How to Build Physical & Mental Strength with Home Fitness Equipment
Building physical and mental strength should be everyone’s goal in life. Unfortunately, as we continue to age, our health naturally deteriorates. One way to help combat health conditions and illness as you age is to take good care of yourself physically and mentally.
Physical health is achieved through a combination of healthy eating habits, exercise, and daily healthy habits. Creating a solid workout plan is the first step to obtaining your long-term health and fitness goals.
If you’re trying to stick to a successful fitness plan but struggle to get to the gym, purchasing home fitness equipment is a great solution. With home fitness equipment, you can work out anytime you want in the comfort of your own home, which makes you much more likely to stick to a plan.
Build Physical Strength With At-Home Fitness Equipment
Increasing physical strength is ideal in order to maintain a healthy body and live a healthy lifestyle. Unfortunately, a study by the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that only approximately 8.9% of Americans engage in weight lifting as a recreational activity. This is an alarming statistic given the massive amount of health benefits that weight lifting provides.
Weight lifting helps aid in weight loss, promotes a fast metabolism, burns more calories during cardio exercises and helps with joint movement, and protects joints from injury.
Weight Loss Benefits of Weight Lifting
Perhaps one of the most common reasons people engage in weight lifting as a recreational activity is for weight loss. And adding a strength-building routine to your workouts is the best way to see results. The additional strength training added to your cardio workouts will help build muscle and cut fat simultaneously.
Weight lifting can be a bit intimidating when you’re at the gym in front of all those “muscled-up gym jocks,” so creating a home gym with at-home fitness equipment is a great way to get yourself into weight lifting without having to go to the gym at all.
One great workout equipment ideal for a home gym is the Synergee Power Rack with Pulley System. This at-home fitness equipment is compact enough to fit into relatively small spaces. Still, it has the capability to perform versatile workouts. This, in addition to free weights and resistance bands, would be all you need for a complete weight training workout program.
Burn More Calories With Weight Training
Weight training not only helps you lose weight, but it also helps you to burn more calories while doing cardio exercises. EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) is the scientific word for it, but most people call it “after-burn.” Afterburn is when your body still burns calories even after you stop exercising.
The National Library of Medicine did a study that shows EPOC can last up to 72 hours after your last workout. It’s also been speculated that lifting weights prior to a cardio exercise helps boost your caloric burn from the cardio.
Weight Training and Metabolism
Metabolism is the process through which your body transforms the food you eat into energy. The time this process takes varies from person to person. Some people have a fast metabolism and, therefore, burn calories quickly, others experience the opposite.
Weight training helps boost your metabolism, which may be another reason for the afterburn effect that it has on the body. Studies show that adding a daily weight training routine helped increase resting metabolism by 9% in men and 4% in women.
Weight Training and Joint Protection
As we age, our joints age too. One of the most common ailments seen in the older generation is joint pain and arthritis. Weight training at a younger age may help combat future joint pain, and adding weight training to your daily routine at an older age can help keep it at bay.
The American College of Rheumatology guidelines recommend appropriate exercise to treat conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis or psoriatic arthritis. Patients who exercise experience better sleep, feel more energetic, and have less pain.
Weight Training and Mental Health
Mental health is just as important as physical health, and in recent years mental health concerns have been on the rise. Although some mental health conditions are hereditary and cannot be controlled simply by diet and exercise, there is some correlation between a healthy physical body and a healthy mind.
The American Psychological Association says that there is some solid evidence that shows people who are active are much less depressed than those who aren’t. One reason for this phenomenon may be caused by the endorphins our bodies secrete when we exercise. These endorphins help us feel what they call “a runner’s high,” which creates a feeling of euphoria afterward.
If you work out daily and keep those endorphins pumping, it may help combat depressive thoughts and keep your mind healthy. So, try to squeeze in a quick 20-minute jog, or do a few sets of dumbbell curls during the day and see how much better you feel afterward; exercise really can be the best medicine.
Create a Home Gym With At-Home Fitness Equipment
Since it’s evident that weight training is healthy for both your body and your mind, put yourself in a place where working out isn’t going to be difficult to maintain. One way to do that is by creating a home gym.
Working out at home is convenient and, in the long run, will save you money from spending monthly payments on a gym membership you rarely ever use. All it takes is some dumbbells and other weight training accessories to help get you started.
A home gym is ideal because you can customize it the way you like to fit the type of workouts you want to perform. It’s also easier to fit in your workout throughout the day if you have a busy schedule. With at-home fitness equipment, you will achieve your fitness goals and improve your physical and mental strength in no time!