The benefits of lifting weights or "pumping iron" are as various as the types of people who lift weights. Besides the obvious benefit of added muscular strength & self esteem, weight training can offer the following other benefits.

• Improves your posture, balance and coordination

• Elevates your mood

• Improves your muscular endurance

• Can reverse the natural decline in your metabolism

• Positive affect on almost all of your 650+ muscles

• Makes you less prone to low-back injuries

Weight Training at Shahin

Shahin has a huge selection of free weights, including steel and rubber coated dumbbells. Whether you're a novice or a lifting veteran, you'll find Shahin has all the free weight equipment you need for a powerful workout, including benches, curl bars, squat and power racks, steel dumbbells (up to 150 LBS) and more.

We also have a complete line of circuit training equipment from Matrix, Sports Art, and Body Solid. These pieces of equipment not only provide the same benefits as free weights, but you won't need a spotter, have to change plates or worry about incorrect form.

Muscle Soreness

Muscle soreness, which typically occurs a day or two after an activity, results from microscopic muscle or connective tissue damage. These aches and pains should be minor, and are simply indications that muscles are adapting to your fitness regimen. We encourage health and fitness instructors to explain the likelihood of muscle soreness to new exercisers. Health and fitness professionals are the first line of defense for people misinformed about exercise. It's really important they have the background knowledge to describe initial muscle pain and soreness so the person doesn't treat it as an obstacle to exercise.

We recommend these tips to address muscle soreness:

Muscle Cramps

Muscle cramps, intense, involuntary contractions of the muscle, typically occur toward the end of a long workout or competition. Cramps are traditionally thought to stem from dehydration or electrolyte imbalances (loss in body salt through sweat), but this is not always the case.

Athletes and exercisers are not the only group to experience painful muscle cramps. Musicians often get cramps, but they do not have a large sweat loss. Cramping is likely the results of using a muscle repetitively so that becomes fatigued.  This may trigger abnormal neural activity that results in involuntary muscle contractions. And, there are also some unknown factors in muscle cramps. For instance, if the whole body is dehydrated, why does only one muscle cramp? Researchers are interested in solving this dilemma. This leads us to think that the main cause of a muscle cramp is fatigue of the muscle.

There's no "cure" for muscle cramps, but we recommend:

Stretch regularly, stay well hydrated, take in a well-balanced diet and be conditioned for exercise.
When cramps occur, hold the muscle in a stretched position until the cramp subsides.
Drinking pickle juice or pinching the upper lip or nostril are urban-legend type remedies for muscle cramps that some athletes swear are effective.