Should Women Lift Weights?

Longevity Exercise Physiology and Personal Training Edgecliff, Lindfield, Marrickville, Randwick, Drummoyne, Balmain and Bella Vista today discuss the importance of lifting weights for women.

Many young and middle-aged females often think about weight training as getting too ‘bulky’ or look too muscly, and simply just want to ‘tone up’ and reduce body fat in certain areas. There is a lot of misconception in the past that lifting weights should be for males as it will cause women to get too muscular. Today’s blog will show that this in fact is not true, and discusses the physical benefits of lifting weights for females.

Firstly, the differences in male and female hormones (namely testosterone and estrogen) make it almost impossible for females to increase their muscular size as much as males, especially over a short time frame. An increase in muscular strength and size happens gradually, not overnight.

Secondly lifting weights has a great impact on bone density, and as women get older are generally more at risk of developing osteoporosis than males are. Resistance training is one of the best ways to reduce your risk of developing this long-term health condition, and reduce your risk of sustaining a fracture in older age.

Secondly lifting weights has a great impact on bone density, and as women get older are generally more at risk of developing osteoporosis than males are. Resistance training is one of the best ways to reduce your risk of developing this long-term health condition, and reduce your risk of sustaining a fracture in older age. As bones age they need loading and weight bearing in order to slow their loss.

Thirdly weight training has a bigger impact on your lean muscle mass than cardiovascular or aerobic exercise. So if you want to build strength and look and feel slimmer, resistance training helps you achieve this. Lifting weights causes muscles to adapt to the load and intensity of the weight, and over time causes muscles to increase in size and strength.

Lastly, many females think lifting light weights and doing more repetitions is the best way for women to do weight training. Training this way builds muscular endurance and is necessary for many elite athletes in endurance events, however to truly see a significant change in your body shape, weight and size, lifting heavier weights (that are still manageable) is necessary.

Increasing your strength and lean mass through weight training will:

• Improve your metabolism as muscle is an active tissue and lead to weight loss
• Cause you to look and feel slimmer even if your weight does not change as muscle takes up less space than body fat
• Reduce your risk of injuries
• Reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes and other long-term health conditions

Contact Longevity Personal Training and Exercise Physiology Edgecliff, Lindfield, Marrickville, Randwick, Drummoyne, Balmain, Bella Vista on 1300 964 002 to enquire today about a specific resistance training program for you.

Written by Susannah Mah-Chut