#36 You should lift weights. But why?

Lifting weights is the most important thing for your physical health!

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Welcome back to another empowering episode of The Life to the Full podcast! In this instalment, we're diving deep into the world of weightlifting and uncovering the incredible benefits that lie beneath the barbells and dumbbells.

Host Dafydd Morse is joined by renowned fitness experts, passionate weightlifters, and scientific researchers to shed light on how lifting weights goes far beyond building muscle and sculpting a toned physique. We explore how this timeless practice can transform your physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

In this episode, you'll discover:

1. Strength Beyond Muscles: We break down how lifting weights not only enhances your physical strength but also boosts your bone density, improving your overall skeletal health.
2. Metabolism Magic: Learn how weightlifting ignites your metabolism, helping you burn calories even at rest. Say goodbye to endless cardio sessions and hello to efficient fat loss!
3. Mental Resilience: Discover the surprising ways lifting weights can bolster your mental toughness and help you face life's challenges with newfound confidence.
4. Stress Reduction: Uncover the stress-relief benefits of pumping iron and how lifting weights can be a therapeutic outlet for managing daily stressors.
5. Longevity and Aging: Explore how weightlifting can potentially add years to your life by improving your functional fitness and reducing the risk of age-related diseases.
6. Empowerment and Self-Image: Our guests share inspiring stories of personal transformation and how weightlifting can empower individuals to break through self-limiting beliefs.
7. Inclusivity and Community: We highlight the inclusive and supportive communities that have formed around weightlifting, demonstrating that strength knows no boundaries.

Whether you're a seasoned lifter or a curious newbie, this episode has something for everyone. Join us as we unravel the fascinating world of weightlifting and discover the extraordinary benefits that await those who dare to lift.

So grab your headphones, lace up your sneakers, and get ready to feel the power coursing through your veins in this episode of the Life to the Full podcast. Don't miss out on this enlightening journey into the world of weights!

None of this is in fact true but we will look at the main reasons why YOU should incorporate weight training into your life.

Head over to find me on Instagram @dafyddmorse and @lifetothefullpodcast and say hello!


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Transcript

I like the way you move. 

I feel like the last episode of the season we’re in, which is all about physical health, ended rather abruptly. It’s episode 30 so if you haven’t listened to that already, head back a few episodes in your podcast feed and have a little listen to that. I thought I’d conclude my thoughts on the matter here before diving into You should lift weights, but why? We don’t have complete control over out physical health. None of us do. It’s impossible to. But we do have a lot more control than most of us would be prepared to admit. Just like compound interest doesn’t seem to look like it does much at the beginning. we see the biggest effects further down the line. It’ll be the same with our physical health. We will see the biggest benefits of a lifestyle which is built around physical health later in life when your friends bodies are falling apart and ours are still in relatively great condition. You can’t go to the gym, workout once and expect to see massive results. It just doesn’t work like that. It takes consistency over a long period of time to see the real benefits. It took me a year of going to the gym and CrossFit, lifting heavy things, before somebody said ‘Have you been working out?’ I’m looking forward to being in my 50s and people saying, you’re in great shape, not just for a man your age but in general!

If you’re incredibly unfit, eating poorly, not sleeping well and drinking and smoking then you’re very likely to see some great results in a short period of time but the real benefit is in the long term. Just a quick reminder to you, taking a long term view on all sorts of things, from finances, physical health, relationships will make you more successful. Being able to do hard things in order to delay gratification and seeing success come later is a key factor in having a great life. 

I want to dive into today’s topic which is ‘You should life weighs, but why?’ One of the most helpful questions I had asked of me the other week was ‘Why should I care?’ A friend of mine, who has no particular interest in Bitcoin asked me ‘Why should I care?’ And it reminded me of the importance of being able to give short convincing arguments for your thought processes and also being able to back them up with more long form, detailed, rhetoric so that, if nothing else, if you’re unable to convince someone of the benefits of your thing, you can speak to yourself.

