By Chris Fields
Contrary to popular belief, weight training does not make you bulky. I often hear this when I recommend or introduce weight training as a therapeutic for chronic disease or weight management. That’s right: Weight training is a recommended therapeutic for both chronic disease and weight management. I know this goes against a lot of what you’ve heard, but it’s true. I will give you one reason why: the more muscle you have, the better your body metabolizes food, and better metabolism equals better health.
Weight training alone will not make you look muscular, bulkier, or any more masculine than you already appear. You can maintain your femininity (ladies) and you can lean out (gentlemen) without looking big and bulky if you consistently weight train correctly. Actually, consistent weight and resistance training improves our health and body functioning before it ever adds muscular bulk.
Our bodies appear bulky due to the amount of food we consume in conjunction with weightlifting – not weightlifting alone. It takes years of weightlifting and lots of calories for our muscles to naturally grow to the point where they appear bigger and bulkier. Let’s have a quick muscle physiology lesson: Weight and resistance training produces muscular strength and endurance prior to any visible muscle growth. Weight and resistance training causes our muscles to tear, and the healing process from the tearing causes them to regenerate stronger and more durably, enabling our body to keep up with the increased muscle usage demands when weight and resistance training consistently occurs. Increased muscle durability, endurance, and strength improve our body’s function.
Muscles have a plethora of functions, but two of the main functions are movement, which is fueled by food/energy/calories, and storage of food/energy. Food is what aids in the muscle regeneration process. Food is our main source of energy, and our muscles are the mechanisms that best utilize energy. The more effective our muscles’ function, the more efficiently we use energy. I can expound more on this, but I will just get to my point: Weight and resistance training will give you exponential health benefits way before it makes you bulky. In fact, you might never get bulky from weight and resistance training. Let’s look at the benefits you may experience.
Weight and resistance training has far-reaching benefits, such as protecting your joints from injury, improving balance, helping your body burn calories more efficiently, strengthening bones, and improving appearance. The benefits I want to expound on are the health benefits related to disease management and prevention.
Diabetes: Strength and resistance training helps manage your blood sugar levels as well as reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Muscle helps increase insulin sensitivity and also reduces blood sugar levels by enabling more glucose to be stored in your muscles.
Obesity: Strength and resistance training boosts your metabolism, aiding in more efficient food/energy usage. Our body stores excess food in our fat cells, muscles, or liver. Excess energy storage in our fat cells is what causes obesity. If our body can begin to resource that energy through our muscles, we can begin to manage our weight better.
Hypertension: Strength and resistance training increases blood flow and causes weight reductions, both of which help lower blood pressure.
In addition to these conditions, strength and resistance training also has positive effects on cholesterol, cardiovascular diseases, stroke prevention, mood, mental health, and brain health.
Now you know, weight training is for health first.
Chris Fields is executive director of H.E.A.L. Mississippi, a nonprofit whose mission is to reduce the impact of diabetes and other cardiometabolic disease in Mississippi. Our vision is to establish a high-quality, easily accessible standard of care for diabetes and cardiometabolic diseases. God created us to be whole and healthy, and He’s made provisions for us to walk in His divine plan related to our health and healing.