DYNAMIC DUO Lowers Blood Pressure and Body Weight

by Kevin DiDonato, MS, CSCS, CES

Everyone knows that exercise is a crucial piece of the weight loss puzzle.


And many, many people do exercise—in the form of cardio—because they believe it is the best form of exercise for improving their health.

But are they right?  Are they missing anything by NOT doing strength training exercise?

Sadly, they are.  They are missing some very BIG benefits if they are only doing cardio and not hitting the weights.

Not that there is anything wrong with doing cardio as your main exercise, but you may find more benefit from doing a combination of strengthening and cardio.

Let’s take a closer look…

Strength Training

Most people feel that strength training is for the muscle heads or those who are too pumped up on pre-workout shakes or drinks.

But it’s not!

Strength training plays a vital role in improving your health and longevity.

Yes, strength training is geared for building muscle mass…

…but there are many other benefits of strength training that you may not know about!

Let’s take a step back for a second and find out what strength training is (for those who are beginners).

Strength training involves lifting a specific weight for a specified number of times (also called reps).  The purpose is to strengthen the lean muscle mass that is on your body or to make it grow (called hypertrophy).

If you want to see improvements in strength, then you want to use a weight that is heavier than normal—or what your body can handle for a short amount of reps.

This could result, as previously mentioned, in increases in muscle strength, muscle endurance, and muscle growth (depending on rep range and weight, of course), plus a speedier metabolism.

But:

Most people believe that’s all strength training does…

…but they would be WRONG!  Strength training does a whole lot more than that!

Here are some other benefits you can gain from lifting the iron:

1. Improved Heart Health

Many people think that cardio is the only way to improve heart health.

Well, they are mistaken!  Yes, cardio is a great way to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

But recent studies show that strength training may also lower blood pressure numbers.  And this could reduce your risk for a heart attack or a stroke.

Researchers concluded that strength training may be able to lower systolic blood pressure.  And, in another study, researchers from Brazil found that including strength training into a workout plan could lead to improvements in blood pressure.

2. Lower Risk for Diabetes

Now, people have long been told that cardiovascular exercise was the go-to exercise for preventing diabetes.

And this is fine and dandy except for one thing…

A study showed that men who engaged in 150 minutes of strength training per week—without including cardio exercise—showed a much lower risk for diabetes.

Now, this same study showed that the combination (strength and cardio) was the best bang for the buck.

However, if you’re in a pinch, just doing strength training may be just as effective as cardio for reducing diabetes risk.

3. Lower Risk for Dementia

As you get older, your body starts to age with it.

And, in terms of the brain, healthy brain tissue may be replaced by white matter lesions, which are basically pockets or holes that appear in the brain as you get older.

Although researchers are unsure of the link between white matter lesions and dementia, the more white matter lesions you have the higher your risk for dementia climbs.

Now, you can take your antioxidants and drink your green tea, but if you’re skipping the strength workouts, you may be doing your brain a huge disservice.

You see, a recent study tracking the white matter lesions in 155 women for a whole year, showed some pretty surprising results.

The researchers showed that women who included strength training at least two times per week, showed significantly less white matter lesions.

The Wonderful Benefits of Strength Training

There are plenty of people who exercise, all to improve their health, increase their longevity, or to simply lose weight.

But many people miss out on one of the most important aspects of exercise: strength training!

Most people understand that strength training is a way to build muscle and speed up your metabolism, but there are plenty of other benefits for strength training.

From improving heart health to preventing age-related brain diseases, strength training is more than just lifting a heavy weight to build muscle.

So, if you’re looking to improve all facets of your health through exercise, be sure you’re including strength training as part of your exercise program.


About Mark

Hi, I'm Mark Dilworth, Nutritionist, Dietary Strategies Specialist, Nutrition for Metabolic Health Specialist and Lifestyle Weight Management Specialist. Since 2006, I have helped thousands of clients and readers make lifestyle habit changes which includes body transformation and ideal body weight.