forget about the steadfastness of your goals. But you should avoid sharp jumps in the use of calories, alcohol and do not reduce activity.

What matters is not how many calories you ate today or yesterday, but the average daily calorie intake during the week, month.

6.You exercise too often.

If you train more than three times a week and are not seeing results, you may need to limit the amount of training or reevaluate the load. Leave time for good rest, without it there will be no progress!

Pay attention to the nature of the load during training.

Cardio is an effective way to burn calories and burn stored fat, but the fat burning effect does not appear until after 40 minutes of physical activity.Plus, in the long term, the body adapts to the cardio load and uses less energy.

The combination of strength training and cardio shows more interesting results, makes it possible to balance your sports schedule.

Two components: an attentive attitude to food, to your food choices and conscious effective training, in which you can achieve maximum fatigue in the shortest possible time – this is the basis for progress and achievement of results.

Take care of yourself, learn new things, and remember that you are not alone in this battle. THE BASE team is always ready to support you and answer any questions.

90,000 17 reasons to start strength training

Read on to find out the main benefits of strength training.

1. Increase in metabolic rate . After a few sessions with dumbbells, boys and girls notice acceleration of their metabolism .Together with nutrition , regular weight training works wonders – weight loss is more effective than cardio.
2. Building Muscle . Regardless of your goal (weight loss or muscle building), you can find the optimal training regimen that will give you the best results. Strength training can help combat the natural decline in muscle and bone density that occurs with age. HIIT training can be especially effective in the fight against osteoporosis.

4. Improving body flexibility . Over time, regular strength training can improve body flexibility . This is evidenced by the results of studies conducted among women leading a sedentary lifestyle. The women trained with resistance and significantly improved their flexibility scores. Moreover, special stretching exercises were not used.

5. Strengthening bones .No comment, resistance training will strengthen bones, which will reduce the risk of fractures.

7. Quick results . Strength training leads to quick results. Three sessions a week – and in a month you can watch the muscles take shape. Many are discouraged by the idea of ​​heavy weights, especially women. And the idea of ​​bench presses with a barbell of 100 kg does not attract. Don’t worry, even light weights can be effective in building muscle as long as the workouts cause muscle fatigue.8. IQ growth . It turns out that reading books is not ‘s only way to raise his IQ. Any exercise can support brain health, but researchers have found that resistance training improves cognitive performance in older adults. Numerous studies have led to similar results in animals.

10. Boredom Relief . Muscles need time to recover and, undoubtedly, the body gets used to physical activity, so periodically something must be changed in training.

11. Remedy for depression . Studies have shown that resistance training promotes the release of endorphin in the brain, which reduces feelings of anxiety and fear, and also helps in the fight against depression.

12. Improving self-esteem . There is no doubt that strength training is capable of improving the body’s perception of people. It is a pleasure for any athlete to track their progress and see how strength grows week after week.

14. Reducing the risk of cancer .One study found that resistance training three times a week for six months reduced the body’s oxidative stress, which lowers the risk of cancer (similar results were found in a hatha yoga study). Resistance training plus antioxidant supplementation is a double whammy for disease.
15. Protecting the heart and strengthening the heart muscle . Good nutrition is not the only way to a healthy heart. Ironically, moderate resistance training also has a positive effect on the cardiovascular system.Rapid resistance training improves heart rate and can replace cardio training.
16. Improvement of night sleep . Strength training may well replace ‘s favorite ways to fall asleep quickly at night in the form of herbal tea or hot showers. Numerous studies have shown that strength training promotes faster sleep at night and improves sleep quality.
17. Improvements in bed . Fact: Physically developed people have more endurance, which has a positive effect on intimate life.90,000 Why weight gain after exercise

According to all the rules and laws, weight should go away after exercise, why do people face the opposite effect?

Many of the fair sex react painfully to such situations. Young people also face this, but here the situation is different: after all, for the most part, men visit gyms to build muscle mass. Therefore, weight gain is not a reason for them to be upset.Women sign up for sports clubs for the sake of effective and fast weight loss, in other words, to reduce weight through the expenditure of energy in the classroom. But the weight does not want to go away.

Here are the main reasons many people have increased weight after exercise:

Muscle edema

A common reason why body weight increases after sports. During the first month after intense stress on the muscles, water accumulates in them.As a result, the muscles increase their volume, and the person gains weight. Sometimes people mistakenly associate this phenomenon with the growth of muscle mass. For women, due to the natural characteristics of physiology, it is difficult to build even a kilogram of muscles. Athletes who boast pumped-up biceps tend to use male hormones and use drugs designed to accelerate muscle growth. As a result, the hormonal background changes towards the male, so you should not hope that in three sessions the muscles will grow by 1 kg.There is almost no muscle growth during standard workouts, so this is an unnecessary cause for concern. The maximum you can achieve is muscle tone and body relief.

