Benefits of weight training

The Rock and Arnold Schwarzenegger are super weightlifters for sure. And how about the women’s gold medalist at this year’s Tokyo Games, Hou Zhihui? She set an Olympic record by lifting 207 pounds in the snatch, and nearly 256 pounds in the clean-and-jerk, and she is only 4 feet 10 inches and 108 pounds. Yikes!

Watching those folks’ powerful muscles at work you might think, “Resistance training is not for me.” But their brutal routines have nothing to do with the kind of body-loving resistance exercise that can power your fight against obesity, belly fat and progressive muscle loss as you get older.

One study in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Journal reveals that even a little bit of muscle-challenging exercise can directly change the way your body burns and stores fat, in addition to amping up your metabolism and building more muscle mass. Another study, in the journal PLOS Medicine, tracked almost 12,000 people for six years and found two to four 30-minute sessions of resistance training a week reduced the risk of excess body fat by 31%, of an oversized waistline by 41% and a BMI indicating obesity by 30%, compared with folks who get no resistance exercise at all.

There are so many ways to do resistance exercises, surely one or two will appeal to you. So let’s take a look at the choices. But first:

Tips: 1. Mix up exercises so you engage all your large muscle groups. 2. Resistance exercises aren’t about how fast you do the reps — low weight and slow, controlled contraction and release is an effective way to gain strength and fight obesity. Now, on to the various forms.

Your own body weight: Be your own set of gym equipment by doing wall sits, planks, situps, pushups, squats, lunges and stepups. Sets of 12 reps that tire your muscles are ideal. Check out “10 Strength Training Moves for Beginners” at DoctorOZ.com.