Guido 1

Charlie Guido

Mr.Smith

Junior ELA

6 November 2023

Strength training: the multitude of benefits and why everyone should do it

Over eighty two percent of the population does not partake in any form of strength

training. lifting weights is an aspect of physical activity that everyone should incorporate in their

day to day life due to its variety of physical and mental health benefits and the long term

mobility it provides. It increases your overall lifespan and decreases the chance of injury and

cognitive decline. Despite some individuals being physically limited when it comes to exercise

and others finding it difficult to integrate lifting weights into their everyday life however,

everyone should take part in lifting weights at least three times per week because it increases the

quality of life and improves mobility, mental, cognitive and physical health.

Due to the variety of different benefits it offers, everyone should lift weights at least three

days per week. In contrast to the physical benefits it provides, lifting weights boost mental health

as well. When I initially started lifting I was a very socially nervous kid. I had a lot of friends but

when In public or even my own home I was never confident in anything I was doing. I was

always second guessing myself and wondering if what I was doing was the right thing. As I

started to lift on a more consistent basis I started to notice changes not only physically but

mentally too. I would notice a sudden increase in my mood after each lift. It was almost as if I

felt accomplished, and as I started to see progress, my confidence and self-esteem was

immediately boosted. I immediately started trusting myself more and was a lot more confident in

the things I would do each day. These changes started out small but the more I lifted the more I
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felt these changes were actually impacting my life. I felt much more in touch with myself, and

throughout lifting, slowly learned to sharpen my mind as a whole. It was hard to stay consistent

in the gym but the more I pushed myself everyday to get up and work out the more discipline I

created. I was not in love with the gym at first but as I continued to do something I didn't really

like, I eventually learned to love it as it granted me incredible self discipline just by going

everyday. The confidence and discipline lifting provided me with helps me everyday, and I find I

can easily apply to all different aspects of my life. The Us is in a mental health crisis. One out of

five adults are living with a mental illness (57 million), and with the various mental benefits

lifting provides like boosted self esteem, confidence and increased discipline, everyone should be

doing some sort of weight lifting variation so they too can reap these benefits. Furthermore,

lifting benefits the mind due to its ability to naturally lower stress and anxiety over time. “Recent

research shows that strength training specifically reduced anxiety by up to 20% in study

participants. Researchers believe this likely led to feelings of mastery, increasing belief in their

capabilities, and coping skills” (MacPhearson 1). Not only can lifting benefit overall mental

well-being, but it also boosts our overall brain health, helping with things like memory and

preventing cognitive decline. Multiple medically reviewed studies have shown that “70 to 150

minutes of weekly physical activity, such as strength training, lead to improved cognitive

abilities for older individuals. Evidence suggests that strength training and other exercises can

bolster neuroprotective growth factors, reduce inflammatory markers in the brain, and assist in

new brain cell formation” (MacPhearson 1). Lifting consistently for at least three times per week

not only supports your mental health but helps build a strong brain through increased cognitive

abilities, not only to benefit yourself now but to prevent a decline in brain health for the future.

Mental health is still a very overlooked factor in today's society and lifting a few times per week
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can greatly help to prevent any mental illnesses you may experience and also will help your brain

stay healthy throughout your elderly years.

Alongside the cognitive longevity lifting provides the physical mobility and

strength it enhances is equally as beneficial. The act of lifting weights strengthens almost all

physical attributes like muscle strength, cardiovascular strength and joint stability. According to

experts, muscle training and growth leads to an overall higher quality of life. As your muscles

grow in strength, everyday tasks and physical activities become far easier. Having a strong

muscular base also greatly reduces the risk of injury due to the improvement of your body

alignment. Paired with the general boost in physical strength, lifting also helps improve

cardiovascular function increasing aerobic capacity, meaning a person can navigate more

physical activity for extended periods of time without feeling fatigued. Research suggests

strength training can reduce resting blood pressure, cholesterol levels and risk of cardiovascular

disease as well. All these various physical benefits are achieved through strength training at least

three times per week. They are benefits that create an overall healthier life and guarantees a

longer, safer lifestyle. These benefits will simply enhance your base physical abilities and set you

apart from the rest. Furthermore, lifting also significantly lowers your overall mortality rate.

