Article by Aline Rainbow
Most people strive to live a healthy lifestyle and stay fit. Weight-lifting is one of the best ways to maintain fitness. Men know it and gyms are full of men training. Women also know it but the gyms are crowded by them only in the cardio-vascular exercises area. Women shun weight-lifting for fear of looking like the guys training in the weights are in the gym. How wrong are they?
Sure, running on the treadmill, using the stationary bicycles and all the latest cardio-vascular (CV) equipment will certainly improve women’s fitness. But this is like preparing food – only half the job is done. You also have to do the cleaning up afterwards. In terms of fitness, this means that CV exercises alone are not sufficient in order to maintain a fit lifestyle.
Weight-lifting has particularly beneficial outcomes for women. Lifting heavy weights over short repetitions builds muscles for both men and women and for both sexes also improves bone density. This is especially useful for women who tend to suffer from osteoporosis from the onset of menopause. They will lose their bone density unless they perform anaerobic exercises, that is, weight-lifting, which has been proved to slow down or even reverse this process.
Another particularly attractive benefit of weight-lifting for women is that muscles consume more energy than fat. In other words, for weight-conscious women, muscles at rest keep burning calories compared to fat. So building more muscles will mean they will burn more fat during their sleep. How attractive is that? No diet pills needed. Weight loss the natural way. Do women need any more reasons to start training at the gym? Well, let’s examine the reasons they don’t.
There is only one reason. Women are scared of lfting weights because they fear putting on too much muscles and ending up looking muscle-bound like men. What women want to look manly? If only that was true. Men in all the gyms would be whooping with joy. Even for men, it is not easy to pack on muscles, and that’s despite their higher testosterone levels. This is why many professional weight-lifting must take supplements, legal or otherwise, to boost their muscle-building capacity. Now compare them to women who from the start have a different hormone level, particularly testosterone. It is naturally impossible for women to develop a manly physique, no matter how much they lift. Those who do sport manly muscles take hormones to boost their performance and are usually professional athletes. Unless the regular female gym-goer has recourse to these supplements, she will never be able to pile on muscle in this way.
Instead, naturally muscular women have shapely defined muscles that look toned without being bulky with veins snaking just under the skin like thick ropes. Only extreme workouts coupled with extreme diets can produce that. So women stop worrying that you will gain big muscles. Even most men can’t do that without a lot of hard work in the gym.
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Article by Martha Miller
The traditional concept most of us have about “lifting weights” usually brings to mind ultra buff beach bodies. We imagine the use of weights to be for those who want bulging muscles and a wash board stomach.
In addition, some of us are intimidated by the thought of going to a gym and exposing our less than buff bodies. It is time to throw out our old notions and get with it.
Strength training certainly involves the use of weights and may involve going to a gym. However, research has shown that strength training is vital to women and older adults.
Women, in particular, begin to lose bone density as a direct result of loss of muscle tissue. Older adults tend to have more body fat than muscle which may lead to a host of physical ailments.
Who needs it?
* Women beginning in mid thirties begin to lose bone density
* Women in post menopause are especially prone to bone density loss as well as hormonal difficulties including anxiety or depression
* Older adults who have lead a sedentary life until retirement age
* Older adults with onset health problems that relate to their body fat ratio
Strength training does not mean you will immediately start lifting heavy weights. It does not even mean that your goal is a wash board stomach, unless you want this.
How do you start strength training?
* First, get clearance from your medical doctor before you begin any new training program
* Decide if you want to start at home or a local gym. There are gyms just for women these days if this appeals to you.
* Decide if you will invest in a personal trainer. Whether you go to a gym or strength train at home, there are personal trainers to suit your individual tastes.
* Start slowly and stick to a regular routine. You did not get out of shape in a week so it will take some time to begin to see results.
* Start with light weights and hit all major muscle groups; biceps, shoulders, back, chest and legs.
* If you opt for strength training at home, there are many instructional cds to start you out.
Tips to keep in mind
* Correct technique is of utmost importance, doing something the wrong way will not only give you poor results, you could actually injure your self.
* Developing your muscles strengthens your skeleton and bones.
