Why You Should Weight Train

I am continually shocked by the fact by the fact that so few people incorporate weight training into their exercise regimen. The best that I've been able to determine, this is because of a very common misunderstanding regarding the benefits of weight training. I say this because, if you ask someone why they don't weight train, they tend to tell you that they don't want to be a bodybuilder and/or they don't want get "big and bulky."

Now, the reality of the situation is that weight training is extremely beneficial for everyone, regardless of their ambitions in health or life. Also, consistent weight training doesn't have to develop "big and bulky" muscles. The reasons that everyone should weight train are the same reasons why everyone should exercise.

The first and most obvious answer is staring you in the face every time you look in the mirror. Muscle is generally more attractive than fat. While it would be nice if everyone went to the gym and worked out because they truly wanted to be healthy, the fact is that many people simply want to look better. Toned muscle seems to be almost universally accepted as better looking on both men and women.

Regarding appearance, women tend to be the ones who object to getting too "big and bulky" with muscles and, therefore, avoid weight training. It's actually much easier to weight train and not get large. By working with medium weights and more repetitions, you won't bulk up; instead, you'll tone your existing muscles and build them in a leaner way.

Having strong and toned muscles, regardless of their size, is important in preventing injuries. For instance, back injuries are extremely common and the main reason for this is weak back muscles. Research is also indicating that building and strengthening your muscles improves your immune system and will help keep you safe from illness and disease as well.

Increasing muscle mass is also one of the greatest possible ways to lose weight. Muscles require more calories than fat does for its survival. As I'm sure you are aware, the only way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you consume. You're actually burning calories while you sit there, reading this because our bodies are constantly burning calories. Muscle is an extremely active part of our body and, on average, a pound of muscle burns 35 calories a day just by existing.

A pound of fat burns…no calories.

So even if your sole goal for exercising is to lose weight, you will still be better off incorporating weight training because the muscle you build will help you lose weight 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If you're not working to build and maintain your muscles, you run the risk of burning off muscle tissue while you burn off fat. This will reduce your ongoing ability to burn calories on a daily basis which will make you put on more weight in the future and…I think you see the cycle here. This is one of the reasons that crash diets don't work and the dieter ends up bouncing back up to their original weight and, usually, higher. They decrease caloric intake, but don't exercise properly, and therefore burn muscle. When they inevitably come off the diet, their metabolism is lower and they have less muscle to burn calories. And, snap, they bounce up.

The act of weight training isn't going to turn you into the next Mr. or Ms. Universe (much to the displeasure of thousands who are trying to do just that). Proper weight training will simply make you a healthier, stronger, sexier calorie burning machine.

So, why aren't you weight training again?