1. Lose Weight and Keep It Off
Weight training is one of the fastest, most effective ways to lose body fat and improve muscle tone.
When you lose weight through dieting alone or together with some aerobic exercise (such as walking, running, biking or swimming), you lose muscles along with fat.
This can be quite problematic. That’s because when you lose muscles, your metabolism slows down ending up burning fewer calories overall. This, of course, goes against the law of weight loss and calories, and can potentially cause a plateau or weight gain.
By adding weight training to the mix, you can maintain or boost your metabolism (1).
Although weight training is no magic bullet for weight loss, many obesity, and weight loss experts consider it to be an essential part of any weight-control program.
2. Boost Your Energy
Forget those highly caffeinated dietary energy supplements that promise to keep you energized all day long.
One of the best energy boosters comes not in a bottle but on a weight rack.
When you lift weights, you’d feel a boost of energy. That’s because strength training helps with circulation and pumps out more blood to the heart muscles, giving you more energy flows overall.
3. Increase Your Strength
Lifting heavier weights may not be your primary goal in life, but that doesn’t mean that an increase in strength can’t help.
The extra strength you’ve earned from lifting weights in the gym can mean an easier time moving around your recycle bins, living room furniture, and carrying your tots.
You’ll also have a less chance of getting injured from handling heavy items.
4. Improving Your Heart Health
Heart health is not just a matter of healthy eating.
Exercise whether it's cardio or weight lifting can help improve your heart health tremendously by lowering the risk of a stroke or heart attack.
It was previously believed that cardio is what can lower the risk of heart issues, but a recent study discovered that weight lifting too can benefit your heart by bringing down the bad LDL cholesterol (2).