Transform your health with strength training

Strength training is how we improve both muscle strength and endurance by resistance training including dumbbells, resistance or one’s own body weight. When you challenge your muscles with resistance, regardless of the equipment you choose, you're setting the stage for adaptation and growth.

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A strength training program doesn't just build muscle mass; it becomes a powerful support in other areas such as bone health, preventing injury and fall risks and elevating your overall fitness.

If you're new to strength training, working with a certified personal trainer becomes your advantage. Your personal trainer will guide you through proper technique, help you select the right exercises for your needs, and craft a program that's focused on your goals and current abilities. This professional guidance ensures you're executing every movement correctly and maximizing your muscle strength gains while keeping injury risk at bay.

Your own body becomes a training tool through body weight exercises like push-ups, squats and lunges, movements that harness natural resistance and deliver results anytime, making consistent progress whether you're training at home or maintaining while you’re on the road.

Many people don’t think about bone health until later in life, but the truth is, bone loss can start as early as your 30s. Healthy adults can benefit from starting strength training early to maximize bone health. After midlife, the process speeds up, especially for women during and after menopause when estrogen levels drop. This means proactive bone-strengthening should be a priority.

Falls are one of the leading causes of injury and loss of independence among older adults, but strength training reduces that risk. Stronger muscles in your hips, core and legs help stabilize your joints and improve your sense of where your body is in space. Strength training also sharpens neuromuscular control, meaning your brain and muscles communicate better and more quickly.

By enhancing the recruitment and activation of muscle fibers, strength training improves exercise performance, balance and coordination. For example, if you trip on a step or slip on ice, your body can react faster to catch yourself before a fall occurs. This combination of strength, coordination and faster reflexes helps keep you safer in daily life.

You don’t have to live at the gym to see these results.

A common program you could benefit from would be two to three strength training sessions per week, targeting all major muscle groups. Workouts can be as minimal as 30 minutes and still deliver significant benefits when performed consistently. There are many options as well; you can use free weights, machines, resistance bands or body weight exercises like squats, lunges and push-ups. The most important factor is progressive overload, which is gradually increasing the challenge over time to keep stimulating your muscles and bones.

In conclusion, if you're determined to transform your health, build impressive muscle mass or simply inject more physical activity into your daily routine, strength training becomes a reliable tool for success, no matter what age you start your fitness journey.

Isabela Joyce is a certified personal trainer and nutritionist at The M.A.C. She can be reached at IJoyce@the-mac.net.