Human weight is a complex of the mass of all constituents of the body:

• Muscle tissue
• Bones
• Fats
• Brain
• Nerve fibers
• Various fabrics
• Blood
• Air

After a standard workout, the ratio of all these components changes by about 15%.And intense training greatly affects the variability of the indicator on the scales. Body weight changes depending on muscle inflammation, muscle soreness, which occurs immediately after the first visits to the gym.

How to deal with this?

Since this is a natural process that takes place in the body, there is nothing you can do about it. Give your muscles a few weeks to adapt and recover, and you will notice that the weight will begin to decline. In this case, the most important thing is not to be afraid of weights and continue to play sports.

If the calorie content exceeds the diet

Sometimes compensatory nutrition is the cause of primary weight gain. As a rule, an average workout allows you to burn up to 500 kcal. And this is just a small piece of cake or pastry. If you eat more than the body is able to assimilate, this by itself will not give you the opportunity to get rid of extra pounds. Even intense training will be powerless.

The same applies to compensations from the series “gain strength for an evening workout”.Of course, strength is definitely needed for training. But don’t forget about keeping the balance. If your goal is to lose weight, remember that you need to eat less food than energy costs. People tend to underestimate calories and overestimate their efforts.

How to be?

Power control is a must! Ideally, learn to calculate your calories. The success of losing weight by 80% depends on the correctness of the diet, and only the remaining 20% ​​are assigned to sports.Keep a personal food diary, record calories, and keep fat to a minimum. Alas, the gym alone, without the adjusted diet, will not allow you to get the perfect figure.

Here are a few tips for effective workouts:

• Whatever the numbers on the scales, do not despair
• Watch Your Diet Closely
• After finishing your gym session, take time to stretch
• Do not be afraid of training, even if the weight will grow at first

Measure volumes regularly and monitor changes in your body.

90,000 10 reasons why girls need to pull iron in the hall

It is not uncommon, when you come to the gym, you can see that most of the girls train on cardiovascular equipment, while the guys prefer training with iron. Sometimes even the mere mention of strength training makes girls worry. But few people know that the benefits of training with iron are much greater than those of cardio. Don’t get me wrong, cardio is a healthy and important part of your workout routine.But doing only one cardio, it is difficult to get the beautiful and fit figure that most girls dream of.

Strength training benefits for girls:

1. Combination of strength and cardio training accelerates fat burning

Exercising on a program that relies solely on cardio will lead to further stagnation. The metabolic rate will gradually decline as the body adapts to repetitive stress. Therefore, it would be right to add strength training to the training program, while reducing the amount of cardio.

Recent research published in the journal Applied Physiology has shown that combining strength training with cardio significantly increases metabolism and provides better fat burning results.

2. Increase calorie expenditure

Strength training actually increases your metabolic rate. This, in turn, makes the process of burning subcutaneous fat more efficient. This happens by increasing the number of mitochondria in cells, using a process called mitochondrial biogenesis.As you know, mitochondria is a kind of energy station of the cell, an increase in the number of which leads to an acceleration of metabolism. Numerous studies have shown that strength training contributes to these processes.

3. Gives beautiful shapes

Most women find that the best way to achieve beautiful athletic form is long-term low-intensity cardio training. In fact, an athletic figure is achieved by building muscles. If throughout the entire workout you do only cardio, then the metabolism will gradually decrease (as mentioned above), and with it the muscle mass.As a result, weight loss will be achieved, but in large part due to muscle reduction.

4. More energy during the day

Strength training significantly improves physical and psychological well-being throughout the day. It often happens that after another cardio on the treadmill, there is absolutely no energy left for other daily worries, and all day we feel like a squeezed lemon. Strength training, on the other hand, increases the concentration in the blood of beta-endorphin, a hormone that has an anti-stress effect.

5. Improved heart health and increased insulin sensitivity

The heart, like any other muscle in our body, can be trained. As you know, cardio is an effective way to increase its functionality and endurance. However, combining cardio and strength training has the same beneficial effects, but has a number of other benefits, one of which is increased insulin sensitivity. This means that the body will more efficiently use the energy from food to build muscle, rather than being stored in fat.

6.Improving bone health

Osteoporosis and osteopenia are becoming more common diseases and are increasingly common in both the elderly and young people. One of the reasons for this kind of disease is a decrease in bone density, which later leads to fractures. Strength training, on the other hand, increases bone density and makes them elastic.

