Should Women Lift Weights Regularly?

By Howe Russ


Should women lift weights or will they wind up looking big and bulky, a look which most females don't want? Alongside HIIT, this is one of the most popular questions in fitness clubs today.

If you have been exercising for a while you'll already know that the mainstream fitness business has a new trend each year. More often than not, it's not actually a new method, it merely reverts to an old training style which had faded from popularity. After years of yoga, boot camps and kettlebells it's the return of resistance training combined with high intensity cardio. []

The fact that more and more ladies are suddenly plucking up the confidence to wander over to the free weights section of their local gym is a truly great thing. However, many are still scared by the myths which surround females and resistance training, including:

* If girls lift weights they will get big and bulky.

* Women need to use very light dumbbells only.

* Women need to do low resistance and high repetitions to tone up.

* Girls who have strong legs should avoid weights because they'll make them even bigger.

Despite the fact that the myths above have been dis-proven so many times, they still exist in most gyms and health clubs. While regular exercise enthusiasts know them to be false, the mainstream still overwhelmingly buys into the myth that women should avoid resistance training for the reasons shown above.

The simple answer is yes, women should be using resistance training in their workout if they are to achieve the toned, lean look most ladies desire to own.

Three of the issues in the myths above can be solved with one short statement. The female body does not release anywhere near enough testosterone as the male body. Therefore, if a lady wanted to get big she'd have to work considerably hard at it, it's not something which can happen overnight or by accident. Female bodybuilders have to supplement their diet with testosterone boosters and other products to pack on considerable size.

After all, if building muscle really was as simple as just picking up a weight then most men at the gym would look like Sylvester Stallone. But they do not. Do not concern yourself with this myth.

The ironic thing is that most ladies who are terrified of resistance training list fat loss as their main fitness goal. Fat loss is one of the biggest benefits to a regular resistance training program. Your body experiences a phenomenon known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, E.P.O.C. for short, in which you continue to power through calories at an increased level well after you finish training. It's also one of the best ways to tone up a body part you consider to be bulky at the moment, i.e. legs.

So, should women lift weights in the gym? Certainly! If you are trying to build a leaner physique this year then the combination of HIIT and regular resistance workouts will push your results to a whole new level.




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