WHY WOMEN SHOULD LIFT WEIGHT.

misscarameL25

BH Readers

Today’s post is on why women should lift weights. I’m always talking to women about weight training and becoming big and bulky. Really, like ALWAYS! This is the number one reason why females don’t want to lift weights or start a weight lifting program. Studies prove that having adequate muscle mass is the best way to stay lean and get your metabolism revving high all of the time. The more muscle you have the more fat you burn. It also improves overall fitness.
Now I’m not talking about beastly muscle where you look like a man. YOU PHYSICALLY CANNOT GET THAT MUSCLE UNLESS YOU INJECT SOME ILLEGAL ANABOLIC S AND SUBSTANCES IN YOU. Women don’t have enough testosterone to do this. It will not happen!…And guess what, high rep, high set, light weight weight-training is the method you use to bulk up and get muscle hypertrophy (growth). Low set, low rep, heavier weight is what you do for strength. It doesn’t bulk you up.I’m talking about lean, attractive, feminine muscle. Leanness that almost all women want.

Here are ten reasons why women need to lift weights:

You Will Be Physically Stronger Increasing your strength will make you far less dependent upon others for assistance in daily living. Chores will be easier, lifting kids, groceries and laundry will no longer push you to the max. If your maximum strength is increased, daily tasks and routine exercise will be far less likely to cause injury. Research studies conclude that even moderate weight training can increase a woman’s strength by 30 to 50 percent. Research also shows that women can develop their strength at the same rate as men.

You Will Lose Body Fat Women, who are consistent in a weight training program, will begin to see changes in as early as eight weeks. Lean muscle will replace fat. As your lean muscle increases so does your resting metabolism, and you burn more calories all day long. In general, for each pound of muscle you gain, you burn 35 to 50 more calories each day.

You Will Gain Strength Without Bulk Researchers also found that unlike men, women typically don’t gain size from strength training, because compared to men, women have 10 to 30 times less of the hormones that cause muscle hypertrophy. You will, however, develop muscle tone and definition. This is a bonus.

You Decrease Your Risk Of Osteoporosis Research has found that weight training can increase spinal bone mineral density (and enhance bone modeling) by 13 percent in six months. This, in addition to a healthy diet rich in minerals, is your best defense against preventing this disease.

You Will Improve Your Athletic Performance Over and over research concludes that strength training improves athletic ability. Whatever sport you play, strength training has been shown to improve overall performance as well as decrease the risk of injury.

You Will Reduce Your Risk Of Injury, Back Pain and Arthritis Strength training not only builds stronger muscles, but also builds stronger connective tissues and increases joint stability. This acts as reinforcement for the joints and helps prevent injury. 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.

You Will Reduce Your Risk of Heart Disease Weight training can improve cardiovascular health in several ways, including lowering LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, increasing HDL (“good”) cholesterol and lowering blood pressure. When cardiovascular exercise is added, these benefits are maximized.

You Will Reduce Your Risk of Diabetes Weight training may improve the way the body processes sugar, which may reduce the risk of diabetes. Adult-onset diabetes is a growing problem for women and men. Research indicates that weight training can increase glucose utilization in the body by 23 percent in four months.

It Is Never Too Late To Benefit Women in their 70s and 80s have built up significant strength through weight training and studies show that strength improvements are possible at any age.

You Will Improve Your Attitude And Fight Depression Women who strength train commonly report feeling more confident and capable. They also report feeling less stressed and happier after working out.

BrianSharpe

Increasing your strength will make you far less dependent upon others for assistance in daily living. Chores will be easier, lifting kids, groceries and laundry will no longer push you to the max.

Notwithstanding the minor edits plagiarized from http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/women/a/aa051601a.htm

To the OP - I suspect this was probably unintentional, please attribute your sources when sharing articles like this (or even easier, just post a link)

mamaomefo

What do you consider "heavier weight"?

dad106

Actually 6-12 reps is what you use for hypotrophy and growth.. and hi rep low weight(13-20 reps) are more for endurance then they are for growth.

Other then that, your tips seem spot on.