Lifting weights is the most effective method of strength training when it comes to building strength and muscle. This exercise places large amounts of stress on the body and can push your muscles to their physical limits. The heart is also taxed through weightlifting and must elevate its beating rate considerably to match the exercise. Placing your heart rate in a specific range is important to getting the most out of a lifting workout.
Weight Lifting Effect
Lifting weights in an interval-based workout training program helps the heart achieve an anaerobic workout level. This means that the body is operating with energy stored within itself rather than bringing in oxygen through respiration and putting the new oxygen toward energy creation. An anaerobic heart rate will be pumping between 80 and 90 percent of your heart rate's max. This is a high-intensity form of exercise that cannot be maintained for long periods of time.
Benefits
The primary benefits of anaerobic exercise are structural, focusing on the muscles and bones. Lifting weights can help you tone, strengthen and develop muscles, which reduces the risk of muscle injuries through exercise. Lifting also places stress on the bones and prompts the body to maintain and increase bone density to handle this workload. Because anaerobic exercise elevates the heart rate, it can also help strengthen the heart and improve heart health.
Prolonged Lifting
Although weightlifting creates an anaerobic effect on your body, this is a short-term state. Anaerobic workloads cannot be maintained by the heart for long periods of time. To continue performing when weightlifting, the heart rate must at some point drop into an aerobic zone that can be maintained for longer periods of time -- this heart rate threshold is between 70 and 80 percent of your heart rate max. Aerobic exercise is healthy, but it does not serve weightlifting, which is most beneficial when performed at an anaerobic workout level. You can avoid transitioning to aerobic exercise by keeping intervals on your set short.
Considerations
Lifting weights and achieving an anaerobic workout is good for the body, but in some people it may pose some risks. You should not perform high-stress activities like weightlifting if you have a heart condition or are taking heart medications. If you are unsure about the safety of anaerobic exercise, consult your doctor prior to any workout. Be aware that the effects of exercise through weightlifting do not include weight loss, since the body requires aerobic exercise to burn calories at the fastest rate.
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