Women and Weights - Dispelling the myths

Posted by: Shane 8 years, 1 month ago

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There's no doubt that you've heard what people say happens when women lift weights.... it makes women bulky, it's bad for the joints, and you can never stop lifting or the muscle all turns to fat! This simply is NOT true, and infact there are many benefits from weight/resistance based training. The fact is lifting weights can contribute to a healthier, more functional and stronger body.

I've had many conversations where women say to me that they’re worried about bulking up. A single kilogram of muscle takes a calorie surplus of 9000 calories to be created. That’s 30 cheeseburgers extra you need to eat above your maintenance calories to even think about growing some extra muscle. And not only do you need to eat the extra food, but you need to train specifically to put on size. While you can make muscles bigger from weight training, it doesnt have to be the necessary side effect. You can train for strength, power, or simply to be more functional.

Many women miss out on the benefits that weight/resistance training has to offer because of these myths and misconceptions. If one of your health goals is weight management, lifting weights may be the key to making the changes to the body you desire.

More Effective Fat Loss - When compared to cardiovascular training, resistance training comes out on top in the battle to burn calories. The huge advantage to weight training is your body's ability to burn fat during and after exercise .After a weight training workout, you continue to consume additional oxygen in the hours and even days that follow. This is known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). When your body uses more oxygen, it requires more caloric expenditure and an increased metabolic rate.

More muscle, more calorie expenditure - As you increase strength and lean muscle mass, your body uses calories more efficiently. Daily muscle contractions from a simple blink to a heavy squat contribute to how many calories you burn in a given day. Sitting burns fewer calories than standing; standing burns fewer than walking, and walking burns fewer than strength training. Simply put the more muscle contractions you experience during a day, the more calories you'll burn and If you have more lean muscle mass, you'll have more muscle contractions and therfore burn more calories.

Body Shape -  As you build muscle, your body begins to take a shape. Though endurance exercise can help you lose weight, that weight comes in the form of both fat and muscle tissue which will mean you will lose some of your desired shape. Strength training can help create and sustain them.

Bone Health - As you age, you are at risk of losing both bone and muscle mass. Postmenopausal women are at a greater risk for osteoporosis because the body no longer secretes estrogen. Resistance training is great way to combat the loss of bone mass, and can decreases the risk of osteoporosis.

Weight training has a wealth of other benefits to:

If you want to know more about weight training then contact us on 01304 365076 and ask to book a Free gym induction appointment with myself, Shane (Gym Instructor) and I will show you how to weight train safe and effectively. If you are a member or thinking about becoming one then you are all entitled to a FREE exercise plan based around Weight training and toning up.

We also run Les Mills BODYPUMP group exercise classes. BODYPUMP is a weights class suitable for everyone. Using light to moderate weights with lots of repetitions BODYPUMP gives you a total body workout that burns hundreds of calories.  This class is perfect if you want to try weights in a group exercise environment. Don't forget if you are new to this style of exercise, start with light weights, and build up from four or five tracks to a full class; you dont have to stay for the whole class if you don't feel ready to do so.

If you want to shape and tone your body, improve your bone health and core strength then definitely try BODYPUMP.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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