1. No Meat Heads Here
Gone are the days that the perpetually buff alpha males were the only humans on the heavy side of the gym. Weightlifting is no longer only for beefy meat head gym rats showing off their hard work. You will just as likely see a well-rounded individual doing a bench press as you will a Mr. Olympia wannabe. This is because the well rounded fellow knows that virtually hundreds of studies exist that show the health and weight loss benefits of pumping iron.
2. Lean Mean Healthy Machine
Increase muscle means less stress on the joints. Muscles help carry the load of everyday life and remove the stress placed on the joints which can lead to degeneration of the cartilage and arthritis. This is especially noticeable in the knees, ankles, lower back and feet. Although you cannot spot-reduce fat, you can target problems areas to build up with muscle.
3. Burn Baby Burn
Pound for pound, muscle burns more calories than its fatty cousin. A pound of fat does nothing but take up lots of space. A pound of muscle actually burns calories even while just resting. This means you can potentially lose weight by doing nothing (sort of). A pound of fat can burn in the range of 30-50 calories per day, so it is not a get-skinny-quick-diet-fad; however, do the math and see how much more you will burn if you pack on an extra 5-10 pounds of muscle.
4. Rock Solid
Along with burning calories, a pound of muscle takes up much less space than a pound of fat. It is much more dense, not fluffy and squishy. Many people shy away from working out with weights for fear of tipping the scales in the wrong direction, but this is misleading. You should not judge yourself by what the scale shows, but by how much better your clothes fit.
5. Bring the Pain
There will undoubtedly be pain involved in working out with weights. Weights are heavy and they are hard to push or pull. If you pump iron enough times, it eventually starts to hurt. Weightlifting not only gives your heart a good workout and makes you sweat, it also creates micro perforations in your muscle tissue. This is what makes you feel sore a day or two after hitting the gym. These little tears are healed as you sleep when new muscle tissue is grown to fill in those holes. You are getting bigger and more healthy.
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