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Women Who Train With Weights Win Weight-Loss War

By David Herber

It often amazes me that some women are still hesitant about using weights to shape their body and lose weight. I used to teach Body Pump at a corporate fitness center in Washington, DC a couple of years ago. If you are not familiar with Body Pump, it was one of the first 'aerobics' classes to incorporate the use of weights. One day after a class, one of the participants, a heavy set woman, came up to me and said she was 'concerned' because she noticed a couple of women in the class using 'heavy' weights. Now, I ignored the fact that the person speaking to me couldn't possibly know what was 'heavy' weight to someone else, and I let her continue. She proceeded to list the top three excuses women use for not lifting weights, heavy or not. She started with this classic: 'Don't they know they are going to get BIG AND BULKY muscles if they use that heavy weight'? Then she proceeded with the next fallacy, 'and if they have all those muscles they'll GAIN WEIGHT' and finally finished with my favorite 'don't they just want to TONE UP'? I could tell that she was getting frustrated at me smiling at her as she rattled off her 'concerns.' So, I sat her down and gently debunked the misconceptions she had about women and weights one by one.

  1. I'll get big and bulky. If I had a nickel for every time a woman said this to me in my many years of training, well, I wouldn't have to right articles like this to get new clients and would be living in the south of France! LOL! But seriously, we need to examine why women feel that by just simply touching a dumbbell they will look like the muscle bound models on the cover of Muscle & Fitness for Her or Oxygen Magazine. First of all, because women have very low testosterone levels they cannot develop huge, bulky man-like muscles unless they introduce artificial testosterone into their bodies, i.e. Steroids. Second, most of those models do follow very strict dieting guidelines that help them achieve that level of muscularity. And lastly, those models train with 'progressive resistance' using weights that challenge their muscle and make them grow. All three of these things have a synergistic effect to make female body builders as big and bulky as they are. So if you don't do all of those three things, can you still gain muscle and will weight training benefit you? OF COURSE! First though, I would never recommend that women inject the male hormone testosterone into their bodies at any time. So if you do the last two things, proper diet and train with progressive resistance you'll start shaping and firming up your body the way you want it to be!
  2. I'll gain weight. The weight you gain when you weight train is FAT-FREE muscle mass. Women need to stop thinking that every pound they gain is 100% fat. Every pound you LOSE isn't 100% fat, so why would you think the same when you gain weight? Scale weight is a very inaccurate measure of health and fitness. It fluctuates daily depending on how much water your body is holding on to and is not consistent from scale to scale (properly calibrated medical scales might be the exception). If you are exercising with weights, the muscle that you build will help you burn more calories while you are at rest, and will ultimately lead to a lower body fat percentage (less jiggle) and a lower BMI. Using circumference measures, how your clothes fit, and how you feel as a measure of health is much more accurate than jumping on the scale.
  3. All I want to do is 'tone up'. Everyone's definition of 'toning up' is different. My definition is losing fat and retaining muscle mass so I jiggle less and I am more firm. If you want firmer thighs, firmer triceps (back of the upper arm), a firmer tummy (abs), and a firmer butt, you need to increase your FAT-FREE muscle mass and decrease the amount of body fat covering those places. And because FAT-FREE muscle mass is MORE DENSE than body fat, it takes up less space. So if you have firmer thighs, triceps, abs, and butt then you will be taking up less space and be more compact i.e. smaller. If for some reason, after you are weight training for at least 12 weeks, you feel you are getting big and bulky muscles like a man, go to your doctor and have your testosterone levels check. There is a small percentage of women who have more testosterone flowing through their veins than average, but even so it would be extremely difficult for women to gain big muscle like a man.

    When I finished debunking her third 'myth' the participant, whose eyes were a little glazed over, hesitantly agreed that she would try and challenge her body by using heavier weights and build more fat free muscle. I could tell she wasn't completely convinced so I debunked a couple of more myths for her.

  4. I have to go to the gym every day for an hour or more. Hardly. Studies have shown that the benefits of strength training can be acquired with as little as two thirty minute sessions a week! But if you have aggressive body shaping goals, yes, you may have to put in more time than that. This is when hiring a personal trainer comes in handy. They can analyze your goals, see if they are realistic, then develop a plan of attack for you. Will it transform your body over night? Nope, but it will happen faster than having no plan at all and trying to go at it alone!
  5. Weight training only helps my muscles. Even if getting stronger muscles was the only benefit, why wouldn't you want to have them? Do you enjoy struggling to open jars, not being able to lift moderately heavy objects, and getting sore after performing simple every day tasks? The stronger your muscles are the more you will be able to do on your own and the higher your quality of life will be.

But other than strong muscles, weight training also affects bone density. That's right, if you weight train, you can prevent or at least delay the onset of osteoporosis. What is osteoporosis? Osteoporosis is a disease of the skeleton that results in low bone mass and an increased risk of fracture, especially of the hip, spine and wrist. Nine out of ten osteoporosis sufferers are women. Look at your mother and grand mother. Do they hunch forward excessively? Have they had hip replacement surgery? Do they often break bones or dislocate hips just by walking? If so, having osteoporosis and weak bones usually are the culprits and can be prevented by exercising with weights.

Weight training also has been proven to elevate your high density lipoproteins (HDL) or the 'good' cholesterol. This helps your veins and arteries stay clear and reduces your chance of having a heart attack.

So as you can see, ladies, the war on weight-loss isn't won by performing endless hours of cardio day in and day out. You need to reinforce your calorie burning troops and build muscle mass with weights to declare weight loss victory and keep those pounds off. Not only will you win the weight loss war, you'll also look fabulous, have stronger bones, and better cholesterol! So what are you weighting for?

About the Author:

David Herber is a personal trainer located in New Castle, PA. His website is www.Exercise2U.com