10 Reasons to Strength Train

So a few days ago, I was chatting with a woman from work who told me that she's recently joined a gym and had an orientation with a Personal Trainer. She had her measurements taken, and together they worked out an exercise plan. What she said next totally floored me: her trainer told her to only do cardio, and that he didn't even want her to touch the weight machines or free weights. My reaction: WHAT?!?! Yes, cardio is important, but so is building muscle. If you don't strength train, then you're not only losing fat with the cardio, but you are also losing the muscle that you do have. Ugh. I can't believe a Personal Trainer would actually tell someone to not even touch the weight machines.

So here are 10 reasons why you should be strength training. I compiled these tips from the February 2009 issue of Oxygen magazine, and the ChaLEAN Extreme Guidebook.

1. Increase strength. Strength training makes everyday activities that much easier. Whether you're lifting heavy objects, carrying groceries or playing with your kids.
2. Lose fat. Muscle burns fat! Each pound of muscle that you gain increases your metabolism and makes your body a fat burning machine. So the more muscle you have, the more fat you'll burn at a resting state.
3. Build muscle. Now ladies, you do not have to worry about bulking up from lifting weights because it affects men and women differently. Men can bulk up from lifting weight, and women will get defined and toned from the same weight lifting.
4. Healthy bones. Per the Oxygen article, research shows that consistent strength training can improve bone density by 13% in just six months. This is crucial as we get older.
5. Improve performance. Using those weights can improve your overall performance in sports.
6. Keep yourself healthy. Regular training actually decreases your risk of injury, and increases joint stability by strengthening ligaments and tendons. When I started weight training, my back problems gradually got better.
7. Strengthens your heart. That's right. You can increase your good HDL cholesterol and lower your bad LDL cholesterol. Not to mention, you can lower your blood pressure too.
8. Ward off type 2 diabetes. Regular weight training can improve the way your body processes sugar and may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.
9. Age is irrelevant. It doesn't matter how old you are - you can make strength improvements at any age. One of the women in Burn Circuit 1 DVD of ChaLEAN Extreme is 60 years old, and she doesn't look a day over 50. Wow!
10. Makes you feel better. As you build muscle and start to look better, you'll feel better too. Go ahead, improve your self-confidence.