The bottom line is that stress is a killer, and that meditation really can help you defend yourself. Traditional meditation may have most beneficial effects, but maybe you're short on time, or uncertain about learning to meditate. In that case, there are two simple techniques you can learn in a few minutes, and start using today.

The first is a breathing meditation. Close your eyes, let tension drain from your muscles, let go of your thoughts (to extent possible), and breath deeply through your nose, paying attention to your breath. As thoughts or sensations arise, just acknowledge them and return your attention to your breath as it goes in and out. Do this for five or ten minutes.

To use second technique, stop whatever you're doing when you feel stressed, and take three deep breaths. Watch yourself until you identify what is bothering you. Are you worried about something? Is there a letter you need to write? Maybe your neck is sore. Note everything you find.

Now deal with these stressors. Write letter that's on your mind, take an aspirin, put things on tomorrow's list. If best you can do is recognise there's nothing you can do right now - then do that. With practice, you'll get better at finding what's just below surface of consciousness, irritating you. After you address these things, close your eyes, take three deep breaths, and you'll feel more relaxed and able to think clearly. Try it now.

Increased Metabolic Efficiency (your ability to burn excess calories)

That one-half pound of muscle loss every year after age 30 produces a one-half percent reduction in basal metabolic rate (BMR) every year. A reduction in BMR means that our bodies are less able to use food we consume as energy, thus more gets stored as body fat. "Basal metabolic rate" refers to energy used by our body at rest to maintain normal body functions.

Our muscles have high-energy requirements. Even when we are sleeping, our muscles use more than 25% of our energy (calories). When you implement principles of effective strength training and you are consistent in your program, you will achieve an increase in lean muscle mass throughout your body and increase your BMR. In other words, you can actually condition your metabolism to work better and more efficiently even when you are at rest.

An increase in muscle tissue causes an increase in metabolic rate, and a decrease in muscle tissue causes a decrease in metabolic rate. You can see that anyone interested in decreasing body fat percentage and their risk of disease as well as in increasing physical performance and appearance, should be strength training to help condition their metabolism (BMR).

One of biggest mistakes people make when starting a weight-management program is not including a strength training routine with their cardiovascular exercise and low-fat eating regimen. This is unfortunate because when we cut calories without exercise, we can lose muscle as well as fat.

Decreased Risk of Sustaining an Injury

Our muscles also function as shock absorbers and serve as important balancing agents throughout our body. Well-conditioned muscles help to lessen repetitive landing forces in weight-bearing activities such as jogging or playing basketball. Well-balanced muscles reduce risk of injuries that result when a muscle is weaker than its opposing muscle group.

To reduce risk of unbalanced muscle development, you should make sure that when you are training a specific muscle group, opposing muscle groups are being trained as well (though not necessarily on same day). For example, if you are doing bench-pressing exercises for your chest, you should include some rowing exercises for your back muscles as well.

By now you have probably realized that weightlifting should be an important part of your exercise routine. Weightlifting provides many important benefits that cannot be achieved by any other exercise or activity. When you begin achieving great results, excitement and fun you experience will make change well worth effort. Good luck; I hope you enjoy all wonderful benefits of an effective strength training program.