Health Informative Council

In a balanced fitness program, strength exercise is important as well. You can call it resistance exercise because you are working against the muscles.
Resistance exercise can be done with weights or with rubber bands which you pull to extend and flex your muscles or with machines at the gym.

It is an exercise to build muscles, get more strength and prevent lose of muscles that comes with age. One of the greatest added benefits of strength exercise, especially for older people, is when the muscles get stronger, the person is more stable on his feet, thus can avoid falls and slips.

Latest research shows that resistance exercise helps rebuild bone density, which is important to women, helps with mental health as well and improves sleep, and leads a healthier lifestyle. Strength exercise is very important when you are dieting. When you lose weight, you lose some of the muscle mass as well. Resistance Exercise helps you build those muscles back.

Experts recommend starting with weights that are heavy enough so you feel the resistance but not so that you have to strain to lift them. Do 8 to 10 exercises, working on different muscle groups; the chest, the shoulders, the arms and stomach on the upper body, hips, butt, front and back of legs and calves. Do a few repetitions, between 5 -10, of each exercise.

You do not have to work all the group muscles in the same day. It is ok to concentrate each day on a few areas and on others the following day. It gives your muscles a chance to recover.
You have to warm up by stretching before you start your exercise routine. The muscles have to be ‘woken up’ and elongated to be ready to pull the weight. Do not forget to stretch at the end of the exercise as well, stretch your muscles and remove knotted spots caused by too much pressure on one certain spot.

The most important thing when dealing with resistance exercise is the right posture, the right form. If the exercise is not done right it can cause damage. Therefore it is good to do your exercises in front of a mirror or with another person, a trainer or a friend, that can tell you if you are doing something wrong. And if it hurts, stop. Do not put too much pressure on your muscles, unless you are young and they can still take it.