Should women lift weights in the gym? This is one of the oldest questions in fitness and it's amazing how much confusion it still causes today. Today we will give you the lowdown on this often debated topic.
The unfortunate thing about the health and fitness industry is that everybody, even non-professionals, have an opinion on what people should and should not be doing. Many of those opinions don't take any scientific research into consideration and this often leads people down a path of confusion.
In the early 1970's, during the heyday of bodybuilding characters such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno, many mainstream gyms were to blame for starting a trend of encouraging ladies to stick to cardiovascular exercise while men hit the weights section. This was then set in stone with the emergence of home circuit style workouts which were released on VHS, encouraging ladies to use nothing more than a bottle of water or very light dumbbell as resistance.
Naturally, if building muscle was as easy as simply lifting up a dumbbell a few times per week then most guys would be completely ripped. However, common sense did not prevail at first and for many years there were countless ladies who avoided exercises which could have helped them to reach their goals faster.
There have been many scientific studies performed on male and female exercise enthusiasts over the last four decades which confirm that women should indeed be performing regular resistance training for a number of important reasons. They are listed below:
* Resistance training is responsible for strengthening and toning your muscles.
* By training with weights you'll build more lean muscle tissue, which will in turn help your body to burn off more unwanted fat.
* Be prepared for a great increase in fitness.
* Resistance training has similar fat burning and lean muscle building effects to high intensity interval training.
While those 4 points are all great, there is one major concern which almost every woman has. Is it going to make you look bulky? The answer is no. You cannot achieve a bodybuilder physique without living a bodybuilding lifestyle, which means learning what supplements to take and how to structure your diet to match your goal. Female bodybuilders find it even harder, because they need to supplement with testosterone boosting products as they don't have enough natural testosterone in their system to support as much muscle growth as men.
A lot of thought has to go into that type of lifestyle. It's not something you need to worry about, as it certainly cannot happen without deliberately aiming for it.
So what is the final verdict? Should women lift weights or should they avoid them? Of course, every lady who wants to lose weight or get leaner should really be performing resistance training at least a couple of times each week. Alongside learning what supplements to take this is probably one of the biggest sticky subjects in gyms around the world. Now you know the facts.
The unfortunate thing about the health and fitness industry is that everybody, even non-professionals, have an opinion on what people should and should not be doing. Many of those opinions don't take any scientific research into consideration and this often leads people down a path of confusion.
Personal Trainer Russ Howe PTI answers the question should women lift weights in the gym today.
In the early 1970's, during the heyday of bodybuilding characters such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno, many mainstream gyms were to blame for starting a trend of encouraging ladies to stick to cardiovascular exercise while men hit the weights section. This was then set in stone with the emergence of home circuit style workouts which were released on VHS, encouraging ladies to use nothing more than a bottle of water or very light dumbbell as resistance.
Naturally, if building muscle was as easy as simply lifting up a dumbbell a few times per week then most guys would be completely ripped. However, common sense did not prevail at first and for many years there were countless ladies who avoided exercises which could have helped them to reach their goals faster.
There have been many scientific studies performed on male and female exercise enthusiasts over the last four decades which confirm that women should indeed be performing regular resistance training for a number of important reasons. They are listed below:
* Resistance training is responsible for strengthening and toning your muscles.
* By training with weights you'll build more lean muscle tissue, which will in turn help your body to burn off more unwanted fat.
* Be prepared for a great increase in fitness.
* Resistance training has similar fat burning and lean muscle building effects to high intensity interval training.
While those 4 points are all great, there is one major concern which almost every woman has. Is it going to make you look bulky? The answer is no. You cannot achieve a bodybuilder physique without living a bodybuilding lifestyle, which means learning what supplements to take and how to structure your diet to match your goal. Female bodybuilders find it even harder, because they need to supplement with testosterone boosting products as they don't have enough natural testosterone in their system to support as much muscle growth as men.
A lot of thought has to go into that type of lifestyle. It's not something you need to worry about, as it certainly cannot happen without deliberately aiming for it.
So what is the final verdict? Should women lift weights or should they avoid them? Of course, every lady who wants to lose weight or get leaner should really be performing resistance training at least a couple of times each week. Alongside learning what supplements to take this is probably one of the biggest sticky subjects in gyms around the world. Now you know the facts.
About the Author:
About the author: Russ Howe PTI answers the query should women lift weights in the gym today. He also teaches you what supplements to take to suit your goal in his latest new material which is available online.
0 comments:
Post a Comment