Why STRENGTH ?
FIgure 1: Athlete performs a heavy deadlift.
Since we are born, we constantly interact with our physical environment. Every day, we are exposed to countless sensory stimuli (visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, taste), which are unlimited. These stimuli shift our knowledge by either expanding it or modifying what we already know by adding new information. This is how we learn; via a process that is ongoing throughout every person's life. But how is this related to Strength?
The answer is simple.
Every living creature interacts with its natural environment producing force against an external resistance. This is how we live, through perpetual action and interaction, which is a well-established fact.
Have you ever wondered how we walk?
Now, imagine a baby.
No parent gets more excited except when their little bundle of joy tries to take a few steps for the first time. Having no previous ability or knowledge to produce such a movement, this little guy can only achieve this marvelous milestone by creating force. And note that this force is produced exclusively by the muscles.
Now that we made that clear, let's go further.
What is Strength?
You will come across a very straightforward yet fulfilling definition just by googling it:
Strength is either the state or the quality of being physically strong.
So, now the remaining question is, what is Physical Strength? As mentioned above, we interact with our environment by producing force against an external resistance. Physical Strength is the "instrument" we use to measure a person's exertion of this force on physical objects. Deeping further, one's Physical Strength is determined by two specific factors:
by the complexity and the quality of the bond of the muscle fibers involved in generating force
and the level of intensity demonstrated for this recruitment
Why is Physical Strength Important?
As a term, it may vary from person to person, depending on several different factors. However, the core remains unchanged: Physical Strength is the ability to complete physical tasks solely based on your own strength level.
However, don't run to make any conclusions.
The significant part about Strength is that numerous physical tasks, unrelated to each other, need to be performed in our daily routine. Some typical examples might be carrying heavy bags of groceries, moving a hefty load, opening a jar, climbing the stairs, holding your child, and so on. Others might seem more insignificant, and others might be more complex.
As a result, there aren't any specifications mandating a particular body mass, composition, or standard bodyweight defining how strong you should be to perform such tasks. Just because you need to recruit your muscles to perform these tasks doesn't mean you have to be a professional athlete or look exaggeratedly muscular.
Now, think of a bodybuilder.
Initially, observing his appearance might be overawing, assuming he must be remarkably physically strong. Still, the same might apply to a way more petite guy, probably sitting next to you right now. The truth is appearances are often deceptive. Just because someone's physique doesn't indicate visible muscle lines doesn't mean this person is weak. Vice versa applies to someone that looks intimidating muscular but, in reality, cannot perform physical tasks with great ease.
Whether your age, gender, physical state, or fitness goals, keep in mind that Strength follows you everywhere, and you can not escape it. Almost everything you do requires some kind of Physical Strength. You recruit it every day, all around the years, and most of the time, you don't even realize it.
Benefits of Physical Strength
Being Physically Strong has its perks. First of all, getting stronger means you are more robust; you can withstand more tremendous stress and be healthier simultaneously.
Building physical strength means also relying on your own efforts. The sense of accomplishment that follows after you successfully perform chores you couldn't even cope with before is beyond comparison. This exact feeling can be more than uplifting for your self-confidence. Now you are powerful.
However, you may already be aware of these benefits to some extent, which might not be news to you. So, let's go a little further.
The Amazing World of Strength Training
Many myths surround Strength Training. In various small talks, you can listen to people say that lifting weights is bad for you because they are harmful to your body. Actually, that's quite the opposite!
Engaging in strength training is quite beneficial but, more important, is crucial for your well-being as you are getting older.
As a precaution, this particular kind of training can prevent injuries, improve endurance, explosiveness and regulate your metabolism. On the other hand, strength training in older people has proven to intercept the risk of losing mobility, getting fractures, maintaining healthy body weight, and ultimately withholding chronic diseases.
Here are gathered the fundamental advantages of strength training, as proven by studies:
Stronger Bones & Joint Flexibility
As you build muscle mass, you also grow bone density. As the concentration of your muscles increases, the latter, due to this outcome, tend to wrap around your bones and joints, keeping them active and well-protected. Thicker bones are also more resistant to fractures. As for the joints, progressively, you start to gain a better range of motion, which leads to flexibility. However, being flexible is not optimal unless you have the means to protect them. And here is the justification of why you need muscles.
