How to Treat Alcohol Use and Mental Health Together
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology; Associate Program Director, UW Health Memory Clinic; Medical Director, Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Study; Medical Director, Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention Study; Medical Director, ADRC Consortium for Clarity in ADRD Research Through Imaging (CLARiTI), University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin
Disclosure: Nathaniel Chin, MD, has disclosed the following relevant financial relationships:Serve(d) as a consultant or advisor for: New Amsterdam Pharma Inc (1-day advisory panel, July 2023); Eli Lilly Inc (2-day advisory panel, January 2025)
Serve(d) as a volunteer board member for: Medical and Scientific Board, Wisconsin Alzheimer's Association; Alzheimer's Foundation of America
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Lose Weight With Strength Training -- Here's How to Cut Fat by Lifting
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This also means that the more lean muscle you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate will be. Your resting metabolic rate, or RMR, refers to the total number of calories your body burns when it's at rest. Biologically speaking, resting metabolism aids your organ functions, neurological functions, breathing and blood circulation. Rachel MacPherson, an American Council of Exercise-certified personal trainer, performance specialist and Garage Gym Reviews expert, explains that muscle is metabolically active, meaning it burns calories even at rest. Although the effect is small, it's significant and does add up over time. "This also helps to counteract the decline of metabolism and muscle mass as you age, which can contribute to middle-age weight gain," she says. Strength training also has fat-burning benefits when you're fresh off a workout. 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"Men can build muscle mass much easier and faster than women due to testosterone, while women can still build substantial amounts of muscle but will never look as large or full as men unless they use anabolic steroids," says MacPherson. "It's vital that women lift enough volume and weight while also eating enough to support muscle gain." This means letting go of the old-school mentality of dieting and shrinking yourself, otherwise it'll inhibit your ability to build muscle. Besides a well-regimented workout plan, a diet that supports muscle-building is key too. "In order to build muscle, you need to eat in a calorie surplus with plenty of protein," MacPherson says. She explains that eating in a surplus will lead you to gain some body fat, which is normal and necessary to gain muscle. "You can lose it afterward and it will be easier since your body has become better at burning calories due to increased muscle mass." Strength training has excellent health benefits. Getty Images Other benefits to lifting weights Besides helping you metabolize and get stronger, strength training has other benefits. Colon says it's also important for bone development and density. "Weight-bearing exercises put temporary stress on your bones, sending a message to bone-building cells to take action and rebuild bones stronger," he says. Another benefit tied to strength training is reducing your risk of injury by improving the strength, range of motion and mobility of your muscles, ligaments and tendons. "This can reinforce strength around major joints like your knees, hips and ankles to provide additional protection against injury," Colon says. Another plus is for your heart, because strength training is shown to help decrease blood pressure. You can also reduce the chances of type 2 diabetes, improve blood circulation and lower LDL (bad) cholesterol. 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Regaining your strength is easy with the FitBeast grip strengthener kit
Whether you're carrying groceries or opening stubborn jars, having solid grip strength can be extremely helpful in day-to-day life. It's also vital to overall health and longevity. If your grip strength is waning or not up to where you'd prefer, there's no need to worry. I recently tested the $26 FitBeast Grip Strengthener to see how well it could help me gain some power. Turns out, it really works. FitBeast Grip Strengthener This five-piece bundle comes with various ways to train your grip, and while some felt more effective than others, it's a low-cost and easy way to get your hands strong. I'm a rock climber, so I've been training various parts of my grip for over a decade. Over those years, I've tried tons of different techniques and products to build strength, so I have a good idea of when something truly works or not. To test the FitBeast Grip Strengthener, I ordered it for myself and used it nearly every day for almost a month. I tried all the different devices the package came with and tracked my progress with an electronic hand dynamometer. After training for several weeks, here are my honest thoughts on the FitBeast Grip Strengthener. Small improvement in strength My biggest overall impression from training with the FitBeast is simple: it works. By using several of the included gadgets, I was able to tire out my hands in short, efficient sessions, which I'm sure will translate to a stronger grip over time. Right before I started training with the FitBeast, I used the hand dynamometer to get a baseline reading. I squeezed three times with each hand, then calculated the average. During this test, I measured an average of 127.8 pounds of force with my right hand (with a peak of 137.2 pounds) and 124 pounds with my left hand (with a peak of 130.8 pounds). Then, after my weeks of training, I measured again in the same way, and recorded an average of 137.4 pounds with my right hand (peak of 146.6 pounds) and 128.4 pounds with my left hand (peak of 143 pounds). There's some clear improvement there, but I want to add some strong caveats with those measurements. Since I climb a lot, the strength in my hands varies depending on the day. I easily could have had a weak day during the first test and a strong day on the second test. I was also climbing quite frequently while training with the FitBeast, which could have