Weight-Lifting for Women. How important is it REALLY?

“GAIN MUSCLE?!?! NO! I DON’T WANT TO LOOK LIKE A MAN!”

RELAX. Although the words “gain muscle” may put the image of a female Hulk in to your head, this is not necessarily going to be the case for you. Most women forget that if they want to slim down and define their muscle tone, they must lose excess body fat & gain muscle.

WEIGHTS/REPS

“I don’t want to get big. I just want to tone and lose fat.”

Gossip and the media usually lead women to believe that lifting very light weights and doing ridiculously high numbers of reps are the only ways to create long & lean muscle. —- MYTH!!!

While keeping within the recommendations of your personal exercise program, do not be afraid to work up to lifting heavy weights. If your program suggests that you complete 8-12 reps of an exercise at a certain weight, but you find that you are able to do more than 12 reps without your muscles even coming close to fatiguing — guess what — YOU CAN PROBABLY LIFT HEAVIER! Push yourself a little!

Doing bicep curls with a 5lb dumbbell, 20 times in a row, is not the way to go. Running on the treadmill is a great form of cardiovascular exercise, but is that enough? Your muscles need some love, too! Oh —by the way, weight training has many health benefits for women, such as helping to improve bone density and prevent osteoporosis. Are you convinced, yet?

You are a female, with a female’s body. You have female hormones, and female genes. Your muscle will grow in to the female form.

Without the addition of added testosterone, growth hormones, or steroids, your body will NOT take a manly shape. I promise. Don’t  be afraid. LIFT, GIRL!

LOSING EXCESS FAT IN THOSE TROUBLE AREAS

“I would maybe like to get some abs, but not manly ones. I just want to look good in a bikini.”

Most women have common trouble areas on their bodies that are prone to collecting fat. These areas usually consist of the belly, love handles, butt and thighs. Doing 5 milliion crunches a day will not make your spare belly fat disappear. The only natural way to control the amount of excess fat, and keep it off, is with a regulated exercise & nutrition plan. You may be surprised to see how weight-lifting can help you do this.

Have questions? Talk to Alicia. She’s one of our trainers who specializes in fat loss and weight lifting for women. To sign up for a consultation with her, email schedule@kalevfitness.com, or by call the front desk at 604-568-6006

All forms of exercise are better for you than sitting on the couch eating potato chips, but we do need to recognize and appreciate the effect that weight training has on our bodies. Get it from personal training, get it from small group training, get it however you can! — Just make sure that you get it.

Do keep in mind that all women have different genes & body types. The best way to reach your fitness goals is to sit down with a trainer and discuss the best option for YOU. Find out what your body needs, and how you can help yourself to be the best YOU that you can be.

Written by Rebecca