* More muscle mass means you actually burn more calories in addition to the calories you burn with your strength training exercises.
* Be patient and stay with it.
If you have ever heard “use it or lose it” then you will understand that choosing to not do strength training means you will lose strength over time. For women, you can also lose bone density.
There are many reasons to begin a strength training routine but choosing to do so for your long term good health is one of the best.
About the Author
Martha has been writing articles online for 10 years. Not only does this author specialize in a variety of fields you can also check out her latest website which help people find more about mtd mower parts especially riding mower parts .
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Article by Workout DVD Freak
There is a myth floating around that women will end up big and bulky if they lift weights! This is just not true! One of the main reasons being that women don’t have enough testosterone to build bulky muscles. Unfortunately the image we get in our minds when we think of weight lifters – is those huge, greased up, overly tanned guys and gals parading around in skimpy bathing suits. Of course the average woman doesn’t want to look like that! But just be realistic for a moment, these people weight lift as a career, likely spend 4-5 hours a day in the gym, use performance enhancing drugs, and are a minute percentage of the population that are genetically able to reach those extremes. If you are working out 3-5 days a week for an 30-60 minutes at a time – you will NOT look like that – don’t kid yourself!
The “bulky” myth has stopped many women from adding strength training to their workout routine. The sad fact is, however, that the more muscle you have the higher your metabolism and therefore the more calories your body will burn at rest. So if one of your goals is to lose fat – then you are really shooting yourself in the foot by sticking purely to cardio.
The key to increasing lean muscle tissue, without bulking up is finding a weight that is right for you. Each muscle group will require different weights, so it really is important to spend some time working out the right program for you. The key is to choose weights which allow you to do no more than 15 repetitions. So at the end of the 15th rep you should not physically be able to do any more. If you feel like you could keep going, it means your weight is too light!
In order to actually re-shape your body you have to use resistance training! Cardio exercise will burn fat, but will only make you a smaller version of you. Strength training can broaden your shoulders, narrow your waist, create nice curves where you have none and give you that tight, toned, terrific look. The fact is that muscle is a lot more compact than fat, it occupies less space. Fat is soft and jelly like and spreads itself around – and wobbles! So if you are losing fat and gaining lean muscle tissue, you will actually be decreasing in your measurements.
I hope that the above run down will convince you to start adding some form of strength training to your workout routine. Just give it a go and see the results for yourself!
About the Author
I love diet and exercise! I worked as a personal trainer and weight loss consultant for many years and have been doing workout dvds for 20 years! I have a huge collection of them with a different workout dvd for every day of the month. I really like sharing my knowledge and helping people achieve their goals as well as achieving my own of course! I recently started my own website to do just that: http://www.workoutdvdworld.com.au
www.Facebook.com David Kittner, a Youth Conditioning Specialist with Athletic Foundations in Brampton, discusses a concern parents have with their young kids lifting weights. This presentation was part of the St. Andrew’s Catholic School Just For Parents Seminar Series in Orangeville, Ontario.
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Article by Tama McGibbon
Myths That Stop Women from Lifting Weights
The biggest myth is that you will get muscle-bound with massive shoulders and arms like a gorilla if you lift weights. Think about that.
Seriously, in order to accomplish that task you really need to put in a lot of work, eat a lot of food and train like a madman. SO let’s just put this myth aside for a moment and focus on a few things.Most women want to lose fat, and the best way to lose fat is to exercise and add some muscle. The reason for this is simple. Muscle gives you a well-toned body…and the best part is that muscle burns more fat!!!
Have you ever looked at some of the fashion models? Have you noticed they are thin, but have no tone at all? They are emaciated, which means they have starved themselves so much that even their muscle tone is gone because when your body is hungry, and needs calories to keep it functioning it will basically eat it’s own muscle for fuel. Next time pay attention to their bodies and try to notice this.It isn’t a good look, unless you really like the starved emaciated unhealthy look.
There is a correct way to lose fat and weight, but not starvation.
