Hey ladies, listen up. If you fall into the category of being afraid to lift weights because you are afraid you will gain “too much muscle”, or feel like you will get “bulky”, then you need to sit down and have yourself a little read.
I have worked in the industry for over 8 years, and this topic comes up about once a month. At first, I would get a little frustrated, but now, I just laugh it off. Here is the deal. You ready??? IT ISN’T GOING TO HAPPEN! Do I need to repeat it again? IT ISN’T GOING TO HAPPEN!
Ladies, you simply do not have enough testosterone in your body to build massive amounts of muscle. It’s true. Don’t believe me? Get your blood work done. Testosterone is the key to building muscle, without a decent amount of it; you will not be able to build loads of muscle.
The female body does have testosterone, just like the male body has estrogen; the female body just simply does not have enough to build muscle like a man is able to.
Let’s take it a step further. Are you on the fence about wanting to lift weights? I can understand that. However, there are numerous reasons to do so. Here are just a few:
You WILL lose body fat.
“Studies have shown that in just two months of strength training, the average women who lift weights two to three times a week will gain nearly 2 pounds of muscle and burn 3.5 pounds of fat.” By my calculations, that is a 1.5-pound loss.
However, it goes way deeper than that. Put your hand into a fist. That is the size of a pound of muscle. Now, put both your hands into fists and put them next to one another. That is a pound of fat. A pound is a pound; however, you can noticeably see the difference between the density when it comes to muscle and fat. Case and point, the more muscle you have, the leaner you are. The only way to build lean muscle and torch fat, is by lifting weights.
Jump-start your metabolism.
Muscle can burn anywhere from 35-50 extra calories an hour depending how much muscle your body has. The only way to build lean muscle and jump-start your metabolism is by lifting weights.
Get stronger.
This is a no-brainer: lift weights.
Improve your athletic performance and be physically stronger.
And maybe most important - Reduce your risk of heart disease, injuries, diabetes, arthritis, and back pain.
Don’t just take it from me. I asked my good friend and professional fitness competitor Sarah what it is about weight training that is so important to her. Here is her response –
“There are really two components to lifting for me – Mind and Body."
The Body connection:
"Lifting burns almost exclusively fat. If you want to see changes in your body doing cardio alone, you will only get so far as it burns muscle and fat. Muscle is correlated to metabolism … the more muscle, the higher the metabolism. I can personally say, that the more muscle I have put on the easier it is to control my weight. And the more energy I have. Also as women age, weight-bearing exercise helps to strengthen bones. So there are long term benefits as well."
The Mind connection:
"Mentally I feel stronger when I left. It’s empowering to lift. I hate the misconception that as a woman, if you lift you will bulk up. It’s almost impossible to bulk up too much as a woman. For me personally, as I have put on muscle my clothes size has dropped. It’s lean muscle mass (emphasis on the lean).”
Folks, you heard it from me, and you heard it from a competing professional. Do not run from the weights, they are your friend. In fact, they may be the missing puzzle piece when trying to cut down those last couple pounds.
TD
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