Why Strength Training Is The Foundation For Everything

It’s no secret that at Resilient Fitness (RF), we love strength training.  Whether it’s kettlebells, barbells, or machines, we’re big proponents of strength training for our clients.  Strength training is the foundation for, well, everything because it directly impacts longevity, resilience, and overall health.  Developing physical strength enhances not only muscle function but overall physiological and mental well-being.  Here’s why we believe that strength is crucial to living a healthy life:

Longevity: Strength Increases Lifespan

Strength training can increase your lifespan by reducing the risk of chronic diseases, improving overall fitness, and helping maintain muscle mass and bone density.  As we age, we naturally lose muscle mass– a condition called sarcopenia.  Add to that an increasingly sedentary lifestyle and you can end up with a lot of weakness.  Strength training slows this process down, preserving muscle strength.  In addition to sarcopenia, we also lose bone density as we age. Weight-bearing exercises strengthens bones and increases bone density, reducing the risk of osteoporosis and fractures. Strength training also improves metabolic health; for example, strength training leads to more muscle mass and more muscle mass improves insulin sensitivity, lowering the risk of diabetes and other metabolic disorders.  Finally, strength training improves your cardiovascular health; stronger muscles reduce strain on the heart, improving overall circulation and reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases.  In essence, strength training helps the entire body stay strong, not just your muscles, and a strong body can stay independent and mobile for quite a long time.  As we like to say: aging is inevitable, but weakness is not! 

Resilience: Strength Helps You Withstand Life’s Challenges

Another benefit of strength training is the ability to build resilience.  Strength training builds resilience by enhancing both physical and mental capabilities. Physically, strength training leads to stronger muscles and stronger muscles are better equipped to handle daily activities and withstand physical strength.  As a result, this helps with injury and fall prevention.  However,  in the event of an injury, strength training is also a useful tool in recovery, promoting blood flow and tissue repair.  We often talk about the physiological benefits of strength training, but there are also a lot of mental benefits.  Stress reduction, improved mood and cognitive function, increased self-efficacy can all occur while strength training.  The discipline and perseverance required for consistent training can translate into greater resilience in the face of life’s challenges. Essentially, strength training puts the “resilient” in Resilient Fitness!  

Overall Health: Strength Enhances Daily Functionality

You may have heard us use the term “functional fitness”, which just means we prefer to focus on exercises that improve your body’s ability to perform everyday activities and movements.  These exercises are typically multi-joint, multi-muscle movements that mimic real-life actions like bending, lifting, and twisting.  In other words, functional strength training emphasizes training movement patterns rather than isolating individual muscles, aiming to improve overall strength, balance, and coordination.  The exercises are designed to enhance your ability to perform tasks in daily life, making everyday activities easier and reducing the risk of injury.  Functional movement patterns can include squats, deadlifts, lunges, and push ups. 

In essence, strength is not just about lifting weights– it’s about building a foundation for a longer, healthier, and more resilient life.  Investing in strength means investing in the ability to enjoy life to the fullest for as long as possible.  And we want to help you get and stay strong!  Reach out to us today and schedule your free No-Sweat Intro Session: a session where you will meet with one of our coaches and talk about your goals and how we can help you achieve them.  We want to help you stay strong for life!