What all women need to know about training with weights
For such a long time now, women have been afraid to train hard and heavy with weights in the fear that it will cause them to bulk up with large amounts of muscle mass. Although thankfully more and more women are beginning to train with weights and see that this is not the truth at all, there are still many more out there who have not been convinced.
Most women who train with weights will do so with a higher number of repetitions and a very low weight usually often between 1-5kg. This kind of training is NOT what will help you 'TONE' up - i would also like to take the opportunity to point out that there is not really any such thing as 'toning' your muscles. What people refer to as looking 'toned' is achieved through nutrition to get rid of excess body fat therefore allowing the underlying muscles size and shape to be seen more easily under the skin.
So really we must start thinking along the lines of "we want to achieve a 'lean' physique through nutrition, and to develop the size and shape of our muscles through resistance training".
Now back to women who do not train with weights because they do not want to get big muscles or look like some of the female bodybuilders (the majority of professional bodybuilders who are competing professionally use artificial means of gaining that much muscle size and are often eating up to 4 times the amount of food per day compared to the average person) that they see in gyms or in magazines there is one important fact that you MUST understand:
you must realize that muscle growth is not infinite... that means that unless you eat ever increasing amounts of calories your muscles will not continue to grow. So to put it simply - you can control how much your muscles grow with the amount of food you eat".
Training with heavy weights combined with great nutrition will get you the lean athletic look most women want to achieve
Marketing targets women to do large amounts of cardio, and use ridiculous detox type diets to shed kilograms - and yes, every time they do this and hop on the scales they see those numbers going down and are satisfied that they are losing 'weight'.
The sad fact is that they are actually losing muscle
mass -the only thing in their body that actually burns fat for energy! As you will read in the nutrition notes if you deprive yourself of sufficient caloric intake you will lose lean muscle mass. The net effect of this is called yo-yo dieting, were women diet and lose muscle weight, stop their diet and since there is less muscle to burn energy they actually gain the weight back that they lost plus some more! so again they go on a fad diet and get the same results - stop dieting they gain even more weight! It is indeed a vicious circle.
If people out there stop looking for fast answers, quick fixes and miracle cures for being lazy and uncommitted in the first place, and instead look to put in place a healthy, sustainable and enjoyable nutrition plan - then they WILL achieve the goals they set and more importantly - BE ABLE TO MAINTAIN THEM FOR LIFE - because its no good getting to your goals if you cant maintain them!
Some More Interesting Facts
- By training with weights you will not get big bulky muscles.Women do not have the testosterone getting produced in their bodies that men do in order for them to put on the same amount of muscle as men. Women do however have the ability to gain strength just like men do. Many women are amazed at just how strong they can get through weight training without getting the same large muscles as men do.
- Training with weights will not make you muscle-bound and lose your flexibility.By training your muscles through their full range of motion you will maintain and even improve your flexibility. Stretching is also an important part of your workout routine and will also help to improve flexibility.
- By increasing your lean muscle mass you will burn more fat! When you train with weights and increase your lean muscle mass you increase your BMR (Base Metabolic Rate). This means that your body uses more energy to run every day – energy derived from using body fat as a fuel source – so therefore you will burn more fat even when you are sitting around doing nothing!
- The truth about scales and “ Weight Loss” When people talk about “weight loss” they are talking about the body as a whole. Your “weight” when you hop on the scales includes fat, muscle, organs, bones and fluid – it does not tell you what percentage of your weight is made from fat. When you “diet” by eating less or cutting out something ( read nutrition notes ) to lose “ weight ” a lot of the weight loss you see on the scales actually comes from loss of muscle mass – which is working against you achieving and maintaining a lean body! So when you are wanting to lean up and lose “ weight “ - think in terms of lowering your body fat % - not just “ weight loss”.
- Muscle also weighs more then fat When you begin to increase your lean muscle mass and lower your body fat you might not see a very big / or any lowering of your weight on the scales – in some cases you even gain a little weight! Even thought you are actually getting more lean and defined.Picture if you can two identical women – both the same age, same height and both of them weigh 60kg. Women 1 has 30% body fat, and woman 2 has 20% body fat. Even though they both “weigh” the same – Women 2 will be slimmer and more lean and defined, it will also be easier for her to maintain that figure as she will constantly be burning more fat as energy due to her higher lean muscle mass.
A perfect example of how weight training ( in effect bodybuilding ) will help to shape and define your entire body and turn it into a fat burning machine can be seen in the beautiful physiques that Figure and Fitness competitive athletes posses.
SOME BENEFITS OF WEIGHT TRAINING:
- Increased Strength - Vital to your everyday living, a loss of strength Often leads to less independence and reduced quality of life.
- Increase in bone density - Very important in the fight against osteoporosis
- Increased Flexibility - By working through your full range of motion You will maintain and even improve your flexibility.
- Increased lean muscle mass - More muscle will burn more fat helping to combat many Associated health risks such as high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, diabetes etc.
- Increased energy levels- Regular training will help you to increase your energy levels giving you that much needed boost to power through your days.
So now you know the truth about how training just as hard and heavy as the boys will help you to shape and define your body just the way you want it, make sure that you help spread the word around. Remember that your best results are going to come from a combination of nutrition, resistance and cardiovascular training and that we must always aim to train for health, fitness and functionality as well as aesthetic appeal.
