Excellent Reasons for Women to Weight Train

 

Next time you’re at the gym, try taking note of which sections of the gym are mainly being used by men, and which by women. The chances are that you’ll see more males using the weights section, whilst more women are frequenting the cardio areas.

Considering the fact that a primary goal of many women who attend a gym is to lose weight and develop a toned physique, it’s odd that many try to do so by doing cardio. After doing cardio for some time without satisfactory results, some women respond by doing yet more cardio. This can lead to a situation where cardio is completed 5 or 6 times a week with little progress being made, leading to a loss of motivation – and in some cases a temporary or even permanent lay-off from the gym.

There are some compelling reasons why women should consider taking up weight training. Here are a few of them:

• Performing cardioincreases the energy spent in session, but weights do the same with the additional benefit of muscle breakdown. When the gym session is over, your body will use calories consumed to repair muscle tissue. This means that fewer calories will be stored as fat.

• Strenuous exercise releases chemicals in the body called endorphins. Endorphins give you a rush of euphoria, causing you to feel great after an intense workout. Intense weight training is an effective way of releasing endorphins, and the natural high you feel afterwards will only encourage you to return for another session of iron pumping.

• By building muscles when you weight train, you’re helping to enhance your curvaceous female figure. Muscles create the shapely contours desired by many women, and even if you don’t have a particularly low body fat a little muscular development will help you achieve a better defined body shape.

• Muscles stand the test of time and a strong exercise regime will help you keep your looks as you grow older. Think of some of the older celebrities who have kept their looks – chances are that they follow a weight training program.

It’s important to remember that lifting weights does not make women look “manly”. Muscular development is driven by the hormone testosterone, but the level of this hormone in women is only a fraction of that found in men. This means it’s very difficult to achieve a masculine figure without using drugs. Rather than developing a manly figure, you will achieve a slender and sleek physical appearance – making it clear to everyone that you take pride in your appearance by regularly and effectively working out.

If you’re new to lifting weights, then there are plenty of free resources available on the internet which can help you. The guides at Women’s Fitness are useful for learning the basics, and will help you begin building the body you’ve always dreamed of.

About Author: This is a guest post written by Brit Peacock, a keen weight trainer currently blogging for fitness equipment retailer Powerhouse Fitness.