The benefits of lifting weights, also known as weight training, strength training or resistance training, include stronger muscles, a stronger heart, a leaner physique, and a body better able to support your everyday needs and activities. However despite its many benefits women, still tend to shy away from this beneficial form of exercise because of a misplaced fear that they will "bulk" up and become like an overly muscular body builder.
It seems to be many a man's dream to have big, bulky muscles. So why is it that men, whose bodies naturally contain much greater amounts of testosterone and growth hormones, can lift weights, yet never achieve those "Terminator" like muscles? Well, unless they are supplementing with dangerous and unhealthful steroids or similar substances, most men do not naturally bulk up by lifting weights, and neither will most women. The idea that women get big, ugly muscles from weight training is a misconception.
The fact of the matter is that women must lift weights in order to achieve the lean, sculpted bodies they desire. If a woman does happen to have the genetic disposition to bulk up quickly, there are easy ways to alter a workout to prevent too much muscle gain, while still increasing strength and rapidly burning fat.
The idea that weightlifting causes insanely huge muscle buildup is largely a creation of the media. It's true that some female weightlifters take steroids, and these hormones do make them look very masculine, and women who take performance-enhancing drugs should expect to develop deeper voices and more masculine bodies, because these are the known side-effects, after all anabolic steroids contain elevated amounts of testosterone, the male hormone.
The average woman who weight trains, however, will simply achieve a slim, healthy body without adding unwanted muscle mass. In fact, this is how boxers, wrestlers, and other athletes who need a lot of strength without a lot of extra weight (muscle mass) train to stay in shape.
The process of weight training involves controlled lifting and working out with weights. Two basic terms related to weightlifting are "reps" and "sets". A rep describes the complete act of raising and lowering a weight during a single act of exercise. A set describes the number of times a particular rep is performed. For example, when a person does five reps of a squat, they squat down and stand up five times, continuously, before stopping and either moving on to another exercise or finishing their workout. Those five squats would equal one set. A balanced weight-training session will include several sets of different exercises.
A more advanced weight-training method would be to perform exercises of only 6 or fewer reps, per exercise. This would make the time under tension very short and primarily train your nervous system, which would allow you to gain strength without building much muscle. This technique should be done using the maximal weight you can lift without losing perfect form for no more than 6 repetitions. Doing more than 6 reps allows for greater muscle development, presumably something women generally do not want to achieve.
Another method that has been around for a long time is performing as many repetitions as possible, with the idea of toning your muscles. Well, like a lot of uninformed ideas, this concept is false. You will build stamina and endurance within a muscle through multiple repetitions, but it will not shape or tone your muscles. If your goal is to build stamina without gaining muscle mass, perform anywhere from 15 to 30-plus repetitions of a single exercise.
These two solid principles will help you benefit from weight training without bulking up. Although, as stated in the beginning, chances are that no matter how much weight you lift, you will never have the problem of building too much muscle mass. It is always possible for you to gain fat, and with it a little additional muscle, so you will feel bigger, but remember, that is mostly the result of the fat, and I guarantee that once you lose the fat, you also will lose the feeling of bulkiness.
Ladies, I encourage you: Let go of your preconceived ideas about weight training. Do not fear it. Embrace your weightlifting potential! Your body and overall health will benefit so much more from it than from spending hours on the treadmill.
Strength training can prevent injuries, promote stamina and increase self confidence. It is easy to learn, and does not take as much time as you might think. Thirty minutes of workout time three times a week can bring you the sculpted and toned body that you have dreamed about.
As free weights and strength training machines have made their way out of the gyms and into recreation centers, fitness centers and even basements, weight training for women has gained momentum.
Starlets like Marilyn Monroe and Madonna have stuck with a regular strength training regimen to maximize their assets. Other women are finding the benefits of weight training as well. Bulking up is not always the goal, but weight training can simply mean toning muscles and ridding the body of unwanted fat. Swimsuit season seems to be just around the corner! Are you ready for a woman weight training program?
The Warm-up
Before beginning a program, it is important to find a personal trainer or fitness expert that can show you the right methods for strength training. Using the wrong form on machines or with the free weights can result in pain and injury, so start out on the right foot by enlisting the help of a professional who can properly teach you.
It is also very important to warm up your muscles before beginning a weight training session. This can be accomplished with a few laps around the track of your fitness center, or a few minutes of work on the treadmill or the bike. Keep in mind that a warm-up does not mean a quick sprint, a ten minutes of easy walking or pedaling will do the trick.
How Many Repetitions, and How Much Weight?
While a personal trainer can get you started on the right path in your womans weight training regimen, the answers to these questions will depend a lot on you and what you can lift. The key is to find the weight amount that will tire you at the end of twelve repetitions. The final lift or curl should be as challenging as you can handle, but the rest of the reps should be quite doable. If you are working out with the proper weight amount, one set of twelve repetitions should be enough. However many women weight trainers prefer to finish two or three sets with a slightly lower weight amount, to ensure that toning is occurring without adding too much muscle bulk.
A weight training program for female should include two or three sessions every week that last about 30 minutes each. It is very important to spend a day after a session resting the muscles that were used. You can either do a full workout every other day, or do shorter daily sessions where you work your legs one day and your arms and upper body the next. The great thing about weight training for women is that you can tailor your program to your individual needs and schedule limitations.
Weight training for women offers many benefits, including increased strength and stamina, increased flexibility and better weight management. As people age, muscle mass decreases and will be replaced with fat if something is not done. Weight training can control that process, assisting with weight management as you age.
It is also a good way to ward off osteoporosis, since regular strength training will increase bone density. Osteoporosis is a big health concern with women of menopausal age, so weight training for women becomes even more important as a woman reaches mid-life.
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