Resistance Training: Part Of Your Exercise Regime

Resistance training is a method of contracting the muscles against outside resistance. It's also known as strength training. This includes the use of barbells, dumbbells, weight machines, elastic bands, grip exercisers, springs, gymnastic equipment, therapeutic balls, medicine balls and even the weight of the body in calisthenics. Any object having weight can be used in the same fashion. Resistance training mainly results in cellular and organ hypertrophy, whereas reductions in activity decreases both cell and organ size.

Skeletal muscles of men typically differ from those of women by having greater mass and muscle cross-sectional area. As a person's age increases there is a decrease in the ability to produce and sustain muscular power. Sometimes physical inactivity contributes to age related decline in muscle mass and function. Humans move their bony skeleton with the help of these muscles. Muscles on opposite sides of a joint generally perform opposite motions. These muscles are called antagonists muscles. Antagonist muscles contracting with equal force serve to keep the joint in a static position. If muscles weaken due to inactivity from injury or disease, the ability to maintain balance and to move as intended is compromised. That is one factor, which increases susceptibility to falls in the elderly. Many of the infirmities attributed to aging are prevented or reduced by staying active.

Resistance exercise is used to maintain or build strength, muscle mass, muscle tone and muscular endurance. Inactivity leads to a loss of muscle, bone density and a decrease in metabolism with increased body fat. Aerobic exercises will initially cause an increase in muscle mass in the inactive people, but not much. The muscles must regularly contract against resistance in order to maintain its size, therefore it is essential to increase the workload regularly to increase the muscle and strength. The strength of a muscle is determined by how much force the muscle can produce, while muscular endurance is the duration or number of times the muscle can contract before exhaustion sets in. When a muscle contracts, the amount of force produced is determined by numerous factors.

Muscle fibers have a tendency to contract either completely or not at all. If increased percentage of fibers contract, more force and speed will be generated. Each muscle has a unique function, though it may be assisted in that function by other muscles. Each muscle has a particular shape, size, tendon attachment, ratio of muscle fiber types, ratio of motor neurons to muscle fibers and intracellular characteristics, which are related to the intended function. Differences in characteristics of muscles are also part of what suits a person to a particular sport or occupation.

Acceleration and the rate of increase of speed are of prime importance in sports where short bursts of speed are required in performance. Red and white skeletal muscles working in combination are useful as they generate increased amount of speed in a short time. When a player like Mark McGuire hits a home run, all depends on the amount of force the hitter is able to generate in a short period of time. Strength, speed, accuracy of reflexes and coordinated firing of as many muscle fibers as possible play a major role. Hence a high muscular body weight has an advantage in hitting the ball far. Similarly in running the bases, the body weight must not be so great that it reduces the acceleration. In sports where being light can give a competitive advantage, resistance training helps improve performance. The actual advantage is not in weighing less itself, but in having a high strength to weight ratio. While running the bases, again the same equation from above applies. The foot pushing against the ground is providing the force to accelerate. Acceleration determines the maximum and average speed. Increased strength in the muscles will produce more speed as long as the increase of strength is greater in proportion to the increase in the body weight. Speed will decrease if fat weight is gained, because the weight gained is not offset by increased strength. |

As you see, resistance training can be very valuable to us all in day-to-day living. If you have never exercised before and have questions as to whether you are doing too much or not enough or don't even know where to begin, talk to your doctor or an exercise physiologist. So get started today and do not forget to make resistance training as a part of your exercise regime.

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