Contributed By Sandy | Published: Oct 25, 2005
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by Gwen Webcke is the chief writer for, and editor of
FX for Sports
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If you are like many people, you play in a sports
league on the weekends or after work hours. You love to
play your sport all the time, but forget to do any weight
lifting. Weight lifting is not a priority for many, but
it should be. Weight lifting has many benefits that are
not realized as we don't often add weight lifting to our
exercise plans.
Given our culture, it is easy to assume that weight lifting
is only for the people wanting muscle bound bodies or for
professional athletes. In fact, lifting weights is a
necessity for all of us once we reach our mid twenties.
This is because our metabolism begins to slow down at this
point.
In your mid twenties your lean muscle tissue tends to
decline. This trend continues for the rest of your life
years. Our body then turns to a higher fat ratio then
muscle. A higher fat ratio can cause a host of problems.
These health problems can be minor or major like the
potential for Coronary Heart Disease.
By spending the time lifting weights you can alter the fat
and muscle ratio. You can add muscle and lose fat. Muscle
burns more calories then fat. Sports are wonderful way to
keep your cardiovascular system going strong. However, you
need to lift weights to actually build the most muscle.
Athletes of all levels should understand the positives of
weight lifting. These benefits include improve endurance
and lower fat ratio in their body composition. You will also
become stronger which adds power to your athletic ability.
This can increase your oddes of athletic success.
If you are dedicated athlete then you should add weight
lifting to your training regime. You also need to
incorporate proper nutrition into your routine to see the
most benefits from weight lifting. Your nutrition plan
should include protein, carbohydrates, and fatty acids.
If you don't have the fatty acids in your diet your are
more prone to injury and decreased muscle size.
Adding weight lifting to your activities means that you
will have to increase your calorie intake by 500 or more
calories per day so that you have the extra energy needed
to sustain muscle growth and keep your body in optimum
condition. Otherwise, your body will begin to breakdown
muscles in order to serve its energy needs.
Whenever you add weight lifting into your routine, it is
best to keep a log of both your diet and exercises. In
this log you can track your body fat percentage, calorie
intake, and the results from your weight lifting. Only by
tracking progress will you be able to know what is working
and what needs adjusting.
As stated in the beginning, everyone really should include
weight lifting in their lives once they hit their mid
twenties if they have not already done so. As two-thirds
of Americans are considered to be overweight, the battle of
the bulge is being lost. Playing sports is a great start,
but weight lifting helps build muscles and they keep
burning the calories. Just a simple set of dumbbells can
be a great start that will put you on the road to a
healthier life and ahead of the curve in the battle of the
bulge.
Gwen Webcke is the chief writer for, and editor of
FX for Sports,
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