Introduction
To achieve fitness goals, one must take a balanced approach to fitness programming. Today we’ll discuss the endless benefits of strength training and how it can improve your overall quality of life.
Building muscle mass through strength training is an essential component to any healthy fitness program. Muscles are what ultimately burn calories, whether you’re active or at rest. It’s what we all want, whether we know it or not. Strength training can increase your energy, help you lose weight, boost self-confidence, and improve your posture. It also improves coordination and balance while decreasing stress levels.
Yes, you can burn a great deal of calories completing a cardio session. Especially a high intensity one. Whether it be running, cycling, swimming, or using something like a cross trainer. All good. Something is always better than nothing but, if you’re looking to take a more intelligent and optimized approach, functional strength training should not be sold short. Functional strength training will help you move better by improving coordination, balance and mobility. The benefits of strength training are endless and it’s the best way to progress towards your fitness goals.
Why is it better you may ask?
The answer is simple, yet multifaceted. With a carefully devised and executed program, one of the benefits of strength training is burning calories while you train as well as hours after you have finished training. Similar to cardio, but you’re gaining muscle. This is due to excessive post-exercise oxygen consumption or EPOC, a technical term meaning the use of energy to bring you back to a normal state after any high intensity movements. This is your body working to normalize your heart rate and burning those extra calories. Get it! With small tweaks in the intensity of your programming your muscle gains will continue to snowball this process, making it easier to burn calories and consequently changing your body composition.
As we all continue to age, we inevitably lose muscle mass. Strength training helps reverse this process. It increases bone density and keeps your joints healthy, reducing symptoms of arthritis. Cardio alone will not do this. If anything, some types of cardio might exacerbate symptoms of arthritis.
Here are the 10 benefits of strength training:
1. Increased energy levels
2. Weight loss
3. Improved posture
4. Reduced stress
5. Increased bone density
6. Stronger muscles
7. Decreased risk of injury
8. Increased coordination and balance
9. Increased mobility
10. Increased metabolic rate
Ultimately, a combination of strength training, core conditioning, cardio, meditation and nutrition are what will get you well rounded results. With some of these movements executed through your disciplines of choice.
The balanced approach to your overall wellbeing.
Functional Strength Training
Although functional training is sometimes compared to weightlifting or bodybuilding, but
there are some important differences. Functional Training can be a subset of Strength Training and specifically involves movements which help you perform daily life activities more effectively. Think carrying your groceries or your children. It’s targeted at optimizing your daily movements. It also focuses on core stability – here goes that core talk again. Functional training helps you become more stable and efficient at daily tasks, while gaining real strength.
Studies have shown you can achieve greater gains in overall fat loss and muscle mass gain, through limiting cardio to just 10 min warm ups, a 20 min HIIT session twice a week or even just a brisk 45 min walk once a day for your optimal cardio needs. Of course, this is extremely oversimplified and programs should be customized to your limitations and goals. That being said, the emphasis is still placed on some variation of strength training as the primary tool of achieving your fitness goals.
A great way for beginners or advanced lifters to never miss a workout is through full-body workouts and programming where you work all your major muscle groups in the same session. Sometimes in a circuit. This allows you to work your whole body more often and since you’re utilizing larger body parts more often, like your glutes and legs, you end up burning more calories. Again, the compound effect. Genius.
Strength Training at Home
A typical gym workout might not be as practical as it claims to be. It proves monotonous and boring when you actually decide to show up. Many get distracted and end up socializing more than they workout. Others aren’t versed with proper form, how to utilize certain equipment or how to devise an optimized program, so they opt for the simplest routines or movements and do them over and over again. Like hamsters on a wheel, we run on a treadmill or pedal our stationary bikes. We’re all guilty of this at one time or another and maybe we justify it with a “something’s better than nothing” psychology.
But, deep down inside, we’re all yearning for a unique approach.
If you’re looking for a unique, engaging solution to staying fit and healthy at home, then look no further. UNIX meets the needs of those looking for exercises focused on core conditioning, but also on well-rounded, full body and functional workouts. It’s unique, it’s challenging, and it’s results driven. And as we discussed, the benefits of having an optimized functional training program are endless.
The UNIX CORE, complete with smart resistance bands, is interfaced with a Virtual Reality (VR) environment that allows you to participate in live streaming and on demand trainer led group fitness classes, while having the ability to engage with those around you, virtually of course. The UNIX UNIVERSE is a destination for those looking to inspire, be inspired and optimize their fitness programming.
Visit us at UNIX today to find out how this revolutionary fitness product allows you to complete multiple full body strength training exercises from an array of disciplines to burn fat, build muscle and best of all receive encouragement from your friends and family while training at home!
Are you ready for the future?