Why Weight Training Is Ridiculously Good For You

Modern exercise science shows that working with weights—whether that weight is a light dumbbell or your own body—may be the best exercise for lifelong physical function and fitness.

Resistance training counteracts all those bone losses and postural deficits.. Through a process known as bone remodeling, strength training stimulates the development of bone osteoblasts: cells that build bones back up. While you can achieve some of these bone benefits through aerobic exercise, especially in your lower body, resistance training is really the best way to maintain and enhance total-body bone strength.

More research links resistance training with improved insulin sensitivity among people with diabetes and prediabetes. One study published in the journal Diabetes Care found that twice-weekly training sessions helped control insulin swings (and body weight) among older men with type-2 diabetes. 

Strength training also seems to be a potent antidote to inflammation, a major risk factor for heart disease and other conditions.

Lifting “almost to failure”—or until your muscles are near the point of giving out—is the real key, regardless of how much weight you’re using. 

See Time Magazine Article 6  Jun 2018