Want to lose that fat and get fit? Then hit the weights! It is a common and unfortunate misconception that weight training is beneficial and appropriate only for men. Well, it is time for us to change our perspective. Numerous research studies have shown that resistance exercises, including weight training, are beneficial to women of all ages in more ways than one. Weight training, particularly in conjunction with regular aerobic exercise, can significantly improve a woman's physiological and psychological health and make us look and feel better.
Here are five reasons why weight training is essential for women
• Weight training on a regular basis makes us physically stronger by building muscular strength and endurance. This reduces our risks of injury, back pain and arthritis.
• Weight training builds muscle and burns fat, speeding up our metabolism in the process and ultimately leading to weight loss and long term weight control. Muscle burns more calories than fat during exercise and continues to burn calories even at rest.
• Weight training increases bone density, thereby strengthening the bones and decreasing our risk of osteoporosis.
• Weight training reduces our risk of breast cancer and heart diseases by lowering our body fat, blood pressure, and resting heart rate.
• Weight training reduces our risk of diabetes, which happens to be the leading cause of heart and renal diseases and blindness in older women.
Despite all these amazing benefits, many women dodge the dumbbells at the gym “ in fact, only a small percentage of women strength-train regularly. Many are misguided, feel intimidated, or have fallen prey to some misconception. One common misconception I have heard is that weight training will make us develop huge, bulky muscles. Well, it is impossible for a woman to gain huge amounts of muscle mass by merely training with weights. This is due to the fact that women do not, and cannot, naturally produce as much testosterone (one of the main hormones responsible for increasing muscle size) as men do. If the image of professional female bodybuilders with huge muscles comes to your mind, well, most of these women, unfortunately, use anabolic steroids (synthetic testosterone) along with other drugs in order to achieve that high degree of muscularity. What regular weight training will do for us is develop our muscle tone, definition and strength.
So fear not and hit those dumbbells. Get yourself to a fitness centre and try it out. Remember, if you are new to weight training, it is essential that you use a qualified trainer. Here are some tips on getting started:
Have a plan
Lifting too much too soon can hurt your form and put you at risk for injury, but grabbing two-pounders won't get you results. So, what is just-right weights for beginners: For lateral raises start with 2.5 to 5 pounds in each hand; Bicep curls 5 to 8 pounds in each hand; Dumbbell rows 12 to 20 pounds; Chest presses 12 pounds to 45 pounds (body bar); and Squats start with zero (body weight) to 45 pounds.
Breathe easy
Even seasoned lifters sometimes forget to breathe during a tough move. But it's counterproductive. If you starve the body of oxygen, it forces your heart to work a lot harder. Exhale during the major exertion in each move, and inhale while returning to the starting position.
Break a sweat
A good way to gauge your effort: Monitor how hard you feel like your body is working. It's called your rating of perceived exertion (RPE), and it's usually measured on a scale of one to 10, with one being very little exertion (like lounging in bed) and 10 being the max (running away from an angry dog). To build and tone muscle, aim for an RPE of at least seven or eight during workouts.
Think total body
Your flabby abs may be the only thing that's motivating you to hit the gym, but it's a mistake to attack just your least-favorite assets. Spot-reducing exercises simply don't work. Full-body workouts torch fat more efficiently because they build more lean muscle mass, which in turn burns more calories per day.
Happy weight lifting! Be fit. Be healthy. Be happy.
