Everyone knows that getting in regular exercise is part of a healthy lifestyle. It helps your body function properly, as well as aiding in maintaining a healthy weight and keeping your heart strong.
Cardiovascular exercise is certainly important, but if you want to get the most out of your exercise routine, you need to make sure that you fit in some strengthening exercises, too.
Here are five reasons why they are so important and should always be part of your workout routine.
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Improves Your Balance
Building your muscles mass can help improve your balance, which might not seem like a big deal to you now, but will do later in life. Your muscle mass reduces as you get older anyway, so building on this now will help you stay stronger in your senior years and reduce your chances of struggling with balance and mobility (unless you develop a specific medical condition that affects these things).
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Reduces Risk of Joint Injury
Strengthening exercises are good for your bones as well as your muscles and can help to reduce the chances of developing osteoporosis later in life.
It can also help reduce the chance of joint injury by making the muscles around them stronger, making them less vulnerable to strains and sprains.
However, if you experience an injury like this, you might want to see a physiotherapist help you recover, or you can find some advice on what you can do at home on ATL Physio.
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Boosts Your Mood
Any form of exercise can help to improve your mental health because it can help to release more endorphins, which are known as the feel-good hormone.
While you can still get these from a cardio workout, strengthening exercises can pose a different type of challenge, especially if you’re only starting to introduce them to your routine.
Seeing yourself get stronger and pushing yourself in this way can be incredibly satisfying and make you feel good about yourself.
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Improved Physique
Cardio exercise like running, walking, cycling, swimming, etc., will certainly help you lose weight if you are doing it regularly enough and watching what you eat.
However, if you want to have an improved physique, you should be thinking about toning your body as well, which you will achieve through strengthening exercises.
This will make sure that you’re not left with sagging skin after you have lost weight and ultimately give you more confidence in regards to your appearance.
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You’re Still Burning a Lot of Calories
If your main goal of exercising is to lose weight, you might be focusing more on cardio workouts rather than strengthening exercises.
However, you can still burn a lot of calories by doing these exercises as you will work up a sweat and get your heart pumping. They are just as effective as running or walking, and you’ll be making yourself physically stronger at the same time.
If you are starting a new exercise regime to help you get fit and healthy, make sure you include strengthening exercise in it for the best results.
