When people lift weights, they are doing primarily to build more muscle mass. And while it is true that weight lifting can dramatically increase the size of your muscles, that is only one of many benefits that you can get from incorporating it into your life. Indeed, weight training is not just for the vein or muscle-obsessed – it is an activity that can improve your life in numerous ways, many of which you might not have considered.
So, in this article, we’ll be covering 7 of the ways that lifting weights can improve your life – and hopefully, after reading it, you’ll decide that it’ll be worth your while to get started if you’re not doing so already.
Contents
1. More Muscle Mass
Let’s get this one out of the way first.
While this is certainly not the only reason to lift weights, as we’ll be covering shortly, it is still a very valid reason to do so!
You see, lifting weights is hands down the most efficient and effective way to build more lean muscle mass.
Can you build muscle using other forms of exercise, like calisthenics? Sure you can, but it pales in comparison to proper weight training.
This is because weight training has the distinct advance of allowing you to incrementally increase the amount of weight you’re lifting gradually, as you get stronger while targeting each of your muscle groups with a variety of different exercises.
2. Getting Stronger
Muscle mass and strength are very closely linked – as you build bigger muscles, you’ll also necessarily be building stronger muscles.
And having stronger muscles will serve you well in many areas of your life, not just in the gym.
Need to pick a heavy box up off the floor? That’s much easier to do when you’re strong.
What about carrying a big bag of groceries home? Also considerably easier when you’ve developed your strength.
While many people will often initially begin weight training to build up their muscles, what they ultimately tend to appreciate even more is how much stronger they feel during their day to day lives.
3. Heightened Confidence
This is one of the side-benefits of weight lifting that many people don’t anticipate, but end up appreciating once it happens.
When you lift weights, you’ll start feeling stronger and more capable overall (as we mentioned in point 2).
And when you feel stronger and more capable, you’ll find that you also start feeling a lot more confident too!
Weight training is a form of self-improvement – and the more that you improve yourself, the more confident you’ll become, which can have a profoundly positive impact on other aspects of your life.
4. Greater Physical Health
There is a lot of evidence that regular weight training can improve various aspects of your physical health – outside of just muscle and strength development.
This includes putting you at less of a risk of developing heart disease, having stokes, and even cancer, based on some recent research.
While this isn’t one of those benefits you’ll notice right away, in the long term regular weight training can help to improve your overall health – and, as a result, the quality of your life.
5. Better Bone Density
Did you know that as you get older you lose a certain amount of bone density each year?
This results in your bones becoming more fragile as you get older, putting you at a risk of suffering a debilitating injury if you slip and fall.
However, it has been shown that lifting weights helps combat this age-related reduction in bone density. In other words, you’ll have stronger, more durable bones as you get older, helping to fortify you against potential injuries.
6. Enhanced Mental Wellbeing
In addition to these various physical benefits, one of the best things about lifting weights is what it can do for your mental state.
In part, this is due to the endorphins that are released when you exercise, giving you a natural high and making you feel great for many hours after you’ve finished.
But, in addition to these chemical benefits, you’ll also find that you feel more accomplished, and more at peace, when you lift weights. Humans are meant to be physical, so there is something about challenging yourself in this way that can make you feel more alive each day.
7. Improved Daily Structure
Many people struggle with creating a structured, well-organized life for themselves.
When your life likes structure, it becomes considerably more difficult to get everything that you want to get done each day, and it can all start to feel chaotic and unmanageable.
Well, when you start lifting weights, you immediately give your day more structure – since it is something that you tend to do at the same time each day, until it becomes part of your routine.
And with this added block of structure, you should find that other aspects of your life also start falling into place more naturally, as you build up a greater sense of personal discipline.
Over time, you’ll then find that you can accomplish more each day, and it won’t feel like as much of a struggle to do so.
Ready To Improve The Quality Of Your Life?
Hopefully after reading through this article, you’ve seen how there are numerous benefits to lifting weights – many of which fall completely outside of simply trying to build more muscle.
This includes feeling stronger, more confident, healthier, having an increased sense of wellbeing, and allowing you to create a more structured, disciplined life for yourself.
So, if you’ve wanted to give lifting weights a try, don’t procrastinate any longer!
Join a nearby gym – or, better yet, dust off that unused gym membership that you’ve been paying for – and start developing a weight lifting habit that will serve you well for years to come.
And if you don’t know where to start, then getting some personal training or online fitness coaching would be a sensible move – at least until you’re more comfortable with everything.
That way, you can learn how to lift weights properly, and have your trainer put together an effective routine for you to start following, allowing you to make the faster progress possible towards improving your life.