Thought that weightlifting was simply for meathead bodybuilders looking to build as much muscle as possible? Think again! Yes, bodybuilders do indeed lift weights and build impressive physiques, but you don’t need to want to become a hulking great monster to lift weights. Numerous studies have found, time and time again, that resistance training offers countless health and wellness benefits to individuals of all ages, genders, shapes, and sizes, for a number of reasons. If you’ve been deliberately avoiding the weight room in the gym because you were worried you would become “too big” here are a few reasons to step off the treadmill and make your way into the weight room.
You will burn fat – One of the main reasons why people claim that they don’t lift weights is because they say that they want to burn fat and not get too big. That’s perfectly fine, as we all train for different reasons. The thing to remember however, is that lifting weights will actually help you to burn fat in a variety of different ways. To begin with, lifting weights is still a form of physical activity, so you are burning calories. You also build lean muscle, which requires more calories at maintenance than fat. That means that, by building lean muscle, your metabolism increases so you burn more calories to simply maintain your physique in its current state.
You build functional strength – Another key advantage associated with resistance training, is that you build what is known as ‘functional strength’. Functional strength is the type of strength that helps you out in everyday life, and not just the gym. That means that you will find it easier to perform seemingly mundane tasks like shopping, gardening, or housework. The easier you find these tasks, the easier your life becomes by default.
You can build a great physique – If you’re serious about transforming your physique then weightlifting is a great way to go about things. By lifting weights, you can burn fat and build muscle. This means that you can build an aesthetically pleasing physique that is not only functional, but that also happens to make you feel happier in your own skin.
You control your size – As mentioned, a lot of people, especially women it has to be said, tend to avoid weights because they don’t want to get too big. In reality, training with weights at a moderate intensity will not turn you into a hulking, muscle-bound monster, but what it will do is help you to replace body fat with lean muscle mass. Muscle actually takes up less space than fat, so you will actually look smaller and more defined. If you want to bulk up, you simply make the necessary changes to your diet, you choose an intense training routine and you step up the intensity and training frequency. Basically, you dictate how big or small you get in the gym by regulating what you eat and how you train.