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It’s also one of the very few ways to make bones denser, a perk that is especially important for women.

MORE: Why Weight Training Is Ridiculously Good For You Building muscle can fight back against that process. “But a sedentary lifestyle means that people are gradually becoming weaker over time,” he says. Young people tend to take for granted the day-to-day parts of life that require strength, like walking up stairs or picking up a baby. “Muscle mass allows us to move,” Tucker says. It’s the only kind of exercise that makes muscles bigger, which lets them generate more strength and force, faster. “Gradually we started realizing there are benefits beyond sports.”īut women in particular are neglecting strength training at their own peril. That myth was somewhat dispelled when athletes who started strength-training saw that they could hit a ball farther, jump higher and run faster, Tucker says. “One is that you’ll become muscle-bound”-so bulked up that your body becomes rigid. “There are so many misconceptions about strength and resistance training,” says Larry Tucker, a professor in exercise sciences at Brigham Young University. Yet the scientific benefits are stacking up in favor of it, from bone protection to disease prevention, and it appears to have special benefits for women. While about half of people do the recommended amount of aerobic activity each week, only 20% also do the muscle-strengthening moves that work major muscle groups. The average American flat-out loathes strength training. “Once I can get someone on board with strength training, they’re good for life, because they’re seeing results like they’ve never seen on cardio.”

“Above and beyond the physical changes, though, a whole new persona emerges as people start to feel really confident in their own bodies.”Ĭlark saw the transformation in Dena, just as she has in many others. “Strength training is the only way you’re going to truly be able to sculpt the physique of your personal dreams,” says Sue Clark, a Chicago-based strength coach who trains Dena.