Women and Weights

Do you want to look and feel better? How about being able to do more?

Most of us would respond to those questions with a resounding "yes." A good weight lifting program can do that for you. A balanced fitness routine that includes weight training and stretching and aerobic exercise can help you look and feel your best, and help you do activities better, longer and more easily.

Muscle looks good. Most women do not have enough of the muscle building hormone, testosterone, in their systems to build really big muscles, so weight training gives a beautiful firmness to their bodies. Women who train regularly with weights usually have better posture, grace and balance. Take a look at the current Ms USA, who weight trains regularly, or the women competing in a fitness contest, who need the strength weight training gives, and you will see how beautiful muscle can be.

As we get older, weight training prevents the loss of muscle that naturally occurs with age, helps with maintaining balance to prevent falls that cause injury, and allows more independence to an aging populace.

There is good evidence that resistance exercises like weight lifting can prevent osteoporosis, and even reverse the effects. Doctors routinely prescribe calcium supplements to older women to prevent osteoporosis, but studies have shown that these supplements, without resistance exercises like weight lifting, are poorly absorbed and do little for thinning bones. Tension on a bone caused by the hard flexion of a muscle, like what happens when lifting a weight, is what stimulates the bones to absorb calcium and reinforce its structure. If you want to keep your bones healthy as you grow older, hit the weight room.

The Skinny on Weights

If you have some extra body fat you want to burn off, the weight room is an excellent place to do that. A good weight lifting workout will burn plenty of calories. Also, resistance exercises are more effective at raising your metabolism, so that you keep on burning more calories for the rest of the day. Weight lifting builds muscle and muscle requires energy, even at rest (other tissue doesn’t). More muscle means a higher resting metabolism and more fat burned, even when you are not working out.

If you decide to go for it and take to the weight room, make sure to have a balanced workout that works all the major muscle groups about once a week. It must be balanced because muscle groups work in opposing pairs, and strengthening one without also strengthening its opposite can cause problems with bones and nerves. You only want to work each muscle group once a week, because proper weight training is hard on your muscles and enough time must be given for them to recuperate before the next workout. Women have to be especially conscientious of working their upper bodies, because they are usually much weaker than our lower bodies.

While you’re at it, don’t be afraid to push yourself in the weight room. Don’t bother with the tiny little hand weights; they won’t give your muscles enough of a challenge. Without challenge, your muscle won’t grow in size or strength, and you won’t get the health benefits of a higher metabolism. It is possible to get strength without large muscles, so push yourself, and use weights which allow you to do eight to 12 repetitions before you cannot do any more in good form.

Exercises should include at least two exercises for each of shoulders, biceps, triceps, back, chest, abdominal, butt, thighs and calves. Proper technique is important to get the most out of the exercises, so consulting with a professional trainer for a couple sessions to start with is a good idea. A trainer can help you design a program geared for your own strengths and weaknesses, and help you with proper technique, so that you don’t hurt yourself and you get the most from your time in the gym. Remember that like all professions, there are good trainers and there are bad. Don’t be put off by a bad experience in a gym; if you don’t like a trainer or a gym, find another one that you do like.

The Right Fuel

To get the most out of your time at the gym, eat a diet that allows you to maintain a healthy weight. It is important to burn off any extra fat you are carrying around, but don’t restrict your food too much, and don’t let yourself go hungry. When your body is burning fat, it also burns some muscle, especially if you are not getting enough energy from your food. It makes no sense to work hard in the weight room for strength and beautiful muscles, and not get the benefits because you are not eating enough.

Eating enough means quality, not quantity. Muscles are made of protein, so to build more, we need the protein building blocks in our diet. Even when they are not weight training, women tend not to get enough protein. If you can not get at least three meals’ worth (about a palm sized portion) of quality fish, chicken or soy, then a whey protein supplement is a good idea.

Weightlifting can be an important part of your exercise regime in establishing a healthy lifestyle. It is only part of the solution, though. Aerobic exercise for your heart and lungs, and stretching for flexibility are important for balancing the strength and muscle growth of weight training, and a good diet is necessary for any exercise to be effective. Put them all together, and enjoy the benefits.