Women & Weight Training - Posted 29/04/2009 11:54

The use of progressive weight resistance training for women is beneficial in a whole variety of ways.  Purely from a health point of view, training with weights can help to offset osteoporosis as by stressing the skeletal system during training it will cause the body to release more calcium and help to strengthen the bones. Then there is the cardio vascular aspect, correct exercise with weights will improve your cardio vascular fitness.

Everyone wants to look good! It’s human nature. Most women I know have been on a diet at some point in their lives and are unhappy with certain parts of they body. Weight training really can help you to alter your body shape. Some things will be genetic, height, limb length etc but there are a lot of things you can change and sculpt if you are dedicated enough. Those ‘bingo wings’ wings can be ‘toned’ (we’ll get back to that word later), saggy bottoms made into peachy cheeks and getting those legs in shape for summer. The changes that people can physically make using weight training are phenomenal.

One thing that we always hear when ladies first come to the gym is ‘I don’t want to get muscular, just toned!’ What you need to know is it incredibly difficult as a female to put on excessive amounts of muscle and the likelihood that you are one of those genetically predisposed women is one in tens of thousands. So don’t worry that you will end up looking like some 80’s Russian shot putter because it’s not going to happen. The term ‘toned’ is word that has been introduced as a softer and more appealing word to describe muscular. To tone up means to build muscle mass…end of! Having a higher muscle density also has the benefit of using more calories. This means that if we take two women of the same height and weight but one has a lower body fat percentage and so more muscle then this lady will burn more calories if the twp of them did the same kind of exercise. Why? It’s simple, muscle needs a blood supply and fuel so it can function and do its job, and fat doesn’t. To supply muscle tissue with what it needs uses calories. So the leaner and more muscular you are the more calories you burn!

Another excuse we often hear is it’s boring and repetitive. Well it can be if you let it. There is no reason that it has to be though. The range of training that can be done with weights should keep anyone from getting bored. These complaints often come from ladies who have been to the bigger corporate gyms where they have been given a generic ‘one size fits all’ training program. Well one size doesn’t fit all. We all have different needs and capabilities and these need to be assessed and reviewed on a continual basis. Often ladies are told to use light weight and do lots of reps so they don’t get ‘big’ but as we have already said getting ‘big’ is very difficult even if you are trying very hard to do so. To start out, a repetition range of 8-12 is ideal. If you find that you are doing the 12 reps with ease then it’s time to increase the weight, this will mean you reps may drop to 7 or 8 but that is fine, as you get stronger that will increase and so you increase the weight again. And when I say you can only do 7 or 8 I mean it is impossible to do one more no matter how hard you try and not because you give in!!!!!!

Many women also complain of being ‘oggled’ at by their male counterparts and are uncomfortable in the gym environment. This is less likely to happen in the small independent gyms because it is usually a smaller community and the owner will have a vested interest in keeping his members happy. Also the manager tends to be the owner and therefore he will know all his gym members personally and will be more approachable should you feel uncomfortable with anything. Smaller independent gyms offer a much more personal service that the larger concerns just can’t compete with because of their sheer size.

Most women also find that once they start training with weights that they will automatically become more conscious of their diet as they learn more about how different food sources are needed for different purposes. In fact most find that they start to eat more often but have smaller more nutritionally balanced meals. Again at the independent gyms this information is more readily available and most gym owners will be more than happy to help you reach your goals but ultimately it is you that will have to do the hard work!

The combination of correct diet, weight training and cardio vascular exercise really does work miracles!

by Professional Bodybuilder & Personal Trainer Paul George

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