Weightlifting can have many positive long term
effects on your overall well-being. The four
primary benefits are improved strength, increased
muscle mass and metabolism, improved
coordination and improved bone mineral density.
Each of these benefits results from aspects of
weight training that are unique to its use.
Furthermore, you can learn how to incorporate
certain components of weight training into your
routine to target each of these specific benefits.
Increased Strength
During the first six to eight weeks of training,
your body becomes better able to use its muscle
fibers to produce force; however, after this initial
period, strength gains come more slowly and can
plateau frequently. The longer you lift weights the
more overall strength you will gain. It requires
repetitive training using your muscles at maximal
intensities before you reach your peak strength.
Strength progress is relatively fast for the first
two years of weight training as you adjust to
lifting weights with only marginal, but important,
improvements occurring with more training.
Increased Muscle Mass
One of the most aesthetically compelling reasons
to weight train stems from muscular growth and
development. After your body has acclimated to
the initial training period, your body constantly
adjusts to accommodate increased training loads.
Muscle building occurs when muscles that are
damaged during exercise grow back bigger than
they were prior to the performance of the
exercise. Bigger muscles also improve your
resting metabolism since maintaining the amount
of muscle you have requires extra energy. On
average, each additional pound of muscle you
gain burns an extra seven to 15 calories per day.
Improved Coordination
Long-term weight training will improve your
overall body coordination. This is especially
important for the elderly who are more prone to
injury due to losing balance. A study performed
by James Judge appearing in the 1993 journal
"Physical Therapy" showed that resistance
training was able to improve the balance of
elderly women. In addition to better coordination
for injury prevention, the coordination
improvements translate into sports related
activities and can make you a better athlete.
Warnings
Poor breathing form when performing weight
training can have an adverse long-term affect on
your heart. Holding your breath while lifting will
increase your blood pressure dramatically and
requires your heart to pump against a greater
resistance. This can enlarge your heart and lead
to complications later in life. Contact your doctor
or physician if you plan on beginning a weight
training program to ensure your heart and blood
pressure are healthy enough for the activity.
Furthermore, learning proper breathing techniques
during exercise by a certified personal trainer will
limit your risk of an enlarged heart through weight
training. A general rule of thumb is to breathe in
during the easy part of the lift and breathe out
when you are actually lifting the weight.


Powerlifting is an intense, explosive form of
strength training that uses heavy weights in
compound exercises that hit target muscle
groups hard. The competitive version of
powerlifting uses only three main weightlifting
exercises -- the bench press, the back squat and
the deadlift. Powerlifting can quickly develop
strength through increased muscle mass, but
both the competitive and recreational versions of
the activity may come with some negative
consequences.
Performance Problems
For competitive powerlifters, many of the most
serious negative effects occur during powerlifting
competitions. Pushing too much to increase the
point score for any or all of the three exercises
can lead serious injury, such as muscle tears,
joint dislocations, broken bones and injuries
suffered from an inability to control the weight
during either the lift or the control phase of a
particular exercise. The deadlift and squat
portions of competition are especially fraught with
risk when too much weight is used.

Overtraining Injuries
Another area of powerlifting that might result in
negative consequences is by training too often.
Hitting the gym too many times each week,
foregoing your rest days or even working out too
frequently in the weeks leading up to a
competition can lead to diminished muscle mass,
muscle strains, joint pain and fatigue. A solid
powerlifting training schedule should include no
more than three workouts each week.
Watch Your Back
Years of powerlifitng exercises may impact the
muscles and discs in the back, especially if you
don't execute proper form each and every time.
This also might occur if you do not wear a
suitable weightlifting back brace during your
squats, deadlifts and supplemental exercises. The
result of back pain related to powerlifting can
make bending, walking and twisting difficult and
painful, and it may ultimately inhibit your ability
to perform even light weight training over time.
Prevention Measures
Proper execution of form for each of the three
main powerlifting exercises will go a long way
toward mitigating most, if not all, of the most
common negative effects of such a program. Also,
incorporating supplemental exercises into your
weightlifting program will improve the strength
and resiliency of crucial stabilizing muscles
throughout the body that will increase
performance and reduce risk of injury. Also,
training under the guidance of an experienced
coach or instructor can help reduce the risk of
injury as well.

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