A most impressive specimen featured below. If you want to tone up your biceps and triceps, check out the guns on this fitness babe. A thing of beauty, indeed. But for the life of me, I can’t figure out why is she curling those weights in the office?
I spent a lot of time working through out various womens only fitness facilities and there was one thing that remained consistent with most of the ladies I trained and counseled. They either did not want to lift at all. Or they did not want to lift too much out of fear of bulking up and adding weight on the scale.
Five Reasons Why Women Need To Increase The Weight They Lift
1. More weight equals more strength. I’m not saying lift the most you can. What I’m saying is you need to progressively increase your weight. Honestly, a toddler can lift 5 lbs. My 13 year old sister can do 8lb bicep curls. You may not want to pull a car in the next strongman competition but strength is very useful in everyday life. It’s nice to be able to carry home groceries, lift your baby out of the crib and hold your arm in the air for more than 2 minutes to screw in a light bulb.
2. Lifting weight adds bone density. Women are prone to osteoporosis. Weight lifting increases bone density. If you want to be able to walk down the stairs without breaking your hip in the future, then you need to lift weights to prevent injuries in old age.
3. You wont “bulk up.” Do you have any idea how long it takes to put on muscle? Most people are lucky if they can put on a 1lb in a month. And they’re actually trying! It’s hard to bulk up. Besides, the women I see with some muscle look GOOD! Muscle on women makes you look fit, not like Hulk Hogans twin sister.
4. Lifting weights helps you to lose weight. By increasing your weight and putting on a bit of muscle, you will burn more calories throughout the day. Lifting helps to speed your metabolism for longer periods after exercise than cardio. If you only do cardio you will look “waify.” Cardio and weights helps to develop a fit and healthy appearance, which is probably what you picture, when you think of your ideal physique.
5. The scale might go up initially but your body fat is going down. Muscle does weigh more than fat. I won’t lie, the scale may go up a bit. You know what though, who cares? The scale goes up if you drink water. Are you going to stop drinking water? It’s much more accurate to test progress by taking a body fat composition test and by taking tape measurements. The scale fluctuates too much to be trusted.
Women and men may have different fitness goals but in the end, the basic approach is the same. Change up your routine, lift some days with challenging weights and other day with lighter weights for endurance and fat burn. Work on strengthening bones, joints and ligaments and throw in some core stability exercises to improve overall performance.
Now Go Get Em!
Kaleena Lawless
Personal Training Specialist
http://www.kalisthenixfitnessblog.com
By Paul Yost
In a weight loss, or fat loss phase as I prefer to call it, weight training is considered a very important ingredient to the equation. The main emphasis of weight training in the fat loss phase is maintenance of muscle tissue.
Muscle tissue shapes and forms the contours of the body. I’m not saying you can change the shape of a muscle because that’s physically impossible. It does, however, have a discernible shape that is reflected on the male or female body. So, if all emphasis were placed on cardiovascular or energy system development (ESD), as I call it, there would definitely be some muscle wasting going on.
This causes a loss in shape or lack of shape improvement when in a weight loss phase. Muscle is considered the primary indicator of metabolism. Basically, it single handedly determines how many calories the body burns. So if you lose muscle through exercise or dieting, you burn fewer calories through daily processes.
So, in a weight loss training program, we want to maintain or even add muscle to our frame through proper exercise prescription. The use of compound movements needs to be emphasized. This includes, but is not limited to, various forms of: squats ,deadlifts , pulls and pushes. Specific examples would be barbell squats, barbell bench press, chin ups, etc.
The frequency of weight training can vary, but keep in mind that maintenance of muscle tissue is the goal. The majority of training should be based on ESD. Weight workouts should include circuit training, supersets, tri sets, etc. to burn up energy and/or stimulate growth hormone which has been linked to fat mobilization and usage. Still, one session of the week should be devoted to lifting as heavy a weight as possible in good form. This is the most important lifting session of the week as far as muscle is concerned in a weight loss phase. By placing an overload on the system, the body has little choice but to hold onto that energy consuming tissue called muscle.
Repetitions for all lifts during each training session are going to be highly individual to the trainee. Beginners and women need to use a higher repetition range due to having less neurologically efficient central nervous systems. Basically, this means they aren’t able to use as much muscle per repetition as someone with more experience. Both populations obviously improve with training. Intermediate and advanced trainees, on the other hand, need to use lower ranges. The one exception is when growth hormone or lactate producing workouts are to be performed. For this type of workout the range needs to be from 12-20.
One quick side note. Women shouldn’t be afraid to lift heavy weights. I see it all the time at every gym I’ve ever been to. Lots of cardio and very little weight training. Most women need to get stronger. The concern of getting “big, bulky muscles” is so outdated it makes me sick. If you sit and worry about getting these “big, bulky muscles”, consider all the men out there who are doing everything they know to get “big, bulky muscles” and are having a hard time achieving that. Men have a distinct advantage, with few exceptions from the female population, in stimulating muscle growth. The hormone, testosterone, is one of the main factors in this process. Women produce much less of it and therefore have a harder time adding muscle mass. I’m not saying women can’t add muscle, it just might take a little longer or be a little harder to accomplish. Now make the necessary changes in your program and get started!
Paul Yost is the Owner/Operator of Paramount Fitness Training, a fitness company based in Houston, TX. He also works as a Strength and Conditioning Coach in professional baseball. Find more about his services and information at: http://www.personaltrainersinhoustontexas.com
Don’t have time to go to the gym, try this workout for women on for size.
Diet.com fitness videos show you how to workout burning the most calories in the least amount of time. Tone your stomach, butt and arms with this circuit training workout. Best of all, you don’t have to go to the gym because no equipment is needed and the workout can be done at home or outside.
Duration : 0:2:25
Kim Strother is at the Hilton Fitness Center by Precor where she does a great core workout using a physio ball and medicine ball. Yeah! Become a member of http://www.fordmodels.tv by clicking here!
Duration : 0:2:25
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