 I’m a big proponent of doing physical activity that you enjoy, that you have no trouble committing to doing regularly, so if that’s walking, great, if that’s bowls, fantastic, if it’s swimming or running also wonderful choices. The most important thing is that you actually do the thing. But it’s also worth considering what are the types of physical health, and what should I be optimising for. These roughly break down into the categories of cardiovascular fitness, explosivity, endurance, balance and also strength and flexibility.

There's an argument for incorporating all of these into a lifestyle of working out. Because that's what you want. To make physical health a lifestyle that you enjoy. 

CrossFit was designed to do this. For years I was an endurance athlete, competing in triathlon and Ironman races and once I hit my goal of completing Ironman Wales, I found myself thinking. You might be able to run a long way, but you’re really weak. That’s why I wanted to take up CrossFit. I wanted to get stronger and it was a sport that suited my personality of wanting to do all the things. One thing you can’t do is get bored doing CrossFit. It’s so varied. One day you might be doing heavy deadlifts, the next you’re doing rope climbs and pull ups, the next day you’re doing burpees, squats and sit ups on the GHD machine, no not the hair straightening kind, the kind that extends your whole body to use every muscle in your anterior chain. 

I’ll make a case for CrossFit another time. I have benefited massively from the lifting weights part of CrossFit. I want to focus on why you should life weights even if you hate the gym.

I’m not sure why I never got on with the gym when I was at university. I went a couple of times with some friends but for whatever reason, it didn’t make me want to go back. So I spent the next 18 years mainly doing triathlon and playing basketball. The only time I went to a gym was if I was on holiday and there was a gym where we were staying, I’d go and do a massive session and then not be able to move for the next few days because my body was in no where used to it. It was a combination of listening to podcasts, learning about CrossFit and realising how weak I was that made me fall in love with lifting weights. 

I’m learning a lot from my wife and one of the things she’s teaching me is to pay attention to my body and the feelings that I have there. 

The first thing that I notice after a year of lifting heavy things is that I feel incredible. They say exercise is good for endorphins and feeling good and yes, to some extent I got that exercise high from doing triathlon training and endurance running. Nothing like the feeling I get when I’ve been doing really heavy deadlifts. In triathlon there is a sense of always feeling tired from all the training. Some endurance athletes suffer from lower testosterone and higher cortisol levels. Whereas lifting weights has been associated with higher testosterone levels.

I haven’t had my testosterone levels measured either before, when I was endurance training, nor since I’ve started lifting weights but anecdotally I feel like there’s a massive difference. 

I have never been particularly short of confidence, in fact, my confidence often far outweighs my ability to actually do the thing but I do feel more confident. I walk taller with broader shoulders. My body has changed, I’m not a skinny Ironman triathlete anymore. I looked back at some photos of me around the time of Ironman Wales in 2019 and I thought to myself, man your face is thin! Now my body has changed shape. I’m more muscular. I look healthier. Even as I’m entering my 40s I’m building muscle and getting stronger. I feel more energised as a result of lifting weights. 

It’s not just me, research shows that gaining physical strength can lead to higher self esteem which leads to higher confidence. Higher confidence in one area of your life can lead to higher confidence in other areas of your life which starts a virtuous circle. You create a positive feedback loop which reinforces your self belief that you are someone who can do hard things. You can face hard situations and you can overcome. 

If you want to improve your confidence then start lifting heavy things. For some, the most convenient thing is to join a gym where the equipment is consistent, you can track your progress over time and it’s easy to tell that you’re improving. For others it might be bench pressing, or bicep curling or squatting your baby. I did this and it was so much fun and the kids loved it. It’s hilarious trying to lie on the floor, have your kids lie across your chest and you lift them whilst they wriggle around laughing. For others it might be walking in the woods and picking up logs or rocks. Whatever it is, just start lifting something.