7. Strength training increases libido 90 220

If you are at least a little familiar with female endocrinology, then you know that estrogen is the main female sex hormone.However, the female body also produces small amounts of testosterone (the male sex hormone), the growth of which in women increases desire. Just don’t worry that a couple of strength training sessions a week will give you stubble or a coarse voice.

8. Improve sleep

On average, an adult’s sleep should last 7-8 hours. But often girls have insomnia for various reasons. Numerous studies have shown that weight training can significantly increase the duration and quality of sleep.This will help many people get rid of their insomnia medications.

9.Improve psychological health

Many women, having come to the gym, begin to complete because of their figure. Trying to fix it somehow, they start doing cardio for hours. However, strength training is the best cure for depression. We touched on this issue in passing in the 4th paragraph. The fact is that hard training is very stressful for our body.To avoid this, the body increases the release of endorphins into the blood, as a result, after training, a person has a feeling of joy and peace.

During cardio training, a large release of endorphins does not occur, because this kind of load is not stressful for the body.

10. Strength Training Won’t Make Girls Big

One of the most common myths is permeated with the idea that girls who train with relatively large weights suddenly turn into the female version of the hulk.The truth is that in order to achieve a beautiful figure, it is imperative to perform strength training.

Ladies, now you have 10 reasons to start strength training and give your cardio machines some time to rest.

90,000 reasons and best ways to relieve pain

Strength training, morning jogging, cycling, football, basketball are good for health, help to strengthen the muscle corset, and keep the whole body in good shape.But not the joints. These structural elements of the musculoskeletal system sometimes experience excessive loads during intense training. Short-term pain that quickly disappears after a good stretch is usually provoked by lactic acid. It accumulates in the muscles, but there is a feeling of discomfort in the joints.
If the knees hurt for a long time after training, then a thorough diagnosis is necessary. The examination cannot be postponed, especially with a gradual increase in the intensity of the pain syndrome.There is a possibility of developing an inflammatory or degenerative-dystrophic process in the knee joint. Then you will have to forget about training until complete recovery. Otherwise, increased physical activity will cause the rapid progression of articular pathology.
It is the knee joints that hurt most often after training due to the effect on them of static and dynamic loads. During the exercise, changes occur in the musculo-ligamentous apparatus or osteoarticular elements.For example, when lifting a barbell, a person’s ligaments undergo a certain test for strength and elasticity. They stretch and then take the anatomically correct position.
If the nature of the changes is temporary, then pain in the knee joints is considered a normal variant. Under what conditions can post-workout discomfort be considered natural and does not require medical attention:

• there are mild, short-term painful sensations due to an increase in the concentration of lactic acid in the muscle fibers.It is formed during anaerobic glycolysis and is eliminated from the body within a few hours. The metabolic rate of lactic acid depends on the fitness of the athlete’s muscles. To speed up its elimination, stretching exercises, massage, and a short rest are practiced;
• there is a dull aching pain that does not last long. It is not localized at a certain point, but extends to the entire knee. Usually such sensations are experienced by athletes who lift a lot of weight, or who are engaged in freestyle wrestling.The dull nature of the pain syndrome is due to temporary squeezing of the knee joint. Discomfort occurs as the body naturally ages. With age, an insufficient amount of collagen is produced, which is responsible for the elasticity of the connective articular structures. Their tensile strength decreases, therefore, the effect of the previous loads can cause microtrauma to the hyaline cartilage. In the future, this can lead to the development of gonarthrosis – a severe, poorly treatable pathology.If after 40-45 years of age athletes have knee pain more often and more intensely after training, then it’s time to revise their regimen, to reduce the load.

Pathological causes of pain syndrome

Pain is a protective reaction of the body to the effects of external or internal damaging factors. There are many pathological causes of discomfort, they are very diverse. Experienced sports doctors are able to make a diagnosis based on a person’s complaints and an external examination.To confirm it, instrumental studies are prescribed. The most informative are radiography, arthroscopy, MRI, CT. The kind of sport in which the patient is engaged becomes a certain clue for the doctor.

Running

People start jogging to lose weight, prolong youth, and improve overall health. After the first lessons, even under the guidance of an experienced instructor, pains appear in the knees. Over time, they disappear, as the strength, elasticity of ligaments, tendons, and muscles increase significantly.But, if the intensity of uncomfortable sensations increases in the runner, then we can assume the development of pathology. Why knees hurt after exercise:

• traumatic injury to the meniscus. If the load is not properly distributed while jogging, the lower leg may turn unsuccessfully relative to the hip. The nature of the pain arising is sharp, sharp. The main symptoms of meniscus injury are extensive swelling, increased severity of discomfort during palpation and during movement;
• dislocation of the patella.Patella misalignment occurs after a fall with a support on the knee or a strong impact. The pain is sharp, but disappears quickly. After consulting a doctor, therapy takes only a few days. If an athlete neglects medical care, then a habitual dislocation of the knee joint is gradually formed;
• chondromalacia of the patella is a pathological condition in which the cartilage of the posterior surface of the patella is destroyed. After jogging, aching pain is felt, which disappears only after a long rest.An urgent need to consult a doctor to stop the degenerative-dystrophic process.

