Newcomers may view lifting weights as something intimidating – a gym full of pumped guys who lift insane amounts of weight. But this way of thinking is simply the result of not being familiar with the environment. In fact, you’ll most likely bump into a pretty diverse group of weightlifters, men and women of different abilities, sizes, and shapes.
There are various benefits of lifting weights – younger people do it to add some muscle mass and develop strength, while older adults can do it to slow down muscle loss.
The benefits are way too incredible to pass them up, just because you’re anxious about what other gym members may think of you.
Besides the physical benefits you’ll reap from lifting weights, it can improve your psychological well-being and overall mental health as well. Here’s how weightlifting can change your life.
#1 Improved Athletic Performance
If you’re an athlete (a volleyball player, cyclist, or runner) and have hit a plateau in your discipline, lifting weights can further improve your athletic performance.
Weightlifting programs are built to help not only with strength, but mobility, speed, balance, and many other physical goals.
#2 Improved Body Image
Weightlifting can help shift your focus. Instead of focusing on the size of your waist or weight, you’ll start appreciating your body for its strength.
This has been proven true, especially for plus-sized people who fear that lifting weights will bulk them up.
However, once you focus on the actual fitness instead of the size of your body, more muscle can mean a better relationship with your body and more ease in moving it.
#3 Improved Confidence
That feeling of inner confidence you get after a weightlifting session, or after a few months when the changes in your muscular definition become more obvious, works as a confidence booster.
You’re boosting your metabolism, developing your definition, and growing your muscles, and all of that makes you feel stronger both in the physical and mental sense.
Seeing positive results from your hard work and weightlifting routine creates a cycle of personal validation that helps you become better as it keeps on feeding on itself.
#4 A Step Out of your Comfort Zone
Staying inside a comfort zone makes you feel warm, cozy, and protected.
However, you can’t achieve any progress while there. It’s simple – if you do what you’ve always been doing, you’ll get what you’ve always been getting. Lifting weights can help you live an exciting and fulfilling life, as it gives you a chance to push beyond your comfort zone.
Lifting weights is about challenging yourself, and when you start encountering new challenges, you’ll develop the ability to deal with them. Otherwise, if you don’t keep challenging yourself by doing different exercises and adding more weight, you won’t build more muscle, as your body won’t develop new responses.
#5 You’ll Have to Upgrade Your Wardrobe and Footwear
When there’s some firm, solid muscle filling out all the space which was once empty, your clothes will automatically look better on you.
You’ll manage to fill out your T-shirts, jeans, and shorts, making your appearance much better. Once you outgrow them, well, a shopping spree for some new threads is compulsory.
Also, you can’t go to a gym in your old, shaggy T-shirt and worn out sneakers, because unsuitable clothing and especially footwear can cause some serious injuries. You should go and find a pair of quality bodybuilding shoes for safer weightlifting sessions, designed specifically for that kind of training.
Lifting weights can make you stronger in many different aspects. Better performance, more strength, mobility, and muscle mass, as well as the feeling of satisfaction when you look in the mirror and like what you see.
It can change your life by making you more confident about yourself, which will definitely project on other areas of your life. Step out of your comfort zone, make a change, and keep challenging yourself, as it’s the best way of moving forward.
