Many women worry that lifting weights would create a bulky, manly appearance. Weight training is becoming more and more popular but most women stick to cardio or yoga based workouts.
Lifting weights does not mean you will become big and bulky (unless you follow a strict diet and exercise regime and you WANT to). Here are my 5 reasons why I think weight training is soooooo good for us ladies…
1) it will boost your confidence. Lifting weights will gradually make you feel stronger, then lift a bit heavier, then you’l; start seeing muscle tone. This is super motivating, feeling strong really increases your confidence.
2) you will lose fat. It is a fact that to lose fat, you have to burn more calories that you consume each day. Building lean muscle helps you to burn more calories – the more muscle you have, the more carbs and fats are turned into energy.
3) it will increase your bone density. Resitance training over a long period of time helps our bones to grow stronger and denser in order to manage the weights and force. You will therefore be less likely to develop osteoporosis in later life.
4) you will never get bored! If like me, running is mundane, the same class every day is tedious and your attention span isn’t the best, the weight training is a great way to stay active and become stronger. There are endless amounts of exercises to follow for upper body, lower body and your core.
5) it will educate you. Learning about the various exercises you can do helps you to learn more about your body and the different muscle groups. Pairing with a personal trainer who can advise on warming up the muscle, maximising exercises and the best recovery is really important.
I am focusing much more on strength training more and more to keep my training varied – being at home so much it is so easy to get bored or stuck in a rut. Lifting weights at the moment, is keeping me motivated!!!