Studies show that those who take part in strength training at least three times per week have an

entire forty percent lower mortality rate than those who don't partake in exercise at all. This

shows that through lifting only three days a week you can quite literally elongate your lifespan

and live a happier, healthy life through all the physical benefits lifting provides. Physical health

and your overall lifespan are some of the two most important factors to living a long healthy life

and lifting weights is one of the few things that can naturally enhance these two attributes

greatly.
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Some may believe that lifting three times per week is impossible to fit into their busy

schedule and some struggle to lift weights in general due to physical limitations. When I first

started lifting initially I found it difficult to integrate weight lifting into my everyday life. I was

new to the activity and I struggled to find slots in my busy day to partake in lifting. In spite of

this issue and what some might say, whether it's in the morning or late at night, time can be made

to participate in weightlifting. The common misconception that lifts have to be intense and long

are false. To grasp the full effects and benefits of lifting weights, thirty to forty five minutes is all

that is needed to reap the benefits it offers. In addition to this, physical limitations may veer

certain people away from lifting weights and some may believe it's impossible for them to do so.

Physical limitations and lifting weights don't seem to go hand in hand as it can be seen as

dangerous to do so for specific people due to the heavy weights and high intensity lifting entails.

It may be true that with certain severe physical limitations you may not be able to partake in

lifting weights however most physical limitations can be adapted for in the gym. Lifting is not all

about thrashing around heaving weight. There are a multitude of stable, safe machines that can

be used for a variety of workouts and will provide the same cognitive and physical benefits as

any other lift. Some may struggle with fitting lifting into their day and some may think lifting is

beyond their physical capability but in the end there is always a time in the day to lift whether it's

right in the morning or late at night, and despite physical limitations lifting can be done by

almost anyone with the proper equipment.

Lifting provides a variety of different benefits like mental, cognitive and physical health

alongside decreasing the risk of injury, mortality and cognitive decline. Anyone has the ability to

reap these benefits and everyone should because it will create a better quality of life. Lifting

weights will quite literally provide you with a longer, safer life and will increase the quality of it
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while decreasing the difficulty of almost all physical activities. Trust me, when you're old and

wrinkly you're not going to like it when you start forgetting if you even turned the stove off

before you left. Lifting decreases cognitive decline and sets you up for a much healthier elderly

life.
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Works Cited

“7 Benefits Of Strength Training, According To Experts.” Forbes Health, 24 Feb. 2023,

https://www.forbes.com/health/fitness/benefits-of-strength-training/.

Fairbank, Rachel. “People Who Do Strength Training Live Longer — and Better.” The New

York Times, 24 Aug. 2022. NYTimes.com,

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/24/well/move/cardio-strength-training-benefits.html.

“5 Mental Health Benefits of Strength Training.” Verywell Fit,

https://www.verywellfit.com/mental-health-benefits-of-strength-training-5216157.

Accessed 12 Nov. 2023.

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H Argument Essay Rubric

Skill Not Yet Foundational Proficient Advanced

Identifies a basic Appears in first Thesis establishes a

Thesis claim paragraph complex claim

Thesis establishes a Establishes

topic and a claim counter-argument in
claim

Topic sentences Topic sentences have Topic sentences have

Claims/Reasons contain basic claims clear and distinct clear and distinct
claims that relate to claims that relate to
the thesis the thesis and make
nuanced points that
consider alternate
perspectives or
counterarguments

Uses some brief Uses multiple pieces Uses a variety of

Evidence examples, or one of evidence (personal evidence (see
example, to support experience, previous column) that
each claim; may all anecdotes, survey, supports each claim;
be personal research etc.) to different types of
experience support each claim evidence in each
body paragraph

Use of reliable
outside sources

Brief explanation of Explains how Provides strong

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Analysis how evidence evidence supports explanations of how

supports topic topic sentence/claim evidence supports
sentence of individual of individual topic sentence and the
paragraphs paragraphs and the thesis while also
thesis considering
counterarguments
Includes at least 2
concessions in body Seamlessly mentions
paragraphs concession, and
offers
response/rebuttal

Counter- Makes some mention Structure Well-structured and

Argument of opposing argument counter-argument
which:
Mentions the
opposing argument,
some mention of how
opposing argument
may be disproven
Some elements Heading is correctly
MLA Format missing or some errors formatted
in MLA format
Pages are numbered
effective
counter-argument
which:
Establishes an aspect
of the opposing
argument, clearly and
logically disproves
the argument
No errors in MLA
format

In-text citations are

correctly formatted (if
sources are used)

Works Cited format:

hanging indent,
double-spaced,
alphabetized, starts on
a new page (if sources
are used)

Works Cited: each

source entry is in
correct MLA format (if
sources are used)
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Shows evidence of Quotes are correctly Quotes are correctly

Conventions basic proofreading integrated most of the integrated
time (if sources are
used) Shows evidence of
careful proofreading
Follows essay
organization (claims in Includes fluid
topic sentence; transitions between
evidence; analysis; ideas
concluding sentences)
Eliminates wordiness
Shows evidence of
proofreading

Utilizes mostly simple Some varied sentence Consistently varied

Fluency sentence structures structures sentence structures

Some use of advanced Advanced use of

vocabulary vocabulary; including
use of active verbs