Runners often go to the emergency room if the ankle ligaments are damaged or the Achilles tendon is partially ruptured during a sharp start. But with excessive loads, the ligamentous-tendon apparatus of the knee is also injured. Despite adequate therapy, sometimes joint pain occurs after exercise.

Lifting a barbell, dumbbells
These are the most traumatic sports for knee joints experiencing excessive loads.At the end of their careers, professional athletes often have problems due to microtrauma to the hyaline cartilage, leading to the development of gonarthrosis. The leading symptom of this type of osteoarthritis is pain, aggravated by flexion and extension of the joint. If joints hurt after training, then doctors suggest the occurrence of such pathologies:

• Knee arthrosis, various forms of arthritis. Their development is indicated by long-lasting discomfort and the appearance of crepitus – a crunch during squats;
• Osgood-Schlatter disease – aseptic destruction of the tuberosity and nucleus of the tibia.Usually the disease is diagnosed in young athletes.

After lifting weights, knee pain occurs due to previous injuries: damage to the menisci, rupture of one of the cruciate ligaments. In the connective tissue structures, strands are formed that reduce the functional activity of the joint, provoking its instability.

Walking and cycling

When walking and pedaling a bicycle, the knee joints move monotonously, and this is a common cause of damage to any joint.When a knee hurts after training, and this condition lasts for at least an hour, then this may be a clinical manifestation of the following pathologies:

• Osteoarthritis is a recurrent disease, accompanied by the gradual destruction of cartilage tissue. To stabilize the joint in the body, the process of formation of osteophytes (overgrowth of the edges of the bone plates) is started. While walking, they squeeze sensitive nerve roots, provoking severe pain. Discomfort in the knees after training is also explained by injury to the nearby soft tissues;
• gouty, rheumatoid, psoriatic arthritis.Pain after walking or cycling may indicate an inflammatory process developing in the joints. If treatment was not carried out at this stage, then soon you will have to forget about training forever. The destruction of hyaline cartilage will begin, which ends in disability;
• osteochondritis dissecans – aseptic necrosis, leading to the separation of a small area of ​​cartilage from the underlying bone and its displacement into the joint cavity. As a result, a free-lying intra-articular body is formed, provoking the appearance of pain during and after walking.

Acute pain syndrome is a sign of a knee injury, after which any movement becomes impossible. Low-intensity joint discomfort is felt due to previous trauma. For example, if the synovial capsule was damaged after a fall, then during the healing process, areas of fibrous tissue may form on it. With this type of injury, the athlete needs to dose the load on the knee.

Basic Pain Relief Techniques

Pain that occurs naturally is easy to eliminate.This is usually done by stroking the knee and then rubbing it vigorously. There is an intense rush of blood to the structural elements of the joint, muscle spasm is eliminated, and the excretion of lactic acid is accelerated. Professional athletes know very well what to do if their knees hurt after training:

• straighten up, put your hands on your sides, rise up, focusing on the toe of first one, then the other leg. Vigorously shake your feet, roll onto your heels.Perform exercises 20 times in 2-3 sets;
• legs wide apart and slightly bent, the position of the arms is arbitrary. Sway gently from side to side to warm up. Then do shallow lunges using both knees;
• stand up straight, straighten your back, turn your legs back one by one and use your hands to pull your feet to the buttocks. Perform the exercise 10-15 times in 3 sets.

Sometimes painful sensations persist even after knee massage and physiotherapy exercises.Sports doctors have various types of cooling gels and ointments. Usually their main ingredients are menthol and camphor. They act on the receptors of the subcutaneous tissue, exhibiting analgesic, distracting, local irritating activity. After applying the ointment or gel, a pleasant feeling of coolness arises, and the uncomfortable sensations completely disappear. What else can you do if your knee joints hurt after a workout:

• use cold compresses. Cooling helps to reduce the intensity of discomfort.A bag with ice cubes wrapped in a thick cloth is applied to the knees for 10-15 minutes;
• Rest for 30-60 minutes. You can just lie down or sit down, and put your feet on a pillow or put on a low stool;
• Fix the knee with an elastic band. For this, a narrow bandage of medium or high elongation is used, which is wrapped around the knee several times. In pharmacies and medical stores, sports bandages are sold that are comfortable to wear and do not restrict movement.Sports doctors recommend using them during exercise to reduce the likelihood of injury.