increased my strength as well. Even though the measurements don't tell the whole story, I do still think the FitBeast has been helping with my grip (just not as much as those numbers might suggest). I haven't noticed a ton of improvement in my climbing or day-to-day activities, but the exercises I've been doing have started to feel easier, which is a clear sign of progress. So, while I don't think it's a magic tool that will double your grip strength in a matter of weeks, I do think it's an easy and convenient way to train that can genuinely improve your strength if you stick with it. Ease of use One of my biggest hurdles when it comes to working out in general is convenience. I'm the type who can never build up the motivation to go to the gym if I have to get in the car and drive. That's why I love at-home workouts and exercises that are more enjoyable. The FitBeast isn't as exciting as other workouts I tend to lean towards, but its design is supremely convenient. Even with all five devices, the carrying bag it comes with is smaller than a football and can easily be thrown into a backpack or suitcase, which means you can train no matter where you are. Besides its portability, the devices are quite easy to use. The main gadget I used is one with a large spring that trains your grip with a squeezing motion, called the advanced trainer. It has a dial that changes the difficulty, but once that's set, all you need to do is pick it up and start squeezing. All the devices included are comfortable, ergonomic and intuitive, and require little to no setup, so you can keep your workouts nice and quick. Plus, if you're unsure of how to use any of the gadgets or how to properly train with them, FitBeast has a useful video that provides some ideas. On top of everything, I love that you can easily bust out a workout with any of these devices in just a few minutes. When something doesn't take a lot of time and is convenient, it means you have a better chance of actually sticking with it, which is the real key to strength gains. Variety Another thing I loved about the FitBeast Grip Strengthener is the variety of tools you get for just $26. I think the advanced trainer is the most useful one, but it also comes with a silicone donut and stress ball to help with your squeezing power, as well as a finger strengthener and a resistance band. I didn't find the finger trainer to be useful at all, because the resistance is quite low and can't be adjusted. However, I found a way to use every other device that felt productive to me. I especially liked the finger resistance band because it helps you train the opposite muscles in your hand that the other squeezing trainers do. All this variety means it's easy to add flexibility to your training regimen. Bored with one device? Just use a different one for a few days. I also appreciated the advanced trainer's adjustability. It's the only device in this pack where you can change the resistance. You can perform exercises with fewer fingers or in different positions with the other pieces to make it harder or easier, but the squeezer has a dial that adjusts a metal spring so you can find the right spot and gradually progress. By turning the dial one way, the spring gets shorter and easier to squeeze, and when you turn it the other way, the spring elongates, making it harder. I do wish it were easier to read exactly where along the weight scale the spring is set. There are a few numbers printed on the side of the device, but you can't tell exactly where it is, which can make tracking progression harder. Build quality While the grip strengtheners work, they aren't of the highest quality. Most of the components are made from simple plastics or silicone, so if grip training is something you'll want to do for years to come, you might want to invest in more durable pieces. The biggest issue I came across was with the finger trainer. Moving the springs up and down wasn't a pleasant feeling at all, and the way the springs rubbed against the plastic sometimes made a harsh scraping sound. I didn't have any issues with the other devices, and while I don't think they'll last for a long time, they work just fine. It's also just $26 for five separate grip-strengthening tools, so I can't expect much more from this FitBeast set. If you're trying to up your grip strength but don't know where to start, the FitBeast Grip Strengthener is a solid option that won't break the bank. It's portable, easy to use and made with a variety of devices so your workouts won't get stale. Will you be training with these same gadgets years down the line? Probably not. However, for just $26 and a few minutes per day, the FitBeast Grip Strengthener can seriously help you get stronger. Can you adjust the resistance for a FitBeast grip strengthener? Can you adjust the resistance for a FitBeast grip strengthener? You can adjust the resistance of the main device in the FitBeast grip strengthener kit, but it's the only one that is adjustable. What type of activities is training with the FitBeast grip strengthener kit best for? What type of activities is training with the FitBeast grip strengthener kit best for? Training with the FitBeast grip strengthener can help you get strong hands. If you have a better grip, holding and carrying things like groceries can feel a lot easier. How do FitBeast grip strengtheners work? How do FitBeast grip strengtheners work? FitBeast grip strengtheners work by exercising the muscles in your hand using various devices. The different gadgets in the kit, along with various techniques you can use, allow you to target and improve your grip strength. CNN Underscored editors thoroughly test all the products we cover and provide full transparency about how we test them. We have a skilled team of writers and editors with many years of testing experience who ensure each article is carefully edited and products are properly vetted. We talk to top experts when it makes sense to make certain we are testing each product accurately and speaking about the pros and cons of each item. For this product review, author Kai Burkhardt got his hands on the FitBeast Grip Strengthener and trained with it for weeks. He tracked his progress using a hand dynamometer to see if it actually improved his strength.
