Lifting weights can (and will) change your life. Not just in your appearance, but in all facets of your life.
We’re all aware that lifting weights helps you lose fat, build muscle, impress others, and look better in your clothes. These are all valuable benefits, but there’s much more to strength training than just aesthetics and muscles.
There’s a great majority out there who work out for their ego, validation, or insecurity from social media. But, strength training is much deeper than just focusing on how you look. Let’s peel back some layers and go deeper into why lifting weights should be a cornerstone in your life.
1. You’ll Live Longer
Aging is a natural part of life leading us to weaken while our muscle mass starts to decline (unless we give it a reason to stick around). Aging naturally happens through less efficient mitochondria operating and a decrease in your telomerase. These telomerase’s are enzymes that repair and maintain caps on the end of your chromosomes.
But through woking out, not only are you giving your body reasons to keep its muscle mass, but you’re also dramatically slowing down the aging process along with decreasing your chances for obesity, diabetes, and prematurely dying among many others.
With this knowledge in mind, you can start reaping the benefits of strength training and adding years to your life just by lifting two times a week.
2. You’ll Get Better Sleep
Sleep is something that a big majority of people are struggling with on a routine basis. Sleep deprivation can wreak havoc on your career, health, and relationships.
In fact, 43 percent of Americans rarely obtain a good night’s sleep on the weeknights. In addition, getting less than 6.5 hours of sleep resulted in people having higher body fat levels according to the American Journal of Health Promotion.
However, lifting weights can help alleviate sleep issues. Those who suffer from restless leg syndrome, which is a condition described as an irresistible urge to move the legs. This can stem from many different issues, but lifting weights helps to start swinging the pendulum in a healthier direction.
Besides restless leg syndrome, lifting weights helps those with sleep apnea.
3. You’re Able to Improve Your Self-Esteem
In today’s world, it is easy to transfer your self-worth to external sources such as Instagram, Facebook, television, magazines, and many other outlets.
However, one big way to reclaim your self-worth is through the gym. What’s more personal than your body?
Accomplishing goals you once deemed impossible and now making those a reality is life changing. Whether it’s deadlifting your bodyweight and more or accomplishing your first chin up, these physical feats provide new waves of confidence that can change the narrative that you tell yourself on a daily basis.
Weightlifting provides a way for you to define yourself and gain clarity about yourself. Gradual improvements in the gym and reaching new physical capabilities is the perfect antidote to igniting your confidence and surging your brain with positive thoughts.
4. You’re Improving Your Mental Health
Physically pushing yourself with weights teaches you about what your character is made up of through the form of resiliency and determination.
Some days you won’t feel like working out. Some sessions you won’t feel like completing your sets. And during some training sessions, your performance isn’t going to be good. But, if you keep showing up, you’re building resilience and mental strength that is transferable outside of the gym.
While the gym is building character to help improve your squats, it’s also building character to help you improve in business, relationships, and life.
5. You’re going to be happier
With an estimate of more than 300 million people suffering from depression and much more who are undiagnosed or are on the cusps of depression, it’s a worldwide issue.
While lifting weights is far from being the cure for many of these cases of depression, it can help a high percentage of those with milder forms because the activity is going to help alleviate your mental world through the release of positive endorphins given off through exercising.
Lifting weights provide an outlet to escape from your day and get you body in motion. Putting your body in motion will create healthier emotions and perspectives out of yourself. Often times, the situation isn’t that different, we’re just looking at it through a different set of lens in a positive channel thanks to the good vibes that lifting weights provide.
6. You’re going to be more productive
A prevalent topic of interest these days is how to be more productive on a daily basis. Many will seek various “life hacks” and tactics, but lifting weights is the original life hack to double your productivity and improve your life.
By lifting weights, you’re going to improve your stamina which helps with your overall productivity. Along with this reason, your productivity improves due to less sick leave absenteeism and illnesses.
In a study done by Swedish researchers, participants included physical activity into their work day and their productivity improved across the board.
7. You’re going to be smarter
Lifting weights will help unclog your brain and provide a clearer lane for thoughts to happen since strength training is relieving you of built-up tension. Through strength training, you’re going to improve your cognitive abilities.
While this is great for the gym, improving your cognitive abilities will translate to helping you make better decision with your nutrition, relationships, and business decisions.
8. You’re able to make a bigger impact in this world
When you have great health through strength training, this equates to fewer illnesses and more energy throughout your days. Thus you’re able to show up in the world as a more productive version of yourself while making a bigger impact among people.
When you neglect to put your health first, you’re going to show up as a lesser and capable version of yourself. Not only is this a disservice to yourself, but it’s also a disservice to everyone else because you’re not impacting them as best as you could.
When you have better health, this equates to a more mentally and physically stronger individual whose confident and inspiring those around them.
9. You’re able to handle stress and the daily obstacles of life better
Stress is a natural part of our lives. In fact, everything in life is a stressor, but the key is to manage those stressors and not get off balance. It’s key to not let your day-to-day life get overwhelming.
When your stress levels are too high, your sleep starts to become an issue along with added weight gain and decreased levels of motivation.
However, through strength training, you can increase concentrations of norepinephrine, which is a chemical that moderates the brains response to stress. Strength training is conditioning your body to better handle resiliency and adapt to the new age environment where high levels of stress are seemingly around every corner.
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