by Rodney Corn
Strength training is at the heart of Eleiko, from our products and education to our message and ethos. Strength, by definition, is a vastly encompassing term that indicates our ability to produce, overcome, reduce, and stabilise forces placed upon us. Most importantly, by simply increasing our activity levels we receive greater benefits.
The above definition of strength is usually thought of as ‘physical’ strength. Thus, ‘strength training’ is typically seen as merely a way to help us get physically stronger. Fortunately, strength training goes far beyond just physical strengthening. In fact, it has a tremendous impact on our mental and emotional aspects as well as our total health, vitality, resiliency, and overall wellbeing. In other words, strength makes us feel good!
When we come face to face with the realisation that strength training is an essential means to enriching our lives, communities, and world as whole, it should take on a new level of importance and inspiration. This is what we at Eleiko strive for on a daily basis – building a stronger world.
Physical inactivity was deemed the fourth leading risk of global mortality in 2010. It has also been one of the top 10 leading causes of death and disabilities since 2002. Physical inactivity is a dangerous cascade of disease leading to obesity, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, congestive heart failure (CHF), strokes, coronary artery disease (CAD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cancer, and Alzheier’s disease. All considered primary causes of death worldwide.
The sad news is these numbers haven’t been going down… yet! But think of the possibilities that await us if we are collectively able to inspire people to move more rather than just medicate more. What would happen to the number of deaths, or diseases, or disabilities if 5%, 10%, 20%, 50% of the population began to get excited about being active? This is one of the primary motivations behind Eleiko’s desire and push for promoting awareness about the importance of physical activity for better overall health and wellbeing and providing solutions to help people grow stronger physically, mentally, and emotionally through strength training.
So how exactly does strength training enrich everything about us and make us feel great? The answer is found in the fact that what we do physically directly affects us mentally and emotionally, and vice versa. Furthermore, our physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing directly influences our health, resiliency, and vitality. If we can help others to move more, we can help them reap the numerous benefits of their movement such as having more energy, better moods, and being more focused.
Physical Effects
Physically, strength training influences every cell, organ, and system of our bodies. When programmed and performed appropriately for an individual, strength training will dramatically enhance our body’s overall efficiency. This includes a better quality and resiliency of muscle, connective, and bone tissue as well as enhanced functional capacity of our metabolism, heart, lungs, stomach, brain, immune system, and more.
Strength training increases our protection from most major diseases by addressing the ultimate pandemic of physical inactivity. More specifically, strength training is known to significantly decrease abdominal fat, which is a primary risk factor for many diseases and communicable infections, as well as blood sugar levels. It further significantly increases the utilization of fats and protein production within cells, all of which help to decrease the risk of diseases like type 2 diabetes.
Strength training enhances our immune system’s potency and effectiveness against communicable infections – viral and bacterial – that can exaggerate the dangers of the above leading causes of death. Low to high intensity strength training sessions have been specifically shown to create a heightened state of the immune system's ability to survey and regulate our bodies. This means that the immune system specifically directs immune cells to peripheral tissues like the lining of the nose, mouth, eyes, gut, lungs, and even bone marrow to identify and destroy other cells infected with invading viruses and bacteria. In this day and age, there is no greater defense against viral and bacterial infection and other diseases than your own immune system working at its best.
Mental and Emotional Affects
Beyond the physical benefits, strength training has been shown to have significant mental and emotional affects as well. The use of strength training is known to have a profound influence on our focus, including our attention, memory, and thought processes. Further, strength training has been shown to improve our self-esteem – our perception of ourselves – helping us to feel better about who we are. This allows us to be more empathetic and kind toward others.
Other key mental and emotional affects seen as a result of strength training include significant improvements in physical self-concept, mood disturbance, depression, anxiety, and even mental fatigue. Physical self-concept refers to how we see ourselves from a competency or ability standpoint, fitness level, and how we feel about our appearance. Mood disturbance relates to how easily our mood can change. The more it takes to shift our mood from good to poor is an indication of our mood (emotional) health. This translates into better moods and more energy to help us be our best more consistently.
Depression and anxiety are serious mental and emotional disorders. They can literally debilitate someone and dramatically decrease their functional capacity. Researchers have concluded that strength training is an effective treatment for people who are experiencing these disorders. Strength training has also been shown to be very affective for overcoming depression for the older adult population in as little as 10 weeks when used three times a week.
Bottom Line
The bottom line is very simple. Physical inactivity leads to physical, mental, and emotional distress. It sucks the energy out of us and puts us in bad moods resulting in poor food and life choices. Over time, this distress turns into disease. Disease then leads to a shorter life span with a poorer quality of health.
On the other hand, physical activity (strength training) properly programmed and progressed leads to physical, mental, and emotional health and resiliency. It stimulates and energises us, promoting better food and life choices. Over time, health and resiliency leads to a significantly decreased risk of disease and infection with increased recovery. This leads to a longer life span with a better quality of health and the ability to play and enjoy life longer.
