Movement and Exercise
What Are the 8 Biggest Benefits of Strength Training?
Key takeaways:
Strength training uses resistance –– from your body weight or equipment like dumbbells –– to increase muscle mass.
It provides a range of benefits, including better heart and brain health.
The CDC recommends doing strength-training exercises at least two days per week.
For many people, strength training is synonymous with weightlifting and bulging muscles. While it can make you stronger, strength training is more than lifting weights. You can do it with numerous exercises, like push-ups or squats. And it's been linked to a range of physical and mental health benefits that you can enjoy at any age.
“When you are less active, it can speed up the aging process,” says Rocky Snyder, a fitness author and certified strength and conditioning specialist.
“Muscle loss and diminished speed may have more to do with reduced activity than your age,” he continues. “Strenuous exercise like strength training is one key to longevity.”
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Building muscle is a complicated process. Current research suggests that three factors may contribute to muscle growth: mechanical tension, metabolic stress, and muscle damage.
Strength training is one way to stimulate that growth, or muscle hypertrophy. It involves using resistance –– from body weight, exercise machines, or free weights –– to build muscle mass and strength. That's why it's also referred to as resistance training.
Let's look at the biceps curl exercise to understand how strength training may work:
When you lift a dumbbell, your muscles encounter resistance (mechanical tension) from the weight.
Your muscles try to overcome that resistance by contracting.
As your muscles contract and relax, it causes metabolic stress. It may also create microtears in your muscle fibers.
The metabolic stress and exercise-induced muscle damage produce changes within the muscle cells.
Those cellular changes may increase muscle mass and strength, allowing your muscles to adapt to heavier loads over time.
Keep reading to learn more about the benefits of strength training and how to add it to your fitness routine.
Muscle mass naturally declines with age. And the loss of muscle mass and strength can affect your functional mobility and overall health. But progressive strength training may delay or prevent age-related muscle loss. “Strength training can help preserve muscle over time because the repair process will keep building your muscles,” says Snyder.
It can also increase your muscle strength and power. “Your overall strength improves as muscles adapt to anticipate more weight,” Snyder adds. That's why gradual progression is so important. Lifting heavier loads trains your muscles to respond to more resistance, which keeps the tear-down and repair process going.
In addition to building muscles, strength training can also increase bone density. “When you load your bones with weight-bearing exercise, they get stronger,” says Neel Anand, MD, professor of orthopedic surgery and director of spine trauma at Cedars-Sinai Spine Center in Los Angeles.
“Although an activity like walking can provide a degree of resistance due to working against gravity,” he says, “resistance training is especially effective because you're putting more stress on the skeletal system.”
More muscle mass and stronger bones to support your joints promote better range of motion and stability, Anand says. Research shows that strength training improves physical function and prevents falls among older adults. It may also reduce the risk of sports-related overuse injuries.
Aerobic exercise is often touted for its cardiovascular benefits. It's called “cardio” for a reason. But it's not the only heart-healthy exercise. Strength training can be a boon as well. For example, it's been shown to lower blood pressure among people with hypertension.
One study examined the effects of aerobic and resistance training. Researchers found that a combination of the two improved blood pressure, cardiorespiratory fitness, and overall cardiovascular health.
You might not associate strong, healthy muscles with disease prevention. But strength training reduces the risk of age-related chronic conditions, including decreased mobility and Type 2 diabetes. One review of studies found that just 30 to 60 minutes of weekly muscle-strengthening exercise was linked to a lower risk of death, heart disease, and cancer.
Nutrition is critical in maintaining a healthy weight. But research suggests that resistance training can support decreases in body fat. A study found that adults who combined strength training with aerobic exercise had a lower risk of obesity.
Those who regularly did both types of exercise tended to be the most successful at keeping weight controlled, but participants who did only resistance training still had a nearly 30% reduced risk of obesity. That group also tended to have an edge in maintaining body fat percentage over the years.
“During strength training, muscles are brought to fatigue,” says Snyder. “The subsequent repair process requires a tremendous amount of energy, mostly from fat stores.”
He adds that “although aerobic activity demands more calories during a workout, the repair process isn't as demanding. The result is more fat burned, for longer, after a resistance workout.”
Can lifting weights help your brain too? According to research, it can. Multiple studies suggest that strength training can improve cognitive function in people with mild cognitive impairment.
For example, a small study of older adults with cognitive impairment examined the effects of a resistance training intervention. After four months of training, participants showed significant improvements in executive function and processing speed. They also had better physical function, including muscle strength.
If you're looking for a natural mood boost, strength training can help. A review found that resistance exercise training may ease symptoms of depression. People with depression who did strength training exercises twice a week significantly reduced their symptoms. Another review suggests that the training improves anxiety symptoms in adults, regardless of health status.
According to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, adults should engage in muscle-strengthening exercises two to three times per week. Whatever activity you choose should involve all major muscle groups.
And you don't always have to hit the gym for an effective strength-training workout. You can invest in dumbbells or try yoga and other fitness routines that include bodyweight exercises at home.
“The keys are progression and consistency,” says Snyder. “A good first step is creating a schedule for your training. Then, you can make the workouts more challenging over time.” That might mean increasing the weight or doing more sets or reps.
Strength training is an excellent way to build lean muscle. But it's also important for a range of advantages, from weight maintenance to heart and brain health. Adding just two sessions per week and focusing on gradual progression can build benefits over time.
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