The benefits of weight training for women
Here are some typical myths women believe about strength and weight training which cause them to avoid it, and in so doing, lose the vast array of health benefits they would enjoy from making it a regular part of their lifestyle
Myth: I won't burn as many calories in a weight training class as I would in a traditional (cardiovascular) aerobics class.
Fact: Although resistance training does not result in significant caloric expenditure, it does however, significantly increase lean body mass and resting metabolic rate. As your lean body mass increases, the number of calories you burn just sitting around also increases for up to two hours after exercise.
Myth: The purpose of weight training is to look muscular and 'pumped up'.
Fact: Weight training has numerous benefits that go way beyond just looking better. Resistance training has very positive effects on insulin sensitivity, cholesterol levels and bone density too.
Myth: Strength training will make female muscles large and bulky.
Fact: The ability to increase total muscle mass is highly dependent on circulating levels of testosterone. Men have 20 to 30 times the testosterone levels of women and, as a result, build more muscle than women. Keep in mind, however, that genetics and unique physiology differences play a role in the rate and degree at which muscle levels increase. However, in the specific strength training study held over 10 months at Guelph University in Canada, 500 women ranging from 20 to 75 years old participated, and less than one third of a per cent reported more 'bulk' than desired. When however, clinical measurements of the tiny number of dissatisfied individuals concerned were taken, it was discovered to be an outright case of 'dysmorphic perception'. This term means where, regardless of visual and absolute clinical evidence present, people are still convinced that they are unacceptably larger in appearance, regardless of the facts.
Myth: I have to join a gym to perform strength training exercises. I can't afford to buy expensive dumbbells and weight machines to use at home.
Fact: Resistance training can be performed almost anywhere - it just requires creativity and properly qualified professional advice. When you are first starting out, household items - such as bags of rice, cans of soup and books - can make very convenient weights. If you want more resistance, reasonable weight dumbells and ankle weights (which are all relatively inexpensive and can be purchased over the Internet or at discount stores) are great for building strength and endurance.
Myth: I'm too old to begin a strength training program.
Fact: As well as the Guelph study, European and Scandinavian research has shown very clearly that people of all ages can benefit from strength training. In fact, strength improvements of up to 174 percent have been reported in 90-year-old, institutionalised volunteers in London in 1998. I myself have clients who are between 68 and 79 years old.
You are almost literally never too old to begin deriving the benefits, but make absolutely sure of the quality/nature of the professional qualifications of the person advising you. It's not about lifting weight its about training your muscles, so its not the heaviness of the weight that matters, but the way in which it is lifted, so advanced biomechanical knowledge makes this process much safer and easier on the body.
Myth: I'll have to radically change my diet to obtain any benefit from strength training.
Fact: Simply increasing controlled and constructive stress to the muscles can increase strength.
Women can significantly reduce their percent body fat and increase fat-free mass and resting metabolic rate without restricting their dietary intake, but obviously the more you are aware of healthy eating, the better your visual results will be.
Myth: Strength training can be harmful during my pregnancy.
Fact: Assuming you have no clinical contraindications for exercise and your physician has cleared you to participate, resistance training during pregnancy can have numerous beneficial effects, including a shorter active phase of labour with less pain, easier recovery from labour, enhanced maternal psychological well-being and a more rapid return to pre-pregnancy weight. However, please make absolutely sure you are guided by a senior, well-qualified exercise professional for such a plan.
Summary of the benefits of Resistance Training for women
1. Combats osteoporosis by increasing bone mineral density (particularly spinal)
2. Increases lean body mass (and improves your visual aesthetics by body contour enhancement)
3. Increases muscular strength and endurance (daily tasks like lifting shopping bags and children become safer with decreased possibility of injury)
4. Combats possible adult onset diabetes by improving glucose metabolism (insulin sensitivity)
5. Improved cardiac function and circulatory competence by increasing HDL (good) cholesterol
6. Decreases LDL (bad) cholesterol
7. Increases resting metabolic rate (you'll burn more unwanted calories even when you're sitting still.)
8. Greatly improves physical abilities and psychological well being in older women.
9. Decreases intra-abdominal adipose tissue( decreases internal and external stomach fat in women of all ages)
10. Maintains fat-free muscles.
All the above information is well attested and I myself have used the philosophy and methodology extensively with clients of all ages over the last 36 years. The benefits are very real and simply waiting to be enjoyed once you make the decision to enhance and improve your health and wellbeing.
Courtesy of Alan Gordon, Personal Trainer
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