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Women & weight training

Women can benefit from weight training in many ways such as weight loss, improving muscle tone, fat burning, fighting osteoarthritis and osteoporosis.

You can lose weight because you lose less protein and more fat, and so retain your body tone. It also helps improve one’s physical and mental health, you have fewer musculoskeletal disorders and osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and muscle wasting, while improving your mobility.

It also increases your hemoglobin levels by 25% in both men and women, and stroke volume so that there’s more blood circulating in your body. Weight training also helps fight some of the effects of aging such as cardio-pulmonary function, resulting in increasing oxygen consumption and normal movement.

Despite these benefits, women don’t usually go in for weight training because they don’t want to become very muscular. But the truth is that by lifting weights, women can reshape their bodies and look trim. In fact, weight training can give equally good results as yoga, Pilates or aerobics. Even if women gain some muscle, it will help enhance their femininity.

However, there are a few myths surrounding women and weightlifting. Let’s look at them here:

Myth #1: Women think they are too old to workout with weights. But you’re never too old for weights, particularly since it is a low intensity program. People in their 80s and 90s have benefited from weight training up to a 200% increase in strength in just one month.

Myth #2: Women fear they will lose their flexibility with weight training. On the contrary, weight training makes you more flexible. These exercises stretch your muscles and by constant reps, you become less injury-prone.

Myth #3: Women think they will bulk up on muscles and look masculine. For bulky muscles, women need more than their share of the male hormone testosterone, so women can’t look bulky and masculine, as they fear. In fact, weight training can make their bodies firm and toned, not manly.

Myth #4: Women think weight training is boring. If you do it with an exercise buddy, it works like a dream. Alternatively, you can listen to music or change your routine of exercises, as you exercise. Soon, you will find your strength and body improving and you feel better too.

Now that you know the truth behind all those myths, don’t waste any time getting on to weight training. So get up, pick up your weights, and begin your fitness program for life.