Strong muscles are the foundation of a functional body. Strong muscles and adequate muscle mass have many health benefits. Why should everyone train and build muscle?
Healthy exercise for all ages
The effects of muscle training on health have been widely studied. Over the last decade, muscular training has become as important a health promotion tool as endurance exercise. Muscle training is no longer only important to support bones and joints, but also to prevent a wide range of diseases. Muscle training can also reduce the need for medication.
Muscle training is important for people of all ages, but the importance of good muscle tone increases as you get older. For people over 50, muscle training has a significant impact on muscle preservation and for people over 70, the impact is even greater. If you have never done muscle training before, age is no barrier to starting. Age also has no influence on development, and muscle fitness can be developed at any age.
On the other hand, the earlier you start muscle training, the better and longer the effects of the training will last. Good muscle fitness also helps young people during illness, accidents or other periods of immobility. The foundation you build when you are young is good for you as you get older.
What happens in the muscles?
Muscle cells adapt to the amount of exercise: the less muscle you use, the lazier and smaller your muscle cells become. As you increase the amount of muscle training, the cells start to become more active and grow. So the number of muscle cells does not increase with exercise, but the cells grow and fill up with protein and water. Muscles are excited by the workout and muscle-growing protein synthesis can continue for up to a couple of days after exercise. Muscle conditioning training does two things: increases muscle growth and increases strength.
How quickly can you see results?
When you start muscle training, you start to see results immediately. Especially in the beginning, progress is rapid. If your training is progressive from the start and your diet is supportive, you'll start to see clear results in strength levels and looking in the mirror within three months. However, few people need to be afraid of gaining too much muscle. Training for muscle mass is not something you do by accident; training for big and distinctive muscles requires systematic training.
Unfortunately, this development will not continue as fast forever, but will start to slow down after a year or so. If you want to continue to see results in strength and muscle mass, you need to plan your training more carefully. The training should be ascending and the stimulus should change often enough. The importance of nutrition is also becoming more important.
However, full-time development is not necessary. Once muscle mass and strength levels have been trained to a sufficient level, training can focus on maintaining muscle condition.
The benefits of good muscle tone
The list of benefits of good muscle fitness is long. That's why everyone will find at least one reason to start or increase their muscle training.
Muscle training
- strengthen the bones
- protects joints
- improves balance
- prevents dementia
- protects the heart
- balances blood sugar levels
- improves lipid values
- protects against silent inflammation
- prolongs life expectancy
- good for the back
- reduce pain
- speed up rehabilitation
- prevents muscle loss
- more power
- makes it easier to sleep
- maintain functional capacity
- speeds up metabolism
- helps with weight management
- reduce body fat
- facilitates general coping in everyday life
- increases self-confidence
- help with other sports
For help getting started with muscle training, contact a personal trainer. Book an appointment for a free exercise consultation with your centre's customer service. It's never too late to start or to invest in muscle training!
