6 interesting facts about strength training.
Strength training involves training the muscles and nervous system — together they make up what is called the neuromuscular system. Having big muscles does not guarantee that you will be stronger than someone with smaller muscles who trains for strength. It depends on how you train and on your natural abilities.
Keep in mind that bodybuilders focus on more reps with lighter weights, while strength athletes work with heavier weights by doing fewer reps.
Free weights involve more muscles than exercise machines
Free weights usually require the work of other muscles or more of them than exercise machines. With simulators, the trajectory is limited and controlled by the structure of the simulator itself. As a result, fewer auxiliary muscles are required during lifting, pulling or pushing.
However, exercise weights do an excellent job with the load on the muscles. You can achieve the best variety and results if you combine free weights and simulator weights.
Steroid abuse has serious side effects
Anabolic steroids are used to accelerate the growth of muscle tissue and make it possible to train harder and recover quickly after the stress associated with exercise. Unfortunately, they are still widely used in non-competitive activities to increase the size and strength of the body. Most competitive sports have made the use of anabolic steroids illegal.
Anabolic steroids act like the male hormone testosterone. Because of this, the body tends to reduce the natural production of this and other important sex hormones when external steroids are applied.
Side effects of hormonal failure can include a variety of consequences, from excessive hair growth to disorders of the functions of the genitals.
Eccentric exercises cause you pain, despite the effectiveness
When you bend your arm to lift a dumbbell, your action is "concentric." This happens when the angle of the joint decreases and the target muscle — the biceps — shortens. When you return the dumbbell to its original position, you straighten the joint and lengthen the muscle in an "eccentric" movement.
As a rule, eccentric exercises cause more muscle damage and soreness than concentric ones. Some strength simulators focus on eccentric exercises because they believe that they build muscle faster. If you are going to focus on slow eccentric contractions in your exercises, be prepared for very painful sensations.
It is difficult to build muscle mass while burning fat
It's not impossible, but it's unlikely that you'll be able to lose fat and gain muscle mass at the same time. The body does not cope well with contradictory metabolic phases — in this case, with loss and acquisition at the same time. The best you can probably hope for is to maintain muscle mass while losing fat.
Experienced bodybuilders usually do this in two stages. Firstly, they build up body weight, including a little fat, due to a surplus of calories and strength training. At the second stage, they get rid of fat and maintain muscle mass with the help of a carefully formulated diet, while continuing their muscle mass development program.
In a weight loss program, continue to train with weights while burning fat after your weight has stabilized. This will help you maintain your muscles at an optimal level.
Strength and aerobic training have different effects on the heart
You may have heard the expression "enlarged heart". This refers to an unfavorable health condition in which the heart muscle, including the chambers of the heart, is enlarged. This abnormal enlargement of the heart is due to the fact that the heart muscle is weakened by the underlying painful process (heart disease). The heart expands to partially compensate for the weakened pumping function of the heart as a result of the disease.
On the contrary, athletes tend to have an enlarged heart due to the great stress they put on the heart in pumping blood to fuel their workouts. Some degree of enlargement of the heart in athletes is usually a normal reaction to exercise.
It is not harmful to health and can even be useful. Endurance athletes, such as marathon runners, tend to have larger heart chambers, while strength athletes, such as powerlifters, have thicker muscle walls.
The best result may be a combination of both types of exercises: strength and aerobics.
Result
Weight training can be a great form of exercise that will make your body feel great and help strengthen your self-confidence. However, it is important to approach them in a safe way. When you're just starting out, it's best to work with an experienced trainer so that you can learn how to lift weights properly and avoid injury.