Research also shows that lifting weights also increases your metabolism. That’s your body’s ability to burn calories. Your resting metabolic rate (RMR) is increased by weight training. Why is that a good thing? Well, if you’re so poor that you need your calories to last as long as possible because you can’t afford to eat then that’s probably not a good thing. A low RMR would be better in that case so you’re not burning the energy from your food too quickly. For most people listening to this podcast, that’s not the case. Most people would love to be able to burn more of the calories that they consume so that they aren’t getting stored as fat in their body. Your muscles need more energy to do their thing than fat does. It makes sense then that the more lean muscle mass you have, the higher your RMR is likely to be so then it follows that lifting weights is fantastic for burning more fuel quickly. If you want to be able to burn off the energy from the food you eat quicker then lifting weights to increase your RMR is definitely something to consider.

This increasing of metabolism by lifting weights can counteract the slowing of metabolism that happens as we get older. It’s generally accepted that a 60 year old will have a lower RMR than a 20 year old. But if lifting weights can help us as we get older that leads me nicely on to the next reason you should lift weights. 

Weightlifting for longevity. Lifting weights helps you live longer. As part of living life to the full I am keen on making the most of my time here on earth. The longer I’m here, the more good I can do and the healthier I am, the better the good I can do. Whilst also preparing for life after death. Lifting weights can decrease your risk of death by 9-22% according to one study reported on by everyday health. 

Quoting Harvard Medical School 

Often overlooked is the value of strength-building exercises. Once you reach your 50s and beyond, strength (or resistance) training is critical to preserving the ability to perform the most ordinary activities of daily living — and to maintaining an active and independent lifestyle.

The average 30-year-old will lose about a quarter of his or her muscle strength by age 70 and half of it by age 90. "Just doing aerobic exercise is not adequate," says Dr. Robert Schreiber, physician-in-chief at Hebrew SeniorLife and an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School. "Unless you are doing strength training, you will become weaker and less functional."

Other studies show that 1 to 2 strength training sessions a week is enough to lower mortality rates by 40%. That’s mental! 

Cardiovascular workouts were linked with lower mortality rates but throw in a few strength sessions as well and it made an incredible difference.

Some is better than none. So even if you’re intimidated by the thought of lifting weights, keep that in mind. 

As with any scientific studies, we should keep in mind that this only represents the current thinking on strength training. Lots of research is self perpetuating. One person reports something, then someone else picks up on it and then all of a sudden it’s everywhere. There is a danger to that. Things could change.

In the Economist a couple of weeks ago an article reported that as recently as the 1940s, scientists had no idea of the benefits of exercise for health. In fact navvies, miners and farm labourers were some of the most active members of society and they suffered disproportionately from diseases and early death. It was thought that too much physical activity was bad for you. They didn’t realise that in fact the conditions that people worked in were more the contribution factor rather than the physical exercise. It turns out that digging roads and going down mines were not good working environments for longevity. It was a study of London transport workers, that showed that occupation was associated with excess deaths and heart disease. Bus conductors who spent their day running up and down bus aisles had 30% fewer incidences of disease than the bus drivers, who spent the whole day sitting down. It was the physical activity that lead to the reduction in disease. Paradigm shifting research at the time, but by now, widely accepted as common knowledge.

To me, it makes sense that the stronger we are into old age, the less we’re likely to fall, injure ourselves, do ourselves some mortal damage. 

Do you care yet? Are you going to start lifting weights? 

Let me know over on Instagram, dafyddmorse or Lifetothefullpodcast 

I’m looking forward to diving into breathing and sleep over the next couple of episodes so follow the podcast in your app of choice and you can never miss an episode. Also, why not tell a friend about the Life to the Full podcast. A question I often ask people is, what podcasts are you listening to at the moment? 

Why not try that as a conversation starter and drop in the Life to the Full podcast. 

I’ll be in your ears soon.

Peace out!