Metabolic Regulation & Weight Loss
Who said muscles make you look fat? The answer is NO ONE. It is well supported that this belief is far away from reality. Muscle mass is denser than fat mass, period. As a result, when you replace fat with muscles, you look leaner, even though you may gain muscle mass. As you build muscles, you also increase your metabolic rate. This is the state at which your organism burns calories throughout the day. You may be familiar with the fact that calories are burnt as you exercise, but did you know that you also burn them as you recover from your workout as well? That's right, and note that the more intense the training is, the longer you need to retrieve your resting state and, thus, the more calories you burn! As your resting metabolism elevates, your body burns excess fat and replaces it with muscle mass.
Injury Prevention
As the days go by, unavoidably, we grow older. As a result, our bodies have the proneness to reduce their muscle mass, which means that progressively we lose the ability to perform daily tasks. As previously mentioned, muscle mass is immediately linked to both bones and joints. In plain English, gradually, our movements are more restricted. We become unable to maintain posture stability while back and knee pain come to the surface. Day by day, we become less potent.
Now, are you ready for some magic?
Even if you haven't been involved in Strength Training your whole life, it's never too late to do so. The wondrous ability of strength training makes you overcome the natural obstacles of the life cycle and the remains of the modern sedentary lifestyle, such as arthritis, sarcopenia, and other chronic conditions. Such a workout can help you maintain or even develop a good body posture balance, take your back and knee pain away and protect the integrity of your musculoskeletal system.
Chronic Disease Prevention & Mental Health Improvement
Sundry studies verdict that our modern-times lifestyle has been strictly associated with several health risks. Typical examples are excessive levels of cholesterol, high amounts of blood sugar, and high blood pressure. Exercise absence and body fat presence conduce the most prevalent combination that leads to the growth of these chronic conditions. Still, you can change the course of your life. Strength training not only reduces your body fat percentage by replacing it with muscles but also dramatically reduces the risk of developing the conditions above.
And now for the bonus part.
Strength training indeed improves brain health. Several studies have proven that older adults who engage in this kind of training have seen notable refinement in their cognitive function. Improved memory and processing speed are some of the outcomes. This finding is justified by the fact that resistance training has neuroprotective effects. Such effects, among others, are better blood flow and a diminishing chance of inflammation, one of the most prevalent causes of cancer.
You might think everything is presented to you, like rainbows and unicorns, but that's not the case at all. We didn't just invent strength training yesterday. Strength was all we had when modern civilization did not exist. Strength training is not optional; it is mandatory.
Strength Training is twofold:
Muscular Strength
Muscular Endurance
As you might have guessed already, Muscular Strength is the ability to lift heavier weights than you used to. On the other hand, Muscular Endurance refers to sustaining this heavy load or similar intense activity for an extended period. Exercises that enhance Muscular Strength are Resistance Training and Weightlifting. Correspondingly, Cycling, Swimming, Long-distance running, and Circuit training are forms of exercise that can improve Muscular Endurance.
In other words, we are talking about Strength and Conditioning.
Strength and Conditioning training is Strength Training. This kind of training was initially addressed to professional athletes. It wasn't until recently that experts realized that Strength and Conditioning is the ultimate exercise fusion and should be addressed to everyone. That's because this particular training involves the development of a handful of skills regarding
accuracy & precision
agility
balance
cognitive function
coordination
endurance
mobility
performance
power
stability
strength
To be more specific, Strength and Conditioning is a training form aiming to develop every area of one's body to improve a person's general physical performance.
Before we come to an end, now it's the perfect time to shoot down a well-spread myth.
Conditioning is linked to aerobic exercises, while Strength is linked to anaerobic. Falsely, it is widely believed that aerobic exercises are better for losing weight, improving your heart condition, and general health. In reality, Conditioning isn't as optimal as you think without Strength. You need both of them.
Concluding, regular Strength Training is paramount to overall health and can benefit people of any age. It has the power to escalate your quality of life too. There is a significant correlation between resistance training and excelled physical functioning, mental health, pain management, and vitality. Fortunately, Strength Training isn't just lifting weights at the gym; it is more than that if you are willing to participate. And also, keep in mind that whether you are new to this or already experienced, it doesn't matter because Strength Training is for everyone. If you haven't tried that yet, now is the time to start. The choice is yours.
So what do you say?
Are you ready to #GetStronger?
