Health benefits of gym training

Julius Granlund

M.Sc Exercise Science (Exercise Physiology), University of Jyväskylä

Gym training is often seen as appearance-oriented exercise. Gym training certainly has a strong impact on appearance, but at the same time it also has very significant physiological effects that are often less emphasized. In terms of health benefits, gym training could be considered the most important form of exercise for healthy living and well-being - the benefits are at least comparable to those of aerobic exercise and in some aspects even potentially stronger (1).

The physiological health benefits of gym training observed in studies include at least:
- Reduction in low-grade inflammation (2)
- Improved insulin sensitivity (3)
- Reduction in visceral fat (4)
- Reduction in blood pressure (5)
- Enhanced cardiovascular function during physical performance (6)
- Improvement in lipid profiles (7)
- Brain health benefits , e.g. Cognitive function (8) (Note: A blog about psychological benefits of strength training to be published soon)
- Strengthening of bones/increased bone density (9),(10)
- Improved motor function (11)
- Improved mitochondrial oxidative capacity (12)
- Improved metabolic function, accelerated resting metabolic rate (13)
- Prevention/treatment of lifestyle diseases (e.g. cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes) (14),(15)
- Increase in muscle mass & improvement in body composition (16),(17)
- Strengthening of tendons/other supporting tissues  (18)
- Development of muscle endurance (19)
- Increased physical performance, strength development, more capable everyday life and other aspects of life (20),(21)
- Improved flexibility (22)
- Benefits for joint pain (20)
- Improved balance (23)
- Prevention of falls (24)
- Reduced risk of sports injuries (25)
- Improved quality of life (26)

= By resistance training and improving the body composition, the body functions more optimally physiologically, as it has evolved to operate. Gym training is also significantly associated with a decreased overall mortality risk (27).

What causes the benefits?

The actual mechanisms at the cellular level are numerous, but simply: it appears that much of the benefits of gym training are due to improved body composition(28), which promotes the better functioning of several body processes. Body composition refers to the ratio between the amount of muscle mass and other lean tissue in the body and the amount of fat mass.

Gym training is the easiest and most effective way to optimise body composition (in practice, to increase muscle mass), but of course nutrition also plays an important role alongside it. However, some of the benefits also appear to be derived from gym training itself, not just through changes in body composition(29).

It should also be noted that exercise in general has many positive effects (and inactivity has many negative effects - more on this in a separate blog post) and these are also very strongly linked to changes in body composition.

However, the effects listed above are essentially effects of exercise (and the resulting improvements in body composition) - not, for example, changes in nutrition or aerobic exercise. There is overlap, but the molecular signals and resulting adaptations induced by, for example, gym exercise are different from those induced by aerobic exercise(30). The best benefits seem to be obtained when both aerobic exercise and gym training are practised(31).

The benefits are easily attainable by training sensibly.

By working out in the gym - i.e. moving, loading & building muscle, while keeping fat levels healthy, the body functions better overall. This in turn translates not only into measurable physiological health variables, but also into looking better, feeling better, better functionality in daily life, being able to cope with stress and lots of other psychological benefits, and so on. The way to resistance train when trying to maximize health benefits is effectively the same as exercising effectively and sensibly for appearance - in other words, these benefits are pretty much directly linked.

In practice, maximizing the benefits of gym training is simple: by following the principles of optimal and individualized training and preferably keeping training as part of life for the long term. There are also other simple areas for optimizing body function: for example, optimizing sleep, nutrition, circadian rhythms and psychological thought patterns. You can read more about these in upcoming blogs!

- Julius Granlund, M.Sc Exercise Physiology

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