WEIGHT TRAINING AND ITS BENEFITS
WEIGHT TRAINING AND THE TOTAL PHYSICAL FITNESS PROGRAM
Weight training alone is not enough to develop and maintain total health and fitness. It has to get support from proper
nutrition, good health habits, and exercise for endurance, strength, and flexibility. Proper nutrition will supply the body with
enough energy and nutrients to help avoid the excess body fat, and prevent diseases such as osteoporosis and coronary
artery diseases. A healthy lifestyle is another component that helps in the success of the program. Vices such as smoking,
taking dangerous drugs, and excessive use of alcohol should be avoided.
Benefits of Weight Training
It is very obvious that weight training provides wholesome benefits such as attractive body, increased strength and power,
enhanced metabolism, improved sports performance, and improved self-confidence. With weight training, almost all
people can achieve rapid gains and self-improvement. Fahey (2007) presented the benefits of weight training:
1. Improved quality of life. Vigorous and powerful muscles are essential for the smooth and easy performance of
everyday activities.
2. Improved muscle and bone health with aging. Good muscle strength prolongs life and promotes a healthier life.
Regular, lifelong participation in strength training prevents muscle and nervous system degeneration.
3. Improved cardiovascular function. Weight training improves blood pressure regulation.
4. Enhanced metabolism. Insulin resistance is linked to high insulin secretion, high blood pressure, obesity, and blood fat
abnormalities. Weight training helps promote a better ratio of "good" HDL to "bad" LDL cholesterol and reduces insulin
resistance. Increased strength and power. Increased strength and power are advantages in daily life, in tasks ranging
from carrying groceries to lifting suitcases at the airport. Strength training also makes muscles, tendons, and
ligaments stronger and less susceptible to diseases.
Weight Training and your Body
Weight training strengthens tendons and ligaments and improves coordination between the nervous and muscular
systems. Skeletal muscle is also highlighted in weight training. Overload muscles get stronger; on the other hand, inactive
muscles get weaker and become prone to injuries. There are three factors that determine the strength-gaining potential of
an individual; genetics, gender, and training program.
a. Genetic Potential The genes determine the number of muscle fibers and fiber types within each muscle. The
coordination of nervous system, body size, and bone length determine the per son's strength. Timing and coordination are
partially determined by genetics; body size is also genetics, and they are all important aspects of strength.
b. Gender Differences Men and women gain the same rate of strength, but generally, men are stronger than women due
to their larger muscle mass. However, when strength is expressed per unit of the cross-sectional area of muscle tissue,
men are only 1 to 2 percent stronger than women in the upper body, and almost equal to women in the lower body
strength. The study shows that women have a greater proportion of their muscle mass in the lower body than men. Men
have greater muscles in the upper body as compared to women, the reason that men have stronger shoulders than
women.
c. Training Program A well-designed weight-training program according to Fahey, 2007, if practiced systematically will
increase muscle strength in almost anyone. The training program can be individualized, so, the person himself has the full
control of the training gains.
Weight Training Guidelines
Guidelines work best before starting any physical activities or program. Guidelines are part of planning which helps
individual little by little achieve his goal. Fahey (2007) in his book Basic Weights Training has recommended fourteen (14)
training guidelines for a long-lasting fitness development.
1. Train the way you want your body to change. Choose a well-rounded program that concentrates on the major muscle
groups.
2. Do the exercises properly.
3. Eat a well-balanced, high-performance diet.
4. Train year-round.
5. Get in shape gradually, Training is a stress the body has to overcome, give time to the body to adapt to the stress of
exercise. Muscles are sensitive and prone to injury on the early phase of the training; take the conditioning and the
intensity step by step.
6. Don't train when you're ill or seriously injured.
7. Train first for volume (more repetitions) and only later for intensity (more weight or resistance).
8. Listen to your body. The body dictates a person's pace. If the body needs rest more than it needs exercise, listen to
your body.
9. Vary the volume and intensity of your workouts. Cycle training, or periodization of training, is a technique that allows the
body to recover more fully and to train hard when intense training is required. The principle explains: You do a particular
exercise more intensely in one work-out than in another rather than training at maximum intensity for every exercise
during every weight training session.
10. Don't over train.
11. Train systematically. Plan a proper work-out schedule for the succeeding weeks and months.
12. Train your mind.
13. Learn all you can about exercise.
14. Keep the exercise program in its proper perspective.
