My tips for Women Working Out

I’m happy to see that women are lifting weights more and not just doing cardio while they are in the gym.  I wanted to write a little article for the ladies that are still on the fence with strength training.  No matter what your goal is, lifting weights can make a huge difference! Check it out and feel free to comment below.

There is a common myth in the fitness industry that scares some women away from lifting weights.  These ladies have been mislead to believe if they lift weights they will become big and bulky.  Now specifically when it comes to their hormones, this is impossible because females produce about 1/10th the amount of testosterone compared to males.  This hormone assists the body in enlarging your muscles or can be described with the term hypertrophy.

Unfortunately what has been an influence on women to think this is true, comes from female body builders who take anabolic steroids.  It is quite scary to see some of these women who have masculine features. However I can not say this enough, you will not get big and bulky simply from lifting weights.

No matter what your goals are, weight training has so many true benefits that will assist in your body’s well being.  To name a few, you will develop lean muscles, burn body fat, decrease your risk of heart disease, improve your bone strength, increases your overall functional strength, decreases the risk of diabetes, I could go on and on!

Over the years the ladies have been known to spend most of their time on the cardio machines or step classes.  It is important to know with any fitness plan, balance is essential! If you do too much cardio and are not eating enough calories to support your metabolism, the body will eat it’s own muscle to provide energy.  This is a very bad scenario especially if your goal is to lose body fat and lean out.  The less lean muscle mass on your body, the slower your metabolism will be.

This is why it’s very important to integrate strength training into your regime.  I would suggest full body circuits with focus on your major muscle groups such as the legs, back, chest and core.  You can integrate your shoulders and arms which are called the secondary muscles with your larger muscle groups.  Some of my exercise videos will provide you with examples.

I also wanted to mention when you go for a workout, maximize your time! Workouts do not need to be any longer then 1 hour.  When you hear that, it might totally surprise you! If your workouts are exceeding this time and you are going hard, your body will release cortisol (the stress response hormone).  This creates a catabolic response within your body which is bad news! Basically this means that cortisol eats up the muscle tissue which again negatively effects the metabolism.

I find that most people do not eat properly and their timing is off so the body can be in a stress mode.  For those that eat clean food at the right time, especially post workout, this can help aid your body in replenishing it’s glycogen stores.  Glycogen is the stored form of energy in your muscle cells.  Your post workout meal is almost important as breakfast but I will save that for another article.

So again ladies, don’t be afraid of lifting weights as this will aid you to achieve the body that you desire!  Depending on your schedule and goals 2-3 times a week of weights is fantastic! Off set that with cardio and classes for variety and you will be on the right track.  Now, what are you waiting for?

Image courtesy of Physique Mag