5 Reasons Women Need To Strength Train

Sometimes we get so caught up in watching the “calories burned” meter on the treadmill that we forget the most important way to burn calories and lose weight is to….lift weights!!  Women oftentimes shy away from strength training in fear that they’ll get muscle bound and thick.  The pictures of the large, overdeveloped women that you see in bodybuilding magazines are of women who WANT to look that way and they work really, really hard to do it including taking supplements that help them achieve that look.  Lifting weights won’t give you bigger forearms than your local pizza maker or thicker legs than the Hulk….but here are the fantastic things it will do for you:

1.  Burn More Calories When You’re Resting.  Your BMR or basal metabolic rate determines how many calories you burn in one day.  This more muscle you have the more you burn daily.. even when you’re not exercising!    

2.  Eat More.  When your metabolic rate is higher, you burn more calories in a day which means you can eat more without gaining weight!  Yay!  “I’ll have the steak with my salad.” ;D

3.  Look Better, At Your Weight.  Because muscle is more dense than fat, it takes up less room on your body.  This is translated into a smaller size at the same weight and smaller body part measurements.  For example, I was 123 lbs and a size 8 after I gave birth to my daughter (and wasn’t weight training much).  4 months and many strength training sessions later I was the exact same weight and a size 4.  Big difference in body composition!

4.  Make You Feel Better.  Women who weight train experience less back pain, have less injuries and feel stronger overall…which makes them happy!

5.  Help You Pick Up Guys.  Ok I added this one for fun but it’s true!  One of the number 1 places to meet someone is at the gym (I met my hubby in one!) and men love seeing women in the weight section of the gym…..and conversing with them next to a full barbell rack :)

Hope this helps motivate you to add 2-3 days of strength training to your routine.  Now go hit the weights!

xoxo

Larysa