Weight Lifting Benefits Your Health more than Sports
By: Gwen Webcke

If you are like many people, you play in a sports league on the weekends or after work hours. You love to play your sport all the time, but forget to do any weight lifting. Weight lifting is not a priority for many, but it should be. Weight lifting has many benefits that are not realized as we don't often add weight lifting to our exercise plans.

Many mistakenly think that weight lifting is only for those that are professional weight lifters, professional athletes or those who just want large muscles. This is not the situation. Weight lifting is for everyone. This is especially true when you reach your 25th birthday. At this point your metabolism tends to slow down which can harm your athletic performance.

The body begins losing lean tissue mass (muscle) in our mid twenties and continues to do so for the rest of our lives. When this happens, our body composition changes and fat begins to take on a higher percentage in our tissues. This fat can lead to all kinds of health issues and may be a precursor for Coronary Heart Disease.

By taking the time lifting weights you can alter the fat and muscle ratio. You can add more muscle to lose fat. Muscle burns more calories then fat. Sports are wonderful way to keep your cardiovascular system going strong. However, you need to lift weights to actually build the most muscle.

Athletes, both professional and casual, benefit from weight lifting because it increases endurance and helps to lower the fat content in your body composition. Not only that, building muscle will increase your strength and power and this cannot help but aid you in your quest to win.

If you are dedicated athlete then you should add weight lifting to your training regime. You also need to incorporate proper nutrition into your routine to see the most benefits from weight lifting. Your nutrition plan should include protein, carbohydrates, and fatty acids. If you don't have the fatty acids in your diet your are more prone to injury and decreased muscle size.

When you weight lift you need to make sure you have enough energy to do it properly. Add 500 calories to your daily caloric intake to help supply you with the apporpriate energy. This energy helps to maintain any muscle growth and keep you going strong. If you don't eat enough your body will deteriorate your muscles for energy.

Whenever you add weight lifting into your routine, it is best to keep a log of both your diet and exercises. In this log you can track your body fat percentage, calorie intake, and the results from your weight lifting. Only by tracking progress will you be able to know what is working and what needs adjusting.

Weight lifting should be a part of your exercise regime. This is especially true if you have seen your 25th birthday already. Nearly 60% of Americans are overweight. This harmful condition can be overcome by weight lifting and proper nutrition. Playing sports will benefit you physically, but adding weight lifting to your routine will take you to new athletic heights. Begin your weight lifting program today and witness the pounds drop off your waistline.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleJoe.com

About the author: Gwen Webcke is the chief writer at FX for Sports, it's one of the webs most up to date Sports sites, while you're there sign up for the free newsletter. If you want to read more Sports articles go to: www.fxfsports.com/articles
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