Weight-lifting and women



My little 2kg weights.

Being really busy with college means I had to give up on the boxing for a while. I do miss it, but needs must and I will go back in September. 

So, thinking I should keep some kind of exercise up, I bought myself a set of dumbbells. Half of me thought, "I don't think you'll keep this up after one go." and the other half thought, "No, I will. I can do it quickly when home alone and I will maintain some muscle and feel good." Which thought process do you think won? Yep - the former. Unfortunately!

I was genuinely REALLY enthusiastic about the whole thing. I really believed that I would keep it up and that I would do two work-outs a week - just about 15 - 20 minutes long. I did one. Then I spent all my time and energy stressing about college assignments and the poor dumbbells are gathering dust in a corner of my living room. 

I do like weight-lifting though. It's a great work-out as well as just muscle-strengthening. My poor mother is worried I'm going to turn into a really gross body-builder. This is actually a common mis-conception about weights and women. We women don't naturally have enough testosterone to develop very big muscles. I have tried explaining this to my mother, but the look in her eyes tells me that she doesn't believe me. I was going to do a little bit of research anyway, so thought I may as well share the information on the true facts about women and lifting weights.

1. I will end up looking like a bodybuilder. As mentioned above, women don't naturally have enough testosterone in their bodies to gain huge amounts of muscle. The women we see on television take anabolic steroids (synthetic testosterone); that coupled with lifting huge weights daily give them that bodybuilder look they want. Weight training without steroids two or three times a week will give you a toned look and will reduce your body fat.
2. If I stop weight training the muscle will turn to fat. The most important thing to remember is that fat and muscle are completely different types of tissue. What usually happens in reality is that a woman stops training and loses muscle due to inactivity. This is usually coupled with the healthy eating regime going out the window, which results in weight gain. The two are connected, but in a lifestyle way, not a physiological one.
3. Weights will turn fat into muscle. This is similar to the above, or perhaps the reverse of it actually. Weights will help tone your body and increase muscle mass (which in turn, will increase your metabolism). Aerobic exercise (being out of breath!) and eating healthily will decrease your body fat. As mentioned above, the two often happen in tandem - I would imagine this is what leads to this commonly held, but incorrect, belief.
4. Women should only lift very light weights. Many women believe that cardio is enough to get the desired body - this is not the case. No matter how much you walk, jog, cycle, etc. your muscles won't tone up completely. For weights to be effective, they need to be heavy enough so that by your final rep you're hurting. Muscle mass will increase only in response to resistance. This resistance won't happen if you don't lift weights that are heavy to you. Increasing reps with light weights does not achieve the same results. Apply your basic biology class knowledge (and common sense) to your training and you're likely to see better results.
5. Weight lifting is bad for the joints. This couldn't be further from the truth. Lifting weights decreases your chance of getting arthritis and osteoporosis. Lifting weights is less stressful on the joints than the increasingly popular running and as well as strengthening the muscles, it also improves the strength of the ligaments that hold them together. Are we getting the message here? Strength training with weights is good!!

Do I look the part?!

So, there you go - is most of what you thought utter rubbish? Not only does weight training help you look better, improve muscle tone, make you healthier overall but it also increases your physical strength and athletic performance and reduces the risk of all the usual suspects - diabetes, cardiac issues, obesity, etc.

There is more encouraging information in this link and if you fancy starting, here is a very easy beginner's work-out. I would add some push-ups to it. Don't forget to warm up a little beforehand and to stretch afterwards.

I am DEFINITELY going to work-out when I get home this evening. Definitely! Any tips or work-out ideas please let me know - all help needed and appreciated! Thanks!