Have you ever thought of how your body would look and feel if you lifted weights? Have you ever wondered if you’re getting the most out of your lift? This question occurred to me today as I walked out of the IM building after a good lift session. As I walked out of the building, I felt exhausted yet rewarding. Depleted yet happy. For me, I feel like happy when I work out because I know I’m doing something more beneficial than just lying around. When I was done my workout, I walked by two kids wearing their usual “Way to long cut offs”. I could tell that one of the kids lifted regularly as opposed to his much scrawnier friend. He walked tall with a swagger about him opposed to his hunched over amigo. Once I was done analyzing the two, it got me thinking. How can lifting help you out in your life? What differences does lifting weights have on the body as opposed to someone who doesn’t lift regularly? And how can you get the most outof your lift? Lets dive in to this.
Well for starters, I have just starting lifting weights regularly about 2 months ago and let me tell you, I can already see the difference. I feel better. I look stronger, and I feel more confident in myself. It’s gotten to a point where I look forward to going to the gym. Now my roommate on the other hand doesn’t go to the gym at all. He’s very studious about his work and tends to stay in a lot. Now he hasn’t gained any substantial amount of weight, but I have noticed he’s not as skinny as he was back in August. That’s kinda my motivation now to keep lifting. But I wanted to look up more about the pro/cons and differences between lifting and not.
So the question I originally proposed is: What is the statistical significance of lifting weights on a regular schedule opposed to not be on a regular schedule?
My hypothesis is that lifting regularly will be more statistically significant than lifting at random times or not at all. Weight lifting will also have positive effects and benefits on one’s body.
I believe this is common sense, for you will obviously see a change in muscle growth if you lifted regularly. But I wanted to consult several experiments just to make sure.
The first experiment I stumbled upon online seemed just like what I was looking for. It was conducted by a man who wanted to find out the same question I was asking. He used several references in determining his answer. Prior to the experiment, he hypothesized that the strength of those who lift weights will be 1.4 times stronger than those who don’t lift. It was conducted for 6-7 months with the participants who lifted worked out every other weekday for 45 minutes to an hour. The results were recorded regularly with the participants who did not lift also being recorded. How they are being evaluated is based on their bench press, squat, dumb bell curl, and the amount of pushups and sit ups one can do. This is what he found out. The bench press of participants who lifted was 30 lbs stronger than the ones who didn’t lift. The squat was 14 lbs stronger while the participants who lifted conducted an average of 7 more pushups. Those who lifted regularly also curled more and completed more sit-ups. Ultimately, it was concluded that people who lifted regularly gained 12.8239 more than the people who did not. The hypothesis was supported in this case and was backed up by the data recorded.
After reading that, I found another research article that discussed the benefits found with weight lifting on the human body. Julia Wilcox, a writer for Forbes magazine, wanted to find out more about the effects of weightlifting. Wilcox analyzes the work of Gretchen Reynolds (New York Times Writer), and Pat Manocchia (CEO of the LA PALESTRA Center For Preventative Medicine in New York City). Several things she determined on her research were that weightlifting can “regress obesity and resolve metabolic disorders. This was concluded at a research experiment at Brown University where mice were injected with a “push-up” gene to examine the effects on metabolism. Also, Reynolds noted that bikers who take part in plyometric exercises and resistance training have “far more genetic remodeling within their muscles than cyclists who did no strength training”. The signaling molecules in muscles of people who strength train have double the molecules meaning better endurance in their body. It was also concluded that an athlete’s power can be improved by weightlifting due to the improved coordination of muscles.
After going over several experiments and date, I decided how I would conduct an experiment if I were to do so. Essentially, the experiment before hand is something I would do if I conducted an experiment based off my hypothesis. I would have one control group, which would be the people who did not lift weights. And then I would have an experimental group of the people who will lift regularly. By setting up a controlled date and time for the people to lift weights I will begin my experiment. Once I am done, I will use my survey analysis to make a conclusion and determine if my hypothesis was indeed correct.
If all goes according to my calculation sand hypothesis, I would conclude that the effects of weight lifting regularly will be more statistically significant than lifting at random times or not at all. Weight lifting would also have positive effects and benefits on one’s body.
Works Cited:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/juliewilcox/2012/05/31/health-benefits-weightlifting/
http://www.informedbynature.org/science-fair-projects/info/id/MjUz
As someone who lifts regularly, I tend to have to agree with you. When you start lifting, a lot of people experience a soreness called DOMS.This soreness goes away the more regularly you go to the gym and work on those muscles. You get to the point where you are rarely sore from the gym (unless it’s leg day…my bane). Your body learns to adapt and gets better at dealing with this. If you don’t workout regularly you probably would experience DOMS every time you lift leading me to believe that it is more beneficial for your body to be on a schedule when it comes to physical exercise.
This is an interesting blog post. I like how at the end of your post, you talk about an experiment that you would conduct to deliver the results you expect. Although with the experiment you used above, there can always be third variables involved in an experiment so depending on their BMI, weight, and other controls it can make the results different. For example, if the participants chosen were all the same height, weight, and BMI, it would be interesting to see what kind of results would emerge from that kind of experiment, and if there was a wide difference, it would interesting to figure out why. Even thought the participants all lifted the same thing, everyone responds to that kind of workout differently which was probably very interesting for the person who conducted the experiment. And who knows, maybe with your experiment, it would be different and more specific. This is a very interesting blog post!