Originally published on Thursday, December 2nd, 2010
Exercise, Weight Loss by Dr. Victor Marchione for The Doctors Health Press

ave you ever considered trying a little weight training? Men have been gleaning the benefits of strength training for decades, and now more and more women are jumping on the bandwagon, too. Even seniors are getting in on the action and working out with barbells and exercise machines.

What are the benefits of weight training? There are many, but let’s start with the obvious: weight training tones your muscles. Lifting weights more than once a week could also:

–Raise your metabolism, which means you burn more calories all day and all night;
–Reverse the natural decline in your metabolism that begins around age 30;
–Give you energy;
–Have a positive effect on all of your 650-plus muscles;
–Strengthen your bones, reducing your risk of developing osteoporosis;
–Decrease your risk of developing adult-onset diabetes;
–Decrease your gastrointestinal transit time, reducing your risk for developing colon cancer;
–Increase your blood level of HDL cholesterol (the good type);
–Improve your posture;
–Improve the functioning of your immune system;
–Lower your resting heart rate, a sign of a more efficient heart;
–Improve your balance and coordination; and
–Elevate your mood.

And last, but certainly not least, weight training could improve your circulation. A research team at the Exercise Science Department at Syracuse University has found that resistance exercise such as weight training affects blood vessels differently than aerobic exercise. This means that resistance training offers special and unique cardiovascular benefits.

The research team compared blood vessel (vascular) responses to two types of moderate-intensity workouts: three sets of 10 repetitions of eight resistance exercises; and 30 minutes of aerobic cycling.

They found there were significant differences in the vascular responses to the two types of exercises. It seems that resistance exercise produced greater increases in blood flow to the limbs. Aerobic exercise, on the other hand, reduced arterial stiffness, but without the same increase in blood flow.

Now, this is interesting: resistance exercise also led to a longer-lasting decrease in blood pressure after exercise, compared to aerobic exercise. The researchers concluded that resistance exercise may offer greater benefits in the form of blood flow to muscles. The study’s findings support previous research showing that resistance exercise has unique effects on blood pressure and limb blood flow.

Make some time for a little resistance exercise in the form of weight training the next time you’re getting some aerobic exercise. It can give your heart a healthy boost and strengthen your muscles, too!

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Tags: blood pressure, Heart Attack, heart disease