In previous years there has been a lot of stigma around what weight training does to a woman’s body. Many women’s fears include; looking bulky or masculine, fat turning into muscle or being unable to lose weight from weight lifting. However, these misconceptions around women and weight lifting are unsupported by evidence. In fact, weight lifting actually provides a multitude of benefits for women, which this article will discuss.
Building and maintaining muscle mass
Although cardio is brilliant for cardiovascular health, strength training is the one you want to take up when it comes to building muscle. This isn’t to say that you can’t build muscle from cardio workouts, rather that strength training is a more efficient way to see results and maintain them. This is due to the fact that strength training, weight lifting, and resistance training rely on you lifting larger amounts of weight, allowing your muscles to grow bigger and stronger.
A great form of low-impact cardio exercise
While it can be more difficult to build muscle via aerobic exercise, strength training is one of the best low-impact cardio workouts. The focus in these workouts is on compound movements, which involve multiple muscle and joint groups, with occasionally a short rest between rounds.
Can help strengthen joints
As most strength training exercises are of a lower-impact, you can build muscle endurance and strength with less stress on the joints than high-intensity exercises. Any weight-bearing exercise can help to strengthen your joints, which can help prevent risk of injury.
Strength training can support weight management and weight loss
Lifting weights can lead to a higher amount of burned stored fat and calories. Therefore, by increasing your lean muscle mass, your body can burn off more fuel that you’ve consumed, rather than store it as excess energy in the form of fat cells. However, it must be noted that you cannot spot target fat loss, as the burning of fat by your body depends on your overall fitness level rather than on small muscle fatigue.
Can protect bone health
Strength training supports bone density, which can help lower the risk of osteoporosis. As women get older they are more at risk for osteoporosis. Weight training can help you maintain strong and healthy bones, which is especially important to support bone density.
Potential improvement of your mood and mental health
Exercise can help boost the release of endorphins which can relieve stress and increase your mood. What’s more, working out consistently can help increase your mood and mental health by promoting your confidence and body positivity.
The Takeaways
If you have previously been put off by the myths around weight training, don’t be, there are so many advantages it may have for you. Please be cautious when participating in weight training to prevent injury and start at a level which suits you. If you have no previous experience lifting weights, it would be advisable to try a personal trainer first.
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Huffpost Health Blog 