What Women Need To Know About Strength Training

In this day and age, women are starting to realise that their worth is more than just the number on the scales. And this is a great thing. Granite Fitness always promotes having a positive body image. You want to get fit because you love your body, NOT because you hate it.

As a consequence of not allowing that number to define their worth, more women are hitting the gym to lift weights and build strength, rather than counting the calories. Women are starting to realise that strength training is beneficial to overall health. Some of the benefits include increased bone density, a higher metabolism and better stress management. Of course, it’ll make you look great too.

Many people incorrectly believe that lifting weights will make women look like a bodybuilder or a rugby superstar. I cover this in detail in the Lifelong Fitness Blueprint. Although we are now coming to our senses about this, this myth is so hardwired that we almost refuse to believe it. Many women are guilty of setting unattainable body goals, which strength training might not be able to contribute to, at least not directly anyway.

Once again, the Lifelong Fitness Blueprint explains how bodybuilders, male and female alike, have to put in a lot more effort than just eating and strength training. They might also do things to alter their hormone levels. For most women, the levels of muscle building hormones simply aren’t enough to make them look like giants. The reality is that strength training sculpts the body by defining the muscles and promoting fat loss. It is especially vital if your goal is to have a toned, taut, lean looking body.

When it comes to body image goals, men and women generally differ. However, there is no reason why women should not aspire to be stronger. This, once again, goes back to the stereotypes, with women believing that they need to only use light weights to get the physique that they want. This is absolutely wrong!

If you are after a lean and toned physique, you will need both cardio and strength training. Don’t undervalue the importance of strength training. A got of people will use the treadmill for an hour because they believe this is the best way to lose weight. But it isn’t – there are better, less monotonous ways of getting lean.

Forget about running on the treadmill for an hour or two! You are not a hamster, even if you started your journey looking like one. Lift some weights instead to tear down those muscle fibres. After that, when your body starts repairing it, it will draw in extra calories for the building process. This also increases your metabolism, which means that even when you are sitting on the couch watching soapies (hopefully not eating popcorn at the same time), your body will still be burning more calories than normal. It’s a win no matter which angle you look at it from, in my opinion.

So you have finally incorporated strength training in your workout, after all the incessant nagging from me. Great. However, this is not the end. You need to have variety when performing strength training. You need to increase the load if you want to get stronger and stronger. Furthermore, trying out new exercises can expose your weak muscles and strengthen them.

Obviously, if you feel that your workout is way too easy, you are not doing things correctly. The last few reps of a set must always be a bit of a challenge. It might feel a little uncomfortable, but suck it up and just do it! After all, your goal is to have a great physique, isn’t it? If it doesn’t ache at all, it’s nor benefiting you enough.

Here’s another tip – if your lifestyle is such that you have limited time, focus on “total body compound movements”. These are exercises that work the large muscle groups. The truth is that when you are working large muscle groups, your smaller muscles are also assisting with the actions. The reverse, unfortunately, isn’t true.

One last thing I have to mention is that women sometimes focus on the lower body only. This is not surprising at all, because in the western world we are always exposed to the “need” for women to have a voluptuous booty and a good figure to go with it. Although I personally am completely against sexually objectifying women, I can understand how it influences everyone.

What I am trying to say is that you should not neglect your upper body. Take some time to work out your chest, back and shoulders as well. After all, if you only work out your lower body, don’t you think you will look sort of, for lack of a better word, unbalanced?

Ok, that’s all I’ve got to say today about this topic. Most of the content covered in this post can be found in the Lifelong Fitness Blueprint, which is part of the Granite Fitness Solution. Check it out now!

Cheers,

Mark

Specially for you ladies: