I love weightlifting. My husband gave me one of the best presents I could have ever asked for for my birthday a few weeks ago. There were definitely tears of joy.
I want a bigger butt. That is much harder to do when you cannot add enough resistance training to your workout. Being the supportive husband that he is, Jonathan surprised me with a barbell and plates that will allow me to build the muscle I want to.
I did use my dumbells and kettlebells I have at home until now, but my body got used to those weights. The barbell is a game-changer.
Now, aesthetics is not the only reason why I wanted to start weightlifting. Here are all the reasons why I love it:
Lifting Weights Makes Me Feel Strong
Forget the runner’s high; have you ever felt the lifter’s high?
After a few sets of any weight-bearing exercises, I get this euphoric rush where I feel super strong and super happy. I feel like a superwoman. It has become like a drug to me.
Weightlifting Helps Me Reduce Anxiety
Have you ever experienced the anxiety-reducing effects of a weighted blanket? Feeling the weight of my dumbells, kettlebells, and now barbell has a similar effect and helps me relax instantly.
I like to keep my kettlebell or dumbells next to me when I am working. That way, if I start to feel anxious, I can do a few reps of an exercise and feel better instantly. And now, my barbell can also get a spot next to me on tough days.
It Will Help Me Age Better
Did you know that exercise, particularly resistance training, increases bone density, reducing your chances of breaking a hip and developing osteoporosis when you are older?
Building muscle will also help reduce or prevent sarcopenia, which is age-related muscle loss.
Lifting Allows Me to Eat More
If you are lifting weights to build muscle or just gain strength, like I am, you need to eat enough and give your muscles enough fuel.
You can afford to eat more calories when weightlifting because your body can burn more calories long after the workout is done. Weightlifting will also help you build more muscle, and if you have more muscle, you will burn more calories during the day.
I am currently eating close to maintenance calories because I am aiming for body recomposition. It is the perfect goal now that I can lift enough weight and grow my glutes at home.
Weightlifting Has Increased My Confidence
Seeing how much stronger I have become over the last few months of lifting has really improved my confidence. Just the fact that I have been exercising consistently for months now is enough to make me feel proud of myself.
This made me realise that even if you are going through challenges in life, doing something like weightlifting often will give you something to be proud of.
It Makes Me Excited About My Potential
I already feel like a superwoman because of the amount of weight I can lift currently, but I am only going to get stronger. How cool is that!?
And in terms of aesthetics, I can already see that I have lost fat and built muscle, even though my weight hasn’t changed much. That’s a good sign that my body recomposition plan is working.
These are just some of the reasons why I love weightlifting I can come up with now. I am sure I will discover more to love as I go on and keep lifting.
To paraphrase Dory in Finding Nemo: Just keep lifting, just keep lifting, just keep lifting, lifting, lifting. What do we do? We lift, lift, lift.
