As a trainer, I implement resistance training into every single one of my clients’ programs. Whether their goals are gaining muscle, losing fat, or improving their overall health, resistance training can help. However, I always get asked a few questions in regards to resistance training – Am I going to get too bulky? How does lifting weights help me burn fat? What does weighlifting have to do with improving my heart and body functioning? If you’ve ever asked these questions, then this post is for you.

First off, I should clarify what resistance training is. Resistance training is exactly what it sounds like – any form of exercise that has you working against an external resistance. It involves the contraction of your muscles to move the external resistance, and usually the overall goal is to increase muscular strength, power, and/ or endurance.

When you think of resistance training, do you think of Arnold Schwarzenegger in his heyday, flexing his massive muscles? Well it’s true, Arnold did get to that place by using resistance training, but there is a lot more than just resistance training that got him to that level. Everyone that performs resistance training will not achieve the same results; it all depends how you train, what rep/ set/ rest counts you use, and how you eat.

Speaking of different training for different results, let’s get back to those questions mentioned at the beginning…

First off, will resistance training make you bulky? Short answer, no. Not if that is not what you want to happen. Depending on your training variables, resistance training can be used to improve strength, hypertrophy (muscle size), power, and/ or muscular endurance. For the most part, I find women shy away from resistance training because they don’t want to get big giant muscles and look “manly”. Well, believe me sister, I have been trying to get big giant muscles for over 10 years and I still don’t have them! Just because you are doing a barbell overhead press doesn’t mean that your shoulder muscles are going to be stretching out all your shirts and you won’t be able to fit through doorways. In fact, doing these exercises gives women the exact look they want – toned muscle. Fun fact: did you know that “muscle toning” isn’t actually a thing? All it means is strengthening a muscle while also reducing the fat around it. Looking “toned” means seeing the muscle definition underneath the fat. You need to build these muscles up so that you can see the definition, and how do you do that? That’s right, resistance training!

On the same note, resistance training can also aid in fat loss. Fat is an energy source for your body, and so when you eat excess calories, your body stores it as fat so that it has energy sources to take from when food isn’t readily available. Your body uses carbs as easily accesible energy, and once the carbs are used up, it taps into your fat stores. So how does resistance training burn the fat? Well, you break down the muscle tissue when you work your muscles, and then while you recover, your body undergoes protein synthesis to repair and build new muscle. It takes energy to both break the muscle down and build it back up. This means that your body needs a prolonged source of energy to facilitate these functions, and where does it get this prolonged energy? Fat. So when you hit a killer leg day full of squats, lunges, leg extensions and hamstring curls, your body will burn fat to facilitate the muscle breakdown and subsequent muscle synthesis over the course of the next 36 hours.

So resistance training can get you looking toned and lean, but what about your overall health? How does it keep you healthy?

One of the best aspects of resistance training is that it helps prevent and/ or combat osteoporosis. Mostly seen in older individuals, osteoporosis is the breakdown of bone. Resistance training helps increase bone density by putting stress on the bones, causing the body to send calcium to the affected areas to keep the bones strong to withstand the stress. Also, resistance training helps with heart functioning by strengthening the heart and increasing the functionality of the blood vessels. When your muscles are being worked, your heart must beat stronger and quicker to increase blood flow, and the blood vessels must expand to allow for greater flow to the muscles. By training the muscles, you are also training the heart to adjust to these stresses. And lastly, resistance training helps increase joint functionality and strength by increasing balance and stability. By strengthening the muscles around joints, you improve their overall functioning by increasing their stability and range of motion, allowing you to be able to squat deeper, bend lower, and reach higher. This will not only help you get more out of your workout, but will also help you in your daily activities where you have to bend down or lift things up.

All in all, resistance training should be included in your workout plan at least once a week. Whatever your goals may be, resistance training can at least play a part in helping you reach those goals, if not being the sole factor to accomplishing what you have in mind.