The image of women weight training—for many people, these two things should never, ever go together—reminds us of those orange tanned, masculine-looking ladies wearing shoestring bikinis that barely cover their bulky chest area—and who wants to look like that?
Those women are professional bodybuilders. And they didn’t develop 21-inch arms by following a beginner’s guide to weight training for women.
Those women worked really hard, employing advanced training techniques that many a time were developed by the very best trainers in their industry.
Knowing and understanding this proves that the fear of bodily overdevelopment is unfounded—and silly. Women weight training is a good thing, and if done in moderation it can yield some spectacular results.
The truth is, any good healthy diet plan should include a bit of weight training, especially if your weight loss goal is more than 25 pounds.
The Biggest Loser show is a great example of that. If you want to keep your body toned and in shape, then working out with weights is the way to do it.
But first, there are a few lies about women weight training that need to be discussed here. First, weight lifting will not turn fat into muscle, nor will any muscle tone you’ve built turn back into fat should you stop weight training.
It’s like saying apples can turn into oranges. Fat and muscle are completely different.
Always remember that.
The way that muscle and fat are alike, however, is that you will lose both if you only do cardio workout. Sure, cardiovascular exercises are critical to raising your metabolism and burning calories, but they can cause a reduction in muscle tissue.
Another popular myth is that weight training is a non-factor when it comes to weight loss. This, again, is wrong. While you’re not jumping around with dumbbells in your hands, the resistance of it and the work your body needs to do in order to accomplish it only serves to strengthen your heart, and it gets those endorphins revved up, too.
Weight lifting for women has been shown to help improve the health of cancer patients, diabetics, and those suffering from hypertension. It also helps to prevent osteoporosis and muscle atrophy in older folks.
You must combine your cardio with weight training. You’ve got to feel a good amount of resistance—feel the burn—in order to get the most out of your weight training routine.
However, the key is to start out slowly, and increase the weight gradually. If you start out with too much weight, you can tear and damage your muscles—and that’s unhealthy, as well as painful.
Just like you shouldn’t do cardio work seven days a week, nor should you weight train every day. Start out with just two days a week, on your off days from your cardio workout, and 45 minutes of activity for each session should be perfect.
While it’s not necessary to go to a gym to weight train, it is highly recommended that you have someone teach you the correct way to do it so that you don’t get into bad habits.
This is why you see mirrors in gyms. It’s not because people are vain. It’s because the correct position of your arms, legs, and other body parts is crucial in building and maintaining your muscles.
