Should Women Weight Train?
Cardio rooms, HIIT classes and running groups across the world used to be full of women avoiding resistance training for the fear of “getting too bulky” or looking “masculine”. Trust us, if it was that easy to build muscle, supplement companies would be struggling to make ends meet!
The idea that women should avoid lifting heavy and stick to the lighter dumbbells comes from old fashioned views and misunderstandings in physiology and social norms. The reality is that muscle is hard gained for everyone, men and women alike; but women’s bodies produce around 20 times less testosterone, have smaller muscle fibres and naturally contain a lower proportion of lean mass than men; meaning it is near-on impossible to ‘bulk-up’ in the same way that they do.
In actual fact, the only way to sculpt the ‘toned’ body that many women spend endless hours pounding pavements or following HIIT workouts to achieve, is by lifting heavy: frequently and consistently! Whilst aerobic exercise burns calories during your workout, weight training can elevate your metabolism for up to 48 hours meaning you’re still burning through calories long after you’ve finished training.
The long-term effect of balanced resistance training (combined with the right nutrition) is an increase in lean muscle mass and, consequentially, a higher basal metabolic rate (increased calorie burn at rest), in turn resulting in improved insulin sensitivity and, ta dah…Fat loss. All equating to a smaller, tighter, leaner frame!
So ladies please… Step away from the treadmill, put down the 1kg dumbbells and embrace proper weight-training to build and sculpt the body you want!