Weight Training for Women

Lifting weights, with a good program and a prolonged calorie surplus builds muscle.

Without that calorie surplus, as a woman, gains will be minimal most likely (good genetics notwithstanding...)

However, lifting in a calorie deficit will lead to significant strength increases as well as the majority of weight-loss coming from fat stores. Which is nice.

I hope your trainer didn't discourage you from lifting. A good balance of weight training and cardio exercise is good for everyone. Period. I lifted while maintaining a calorie deficit and significantly increased my strength and didn't 'bulk up'. I lost 100 pounds of fat (according several different measurement techniques) and increased my muscle mass. My resting metabolic rate is 1,600+ calories which is great for a 45 year old women. I now continue my strength training and I am in maintenance mode. Adding weight training is one of the best decisions I've made in terms of increasing my general health and fitness levels.

Marianne802 wrote: »

He hasn't discouraged me, I understand the other benefits. But I should not expect it boost my metabilism at rest as such?

More muscle mass takes more calories to maintain, which increases your TDEE. But you need to build that extra muscle mass in order to benefit from this slight upswing. And it is slight. If you don't bulk to build the mass, it won't make much difference...

You'll derive more benefit to increasing your TDEE from walking more often, taking the stairs, etc.

Weight training is for stuff like building muscle mass, increasing strength and retaining lbm. Caloric impact is minimal.

Muscle is a metabolically active tissue, which means that it requires energy to live even at rest. The more you have, the higher your rating metabolic rate is.

Weight training should, in my opinion, be included in every persons life. Stating that it is harder for women to build muscle is not accurate; it is unlikely for women to build AS MUCH MUSCLE as a man because of differences in hormones. The comparison is only relative to the amount of muscle one can build, not the ability to build it at all. Weight training could arguably burn the same if not MORE calories than cardio. Cardio is still important for aerobic conditioning and heat health, so a good balance between the two will optimize overall health.

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Is that routine meant to be a total body routine? It feels to me a little unbalanced maybe . Maybe other more experienced people will weigh in.
You asked if it is enough. Enough for what? Depends on your goals. And how often your trainer will be changing your routine.
I like the tabata. I hate doing tabata but love myself when it's done.

rabbitjb wrote: »

Marianne802 wrote: »

Thanks. I would like to know if the following routine is classed as weight training, and is it enough?

3 rounds of:
12 x fast step ups
12 x Squating down a picking up a 6kg soft ball thing and slambing it back down
Using a 4kg ball 12 squats whilst lifting the ball above my head
24 x bicep curls 3kg
24 x lifting 3kg weights straight up above my head.

Then tabata on the rowing machine with 20 sec hard, 10 sec easy for four minutes.

I'm by no means an expert but I would say you need a combination of compound lifts and decent weights ...and to move progressively up in weight as you train

Look at books like strong curves, new rules of lifting for women or sites like http://stronglifts.com/5x5/

thank you for the website. I am meeting with a trainer next week to start a lifting program and I wanted more background information before I started.