If you think that weight lifting is for teenage boys and professional athletes think again. Muscle is very important for balance, posture, injury prevention and importantly for weight management. Muscle tissue is very metabolically active compared to its sluggish and unsightly cousin, fat tissue. The more muscle on those bones the better because not only will you be burning more calories during your workout, but you will be burning more calories during the times you are not exercising.

Unfortunately as we age, our muscle mass decreases naturally, slowing down the rate at which we burn calories. The good news is that this decline in muscle mass is preventable if you follow a weight lifting or resistance training program. A weight training program, also known as resistance training, does not have to be an arduous affair either; a few a few simple exercises several times a week have been shown to increase muscle mass and in turn increase the rate at which we burn calories.  It’s really that simple, you don’t need to be able to lift heavy weights, or need to spend hours huffing and puffing lifting extremely heavy weights in a gym. Strength building exercises can be done simply at home using handheld weights, or even just the weight of your own body.