Do strength training to lose weight and help prevent pre-diabetes

When it comes to weight loss, cardio training is second only to eating a healthy diet. But cardio alone is not enough to achieve and maintain weight loss; it’s part of a complete training program. The other portions are a consistent resistance or weight training routine that targets all the major muscle groups in the body . . . combined with proper rest and recovery.

There is ongoing research which, so far, is proving that doing weight training will lower your risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

How weight training help to prevent pre-diabetes

The benefits of doing weight training goes well beyond just building strong muscles and preventing disease. Here are six ways it will help you lose weight and prevent pre-diabetes:

• Muscle burns more fat – The more muscles you have on your body the more fat you will burn. This is because they require more energy to maintain. If you are pre-diabetic then it’s important to maintain the right weight for your body-type.
• To develop a muscular body will require you to eat a healthy diet that’s conducive to building stronger muscles. This is one of the big change I made when I started on my weight training journey. I’ve noticed over the years that weight training must be accompanied by proper eating to get the full benefits. I know it’s difficult to eat healthy every day, but because I weight train regularly, I make an effort to feed my body the right foods. Healthy eating will become you way of life once you start doing resistance exercises.
• As we age, our bones become more brittle and are prone to fractures. Weight training will increase the density of your bones and help prevent osteoporosis . . . especially for women. Injuries are one of the main reasons we become sedentary which unfortunately results in higher incidences of pre-diabetes.
• Muscles reshapes the body – As you aware, having an apple shape body increases your risk of developing pre-diabetes and diabetes. Building more muscles will help to improve your body symmetry.
• Weight training increases your metabolism – When we weight train a great phenomenon kicks in. It’s called the after-burn effect. For up to twenty four hours after doing a targeted resistance training, combined with the right cardio routine, your body will continue to burn calories. Just imagine sitting and reading your favorite book or watching TV or driving to and from work and still burning calories. This is what this type of training will do for you. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research completed a study showing that we can burn up to 100 or more calories hours after working out. How good is that?
• Combining weight training and cardio will improve you brain activity. We increase the human growth hormone when we do weight training. This promotes the production of growth factors in our brains as well as our muscles. One way to prevent dementia and sedentary behavior is to practice consistent weight training.

Types of resistance training to do

Ok. So now we know the importance of doing weight training or resistance workouts. What are the best ones to do for weight loss and help prevent pre-diabetes?

The best types of exercises involve multifunction movements. This means doing workouts that target more than one muscle at a time. Examples of these are squats, lunges, bench presses, pull-ups and push-ups.

For a full description of these exercises visit How to Prevent Pre-diabetes. Weight training is an ongoing activity that should be done consistently as part of a healthy weight maintenance routine. Don’t expect to see dramatic results after two weeks of exercising but gradually over time you will achieve optimum benefits by combining weight training and cardio with healthy eating.