MUSCLE
MOTIVATION Building muscle has more benefits than you may realize! STORY BY RACHEL KEELE PHOTO BY RAYNO VICTOR DESIGN BY KEITH BULLARD
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s a personal trainer, group fitness instructor, nutrition coach and manager of the Andreasen Center for Wellness, a lot of people share their personal fitness goals with me. What do I hear more than anything else? People want to be stronger! Of course, people still want to “look good”, but gone are the days of focusing on weight loss or aesthetics alone. Incorporating strength training into a workout routine has many benefits. While it can help create a toned or muscular physique by increasing muscle mass, it also helps manage overall weight, as muscle requires more energy to exist in your body than fat does. This means that the more muscle you have, the more calories you will use, even when not exercising. In addition, the body tends to take longer to recover from strength workouts than those workouts that are purely cardiovascular (such as jogging or cycling). This means that while you may burn more calories during a run compared to a lifting session, you will probably burn more calories in the hours, and in some cases days, following a challenging strength workout. Perhaps most importantly, increasing strength inevitably increases ability. Whether it’s hitting a baseball further, managing a heavier pack on your next hiking trip, or carrying all your groceries into the house in one trip, building strength will improve your everyday life.
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Just like exercise in general, there is no “one size fits all” for strength training. Ultimately, strength is built through resistance. This can be achieved with a loaded barbell (via power lifting, Olympic lifting, cross training, etc.), free weights (such as kettlebells, dumbbells, resistance bands, sandbags and all manner of weighted items), and even just the weight of our bodies. In a pinch, I’ve been known grab some books or the Costco-size bottle of laundry detergent to make a quick home workout tougher. Whatever you use, keep this goal in mind: you’re looking for muscle “failure”. This means your last few reps should be very hard to impossible and you should feel sore later. While there are likely millions of strength workouts available online, here’s one to try! You’ll need a set of dumbbells and about 20 minutes. Perform three to five rounds of the following movements, 10-20 reps each. The number of rounds and reps you choose could be based on how heavy your weights are or how much time you have. Just remember that last round should be tough! Rachel Keele is the Director for University Wellness and the Andreasen Center for Wellness. She received an MA in Educational Psychology from Andrews University and is a certified personal trainer, nutrition coach and group fitness instructor. Rachel enjoys spending time with her husband, Donnie Keele who serves as Dean of Men at AU, as well as their two dogs. She also loves cooking, eating and contemplating food.
2021 ISSUE 12 / ENVISION / 37
