Weight Training Can Save an Increasing Sedentary Culture

Weight training will one day become the greatest force in existence and it may be hailed as the activity that actually saved civilization from itself.

Technology tries to seduce us into inactivity and complacency. The personal computer is now as ubiquitous as the most mundane household appliance, and many individuals now supplement their television viewing with hours spent surfing the internet, performing an endless series of reps using only their index finger on a keyboard or mouse.

Such activities may exercise the mind, but they ignore the body, and the long term implications of such neglect could be catastrophic. Heart disease, arthritis, back pain, bone deterioration - all these thrive in the absence of exercise. And if the individual costs are alarming, the potential costs to societies and governments are mind boggling. Health care systems around the world stagger under the weight of increased demand and shrinking resources, and the persistence of present trends could lead to collapse.

Most ominous of all, children, teens and young adults are increasingly at risk. Many American children are already developing risk factors for heart disease later in life. Other groups are forming unhealthy habits at an alarming rate as well. For example, white teenage girls have a high smoking rate. Parents and educators need to encourage youngsters to exercise more, eat less junk food and stop smoking.

For our children to realize their potential, they must keep their bodies as finely tuned as their minds. One feeds off the other. A good weight training regimen, consistently followed, may build mental acuity as effectively as it builds muscle, strength and endurance. Its benefits are universal, cutting across all cultural, racial, and socio-economic barriers.

It seems like we're all in a rush to keep deadlines and achieve goals. We're even in a hurry to relax: Hence the struggle to balance living life to the maximum and stopping to smell the roses. Too many people are merely doing time. Regular weight training athletes are the living, breathing, inspirational examples of the benefits of the super fitness lifestyle. Weight training is the key to a great physique, a strong mind, fitness and longevity

For young and old alike, the prescription for a healthy, fit lifestyle has the same ingredients it had 100 years ago. Consistent exercise, including weight training, proper nutrition, active rest and recovery, and participation in sport, all work together to maintain a healthy body and mind. Aerobic exercise, while essential can't do it alone. Nor can playing an individual sport provide balanced development. Only regular weight training, performed with progressively greater intensity and combined with regular aerobics, can unlock the door to a better, stronger, healthier body for all.