The University of California has found your workouts restore connections between brain neurons, which improves your memory and learning. But that’s not the main reason to Click here load up the barbell. Whether you’re looking to boost your confidence, muscles or sex life (yes, even that), weightlifting is the way forward, according to science. So get ready to give yourself a pat on your expertly defined back as you tick off the benefits of your gym-going habits.
- Weightlifters are smarter
Apart from that guy you’re pretty sure is on steroids who’s continuously bicep curling, everyone else in the weights room packs a punch in the brain department. Exercise boosts hormones like BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) that stimulates neurogenesis, the formation of new brain cells.
And that’s not all: an intense workout can actually boost the size of the hippocampus, your memory centre, according to the Georgia Institute of Technology. That means your entire memory is boosted by 10% – just enough so you can remember the many reasons why weightlifters beat all.
- Weightlifters are happier
Here’s something to smile about: researchers from the University of Alabama found that men who performed three weight workouts a week significantly improved their measures of calmness and overall mood over six months. It’s all thanks to endorphins, your feel-good chemicals released to ease your body during the physical strain of weightlifting.
This effect is so great that a study from Duke University found that 60% of people suffering from depression could overcome the illness with four short strength sessions a week rather than antidepressants. So turn off the treadmill and get your endorphin fix with barbell exercises like the overhead squat.
Overhead Squat
-Grab a barbell with palms facing down and hands almost at the ends of the bar.
-Lift it to your chest then overhead, locking your arms and retracting your shoulders to take the weight. This is your start position.
-Keeping your arms straight and taking care to not arch your back, push your hips back and bend your knees to lower your body until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
-Drive your heels into the floor to push yourself explosively back up to the start position.
-Repeat, then lower the bar under control after you’ve finished all your reps.
- Weightlifters sleep better
Got a friend who’s always complaining about a lack of shuteye? Take them to the weights room. The National Sleep Foundation of America says that the more vigorous the exercise (with weightlifting being the most intense), the better you sleep. In fact, a study published in the journal Mental Health and Physical Activity found men aged 18-85 experienced a 65% improvement in their quality of their Zs if they had at least three sessions a week in the weights room. Now that’s a dream result.
- Weightlifters have better testosterone levels
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: weights beats running. And you don’t even need to imagine a fight between Mo Farah and Schwarzenegger to work that out; a study from the University of Alberta found testosterone levels were actually lower in male athletes who ran at least 64km a week compared to those who did absolutely nothing at all. So what? Well, a lack of testosterone can lead to fatigue, depression, height deficiency and erectile dysfunction.
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