Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Are you (Wo)man enough to Lift weights?

More often than  not, I come across women dreading the thought of lifting weights as a part of their fitness program and I fail to understand why.  Ladies, you are genetically built in a way, very different from your counter parts, so don't think that if you lift weights and do those push ups, you'll become a hulk. You will definitely not unless you are on steroid shots! Let me tell you why weight training is a good idea for you:
  1. Lifting weights burn calories. So while you take effort in doing Cardio and running on the treadmill, make sure that you also concentrate on doing some amount of weight training as it helps loose fat and develop lean muscle mass. Also make sure you follow up with a healthy low fat high protein diet to stack up on lean body mass.
  2. Since doing weights helps in developing lean body tissues, it makes you more active and energetic. Women who do weights regularly, complain less of lethargy and fatigue than women who do only cardio.
  3. If you are looking to loose weight, doing weight training along with Cardio, helps you achieve your target weight in a more shapely way. It is observed that women who loose weight by plain dieting/ cardio end up having a sagging body and loose skin. Muscle building helps you to tone up your muscle and make you look sexier than before.
  4.  If you lift weights while on a weight gain diet you will not look fat. In reality you will be performing fat burning in the gym while building muscle. Reduce the fat around a tight, toned muscle and other will notice.
  5. It increases bone density and helps fight osteoporosis.
  6. It also helps in lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Like I said before, you will not gain excess muscle mass like men unless you are on steroids. Men and women have different sets of hormones, And not every man who works out looks like Batista either.You need to be on an overdose of testosterone to be able to look beefed up. So any muscle gain you get as a result of diet and training will only serve to accentuate the feminine shape you already have. You will look sexy and feel better about yourself!
So don't be scared to pump up some iron yourself- trust me, you'll feel the difference.