Weights for Women?!
Lifting weights or resistance training is your biggest training weapon and the benefits to women go far beyond just fat loss.
Let’s get one thing straight first - women who lift weights will not develop big, bulky muscles and look like Mrs Schwarzenegger…
Women don’t become overly muscular – it’s just not possible. Women don’t naturally produce enough of the hormones it takes to grow massive muscle (i.e. testosterone). Women can only bulk up beyond normal ranges with serious bodybuilding and the use of steroids.
Weight training will, however, give you that toned look you’re striving for. You can’t burn fat off to see muscle tone that doesn’t exist.
Crash diets that burn precious muscle tissue only leave you with a temporarily smaller version of your original fat self. “Skinny fat” is still flabby, but muscle is sexy!
If you want curves and definition, and a tight toned body, weight training is the way to go.
Studies have shown strength improvements and numerous other benefits from weight training are possible at any age, even in subjects well into their 70s and 80s.
In fact, a recent study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that post-menopausal women can reduce their body fat, increase muscle mass, build up their bones, and improve their balance by lifting moderately heavy weights on a regular basis. Biologically, the women were about 20 years younger than they were at the start of the yearlong study.
Research has also found that weight training can increase spinal bone mineral density by as much as 13% in six months.
So weight training is a powerful tool against osteoporosis. The benefits of weight training are now indisputable, both to prevent the effects of aging in pre-menopausal women and reverse the effects of aging in post-menopausal women.
And if all that isn’t enough to convince you the weight training is the single most effective way to burn fat, increase metabolism, build strength, increase bone density and tone up, then here are a few other benefits you may want to consider:
Tip #1: You Will Reduce Your Risk of Diabetes. The more muscle you have, the more insulin receptor sites you have, and the more sensitive they will be. Increased muscle prevents diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
Tip #2: You Will Fight Heart Disease. Strength training will improve your cholesterol profile and blood pressure.
Tip #3: You Will Be Able to Fight Back Pain and Arthritis. A recent 12-year study showed that strengthening the low-back muscles had an 80 percent success rate in eliminating or alleviating low-back pain. Other studies have indicated that weight training can ease arthritis pain and strengthen joints.
Tip #4: You'll Be a Stronger Woman Physically. Studies have shown that weight training increases a woman's strength by 30 to 50 percent. Extra strength will make it easier to accomplish daily activities, such as lifting children, carrying bags, gardening, playing with grandchildren. Pound for pound, women can develop their strength at the same rate as men.
Tip #5: You'll Be a Stronger Woman Mentally. In addition, a Harvard study found that 10 weeks of strength training reduced symptoms of clinical depression more successfully than traditional counselling did. Women who weight train commonly report feeling more confident and capable as a result of their program.
Tip #6: The greater your muscle mass the greater the longevity potential. It is, in fact, the number one biomarker of longevity. It is a far better predictor of longevity than total cholesterol or blood pressure.
Tip #7: The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest. It is estimated that for every pound of muscle you gain you burn an extra 50 calories a day!
Tip #8: You will dramatically decrease the risk of osteoporosis. Increasing bone density through good strength and weight training is key to preventing this avoidable common problem for women.
As you can see, the benefits of weight training are essential to a happy, healthy, slim, toned you! So hit the weights - and get ready to reap a host of health benefits that you probably never imagined possible with just one small lifestyle change.
