| by: Candice Copeland Brooks and Douglas Brooks, MS, Exercise
Physiologist
Many women miss out on the
incredible benefits that strength training has to offer because of myths and
misconceptions regarding this component of fitness.
 When we ask our female clients about their
fitness goals, many mention objectives such as losing weight, decreasing body
fat, toning muscles, feeling stronger and improving energy. Often, women try to
achieve these goals by focusing exclusively on aerobic exercise because either
they don't understand what strength training can do for them or they fear that
lifting weights will give them big bulky muscles. Let's look at the facts and
the fiction.
Don't buy into those old
perceptions about weight training making you big and bulky. Women generally have
much lower levels of testosterone (the anabolic hormone that contributes
toincreased muscle mass) than men. Unless you have unusually large amounts of
testosterone in your blood stream, your fears of getting really big are
unfounded. Strength training actually promotes positive changes in body
composition such as decreased fat and toned muscles.
Regular strength training
will produce some gains in muscle size and strength. This is desirable, because
often as you increase your lean mass, you are simultaneously losing body fat.
The end result is a firmer, toned body.
If one of your goals is
weight loss, strength training may be the key that unlocks your potential for
the strong, healthy body you dream of. While you can burn calories during both
aerobic exercise and strength training, the biggest impact on weight loss or
weight maintenance is a revved up metabolism.
 Strength training increases the amount of
lean muscle mass in your body, and lean muscle mass requires more calories to be
burned both during exercise and throughout the rest of your day. Muscle is like
Pac-Man--it gobbles up lots of calories to maintain itself--unlike fat which
requires almost no calories to exist.
Lean muscle mass cannot be
maintained or increased with aerobic training alone. Without strength training,
an adult will lose approximately 1% of their muscle mass per year after the age
of 30. Here's an example. If you're 50 years old and you've lost 20% of your
muscle mass, you might be expending 200 calories less per day. So even with
aerobic exercise and a moderate diet, if you're not strength training you will
have gained weight and/or fat. The bottom line with muscles is "you've got to
use them or lose them." Increase muscle and you'll burn more calories naturally,
24 hours a day. This will help you lose fat and maintain your desired weight.
Increased strength and
muscle tone go hand-in-hand. Imagine how great it will feel when you can lift
that heavy box, rearrange the living room furniture without help, or carry your
sleeping child and the groceries into the house at the same time. As those
muscles get stronger you'll probably notice a difference in how you look as
well, with less body fat and firm, shapely muscles.
Your strength training will
bring additional benefits such as increased bone mineral density. With
osteoporosis a serious health threat to women, it makes sense to help prevent it
by making your bones as strong and healthy as possible.
It's been documented that
any kind of exercise can improve your energy. So continue with some type of
aerobic exercise to condition your cardiovascular system, but add in the
component of strength training and watch the results.
If you're not strength
training already, get started today! Get ready to achieve your full potential as
a strong, fit and healthy woman.
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