So some of you want to lose weight and are worried that putting on muscle will make you heavier. It’s true, muscle weighs more so the scale might go up, but it isn’t fat. Your body will look better, and you will feel better about yourself. I would give anything to lose 10 pounds of fat for 10 pounds of muscle. You’d be surprised to find out that the woman next to you, who lifts weights and does bodybuilding, might actually weigh more then you…but she doesn’t carry the fat, and doesn’t look like she weighs more.
You will not get huge muscles!!! Again, get this out of your head. It takes concerted effort, doing the correct training to get a bodybuilding body…but you can lift weights, or train on the nautilus machines and get fantastic tone without massive muscles.
I know what you are thinking……what about all those women with huge muscles? Well, this is the truth, the bodybuilders who are all natural, really work hard and have strict diets to feed their bodies, they have been doing this for some time. The women who compete in other bodybuilding events, which are not all-natural, rely on stimulants, and sadly on steroids. This is common among the professionals who are not Natural lifters.
I have been involved with this business for many years, do not be fooled into thinking that you can have that physique without stimulants. Only Natural bodybuilders accomplish great mass by hard training and commitment.
There are two different schools of thought, and two different roads to bodybuilding success and competition. You have the Professionals, who compete in the big events like Weider competitions (both men and women), and then you have the Natural Bodybuilders, who do not use stimulants and are tested before each competition. So when you look at the muscle magazines, unless it clearly tells you the magazine is for Natural Bodybuilders, know that the people and products in that magazine are typically using more then the normal person to gain what they have in muscle mass.
Let me just give you some free advice about steroid use. Firstly, most people get involved because they have no patience or persistence in building muscle based on training and diet. They want a quick fix. Steroids might give you the quick fix, but what most people forget or do not even consider is that taking steroids will cause major health problems in the future. I know one woman who had a stroke after years of taking steroids. This was due to the fact that the steroids cause cell changes, and those cell changes can affect your kidneys and adrenal glands. Your adrenal glands regulate the hormones and natural process of your heart and brain. If you have cell mutations within the adrenal gland this will cause those hormones to act differently, if it is severe the mutations will become tumors. Even if the tumor is benign, the size of the mutation will disrupt the function of the gland and the functions of the hormones to regulate your heart.
Do not rely on stimulants, not even the ones that are fat-burning. You can burn fat with diet and exercise. Ok, so now that I have told you a little about muscle and bodybuilding, I will continue next week with some routines that beginners can use on the road to tone and fat loss.
Tama McGibbon @2009 All Rights Reserved. http://www.muscleboss.comwww.irongrrrls.blogspot.com
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Writer, photographer
If you ask the average woman today why they don’t lift weights, you’re sure to get a response similar to this: “I don’t want to get big and bulky.” There seems to be a common misconception that lifting weights as a woman will automatically make your muscles inflate and you run the risk of looking like a body builder. Let me put that myth down right now.
First of all, lifting weights plays a key role to help you burn fat and keep it off permanently. No other form of exercise comes close to the fat burning benefits that you’ll get from some heavy weight lifting. But will it make you big?
You probably know that testosterone is the hormone mainly responsible for muscle growth on the human body. Did you know that men have up to 10 times more testosterone than women do? So if the myth is true, that women bulk up fast from weight lifting, men should get huge 10 times faster right?
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But this just isn’t the case. The average guy who lifts weights does not build a lot of muscle mass. Only the most dedicated and extreme weight lifters will build mass like a body builder. So unless you’re going to take it to that level, you’re going to have no problem staying slim and toned.
What lifting weights will do for you is crank up your metabolism and help you burn the fat off your body fast. Plus instead of that loose, flabby look your muscles will be tight and toned.
If you start lifting weights today, I know you won’t be disappointed with the results. I lift weights 3-4 times per week and I’m definitely not bulky. After all, if I’m wrong you can always quit working out and “un-deflate.”
Your next step is to CLICK HERE NOW to learn the real way to lose weight for good, no more yo-yo dieting! Making small changes in your lifestyle is the only sure way to get healthy and stay slim for life.
I’ll show you how to finally get results in my free healthy weight loss secrets course where I will be with you every step of the way. You can start today!
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