We already know that exercise is healthy. However, we consider strength training as something we do to get stronger and look good. You might not know that it also has a lot of health benefits! Let us walk you through some of the benefits.

Fat loss and strength training

Research shows that obese adults who do strength training lose more weight than those who do not, also a bigger part of the weightloss is fat (Beavers et al, 2017). It sounds a little off, since you do not burn that many kilocalories by doing strength training. However, since your body uses a lot of oxygen during the training, you will keep on burning kilocalories after the training too. So even when you are all cozied up on the couch while watching Netflix! Next to that, strength training will allow your muscles to grow. This will also cause fat loss, because muscles burn more kilocalories than fat. So in other words: compared to cardio training, strength training causes you to burn fewer kilocalories during your training; but you burn more kilocalories in moments of rest.

Depression and strength training

Of course, strength training is no magic pill. But it can help prevent and reduce symptoms of depression. Exercise in general has a positive effect on you mental well-being, since it affects your hormone household. We explain more about this subject in this blog post. However, strength training specificly seems to have an even bigger effect. Research shows that depressed people who do strength training experience less complaints.

Reducing back pain

Strength training is probably the last on your list when you suffer from back pain. However, research shows that strength training can reduce back pain significantly (Jackson, Shepard & Kell, 2011). This might be because you develop body stability and because it gives you the opportunity to slowly build intensity.

A healthy heart

Up until recently people believed that strength training might not be the best idea for cardiac patients. But the contrary has been shown: cardiac patients who do strength training perform better in cardio training because of the increased amount of muscle mass and the quality of life increases (Gezondheidsnet, 2016). It also affects the blood pressure in a positive way. The blood pressure will increase during the training, but after the training it well reduce slowly. This is also the case for people with a healthy blood pressure.

The effects on your sugars

Your body gets more sensitive for insulin as a result of strength training. Or in other words: your body uses the produced insulin more efficiently. This is because muscle is the most (insulin-) sensitive tissue in your body, increasing your muscle mass means increasing the total body insulin sensitivity. And this means you can process glucose more easily. This can help prevent or reduce diabetes type 2.

Self confidence

How great does it feel when you are able to open that can of peas by yourself and you can carry that heavy bag of groceries without help? You are totally independent! Next to that, your body will change and your muscles are starting to show. This does not only mean that you will feel better, but also your posture will improve! A good posture will give your self confidence a boost (Brinol, Petty & Wagner, 2009).

NiceDay app

Plan a training in your Daily Planner on the NiceDay app. Describe how you feel after the training. The next time you don’t feel like training, you can look back at this message and remember how good you feel afterwards!