What’s in it for me? Why should I read this anyway!

I spent ten years of my teaching career in one of the toughest areas of the country. Many children were not self -motivated, they were not sure what school was for. In those areas teachers quickly learn to adapt teaching to address the question ‘What’s in it for me?’, ‘Why should I sit quietly?’ or ‘Why should I put effort into my work? We learnt to address personal need and make learning interesting.

Most of us need encouragement and incentives to take part in an exercise program, particularly when we start out. We need to find the ‘What’s in it for me!’ to get started and then keep going. In my experience, until you identify that personal reason for developing an exercise habit, you won’t stick at it.

 So, what is in it for you? Why give up some of your busy schedule to exercise? Why chose strength training when you do? The answers to those questions are often very personal. For example, a medical reason or a broken relationship, but they have common roots related to health and self-confidence.

So, what’s in it for you? Here are some good reasons to choose strength training in particular.

1. Strength training builds and maintains muscle, giving your body shape and tone but not necessarily huge biceps! This will help you maintain stability and movement late into life and you’ll look great in those jeans.

• Strength training is low impact and helps to maintain joint strength, enabling you to move without injury well into old age. This makes it especially useful for older adults, the people most turned off by gyms.

• It is a form of cardio exercise when performed with little rest, pushing your heart rate up, giving you a workout and helping you lose weight. In fact, research has shown that strength training is better than cycling or running for reducing the risks of a heart attack by up to 70 percent, depending on how often a person trains.

• Lifting weights helps you burn calories and creates lean muscle mass, helping your body burn energy more efficiently. With strength training, there is a longer period of burning calories after you have trained. Again, all of this contributes to weight loss.

• Strength training supports and improves bone density so that you have a lower risk of osteoporosis as you get older. If you fall over, you will be able to get up again, rather ending up in casualty with broken bones.

• Strength training can make you feel more confident and positive, it gives you a sense of achievement. There is evidence that it reduces the symptoms of depression.

Strength is not only about lifting barbells and gym machines. Yes, these are useful tools but bodyweight work, including Pilates and Yoga and smaller weights such as dumbbells and kettlebells, can also be very beneficial. However, much of the research is suggesting that including actual weights in your exercise regime does improve life expectancy more than bodyweight work. There is no reason why you shouldn’t mix it up, combining yoga sessions one day, with a session involving kettlebells on another day.

A personal trainer will help you identify the ‘Why’ the ‘What’s in it for me.’  Identifying personal goals is an important first stage. What do you want to achieve and why should you stick at your program? A good personal trainer will keep you on track to achieve that goal, monitoring your progress and encouraging you to keep going. They are on your team!

If you are interested in finding out more, the consultation session is free, there is no hard sell and no obligation to go further. Why not give me a call or send me an email and we can set up a time to meet and talk through your needs.

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You can contact me by email:contact@skeats-strength.co.uk

Text me :07904969538