Should Women Weight Train? "Am I going to get big and bulky?"

Today a woman walked into CircuitFIT and inquired about the 30-minute fitness program we offer. As I began to explain that the workout combines cardiovascular exercise with weight-training she quickly stopped me with a question that I get at least once a month, "Am I going to get big and bulky if I do weights?" So, I decided to use this example and dispel the myth of women and weight training in my first post.

Most women are content with some sort of cardiovascular exercise like a brisk walk or jog on the treadmill. But this is just one type of exercise. For optimum health and fitness results, you want to incorporate weight training as well. But isn’t weight training just for guys? Actually it’s just as important (if not more) for women as it is for men. You see, women don’t have the testosterone to have big muscles to begin with. Women are already at a disadvantage and have more body fat and less muscle and bone than men do.

As muscle is lost, fat accumulates, and that process leads to a decrease in metabolism (your body’s ability to burn calories) and an increase in weight gain. Weight training can reverse this process, putting back muscle and burning fat. In other words you can lose inches and sizes! And remember, its how you look and how your clothes fit that counts. Even though muscle weighs more than fat, it takes up less space (you look slimmer), gives your body a firm appearance and helps you burn more calories. So don’t get caught up with the scale and the numbers game, rely on how you look and feel as a measure of your progress!

In one study, 72 overweight individuals participated in an eight week exercise program. The participants were placed in two groups. The first group performed 30 minutes of endurance exercise on a stationary cycle. The second group performed only 15 minutes of exercise on the stationary cycle plus an additional 15 minutes on weight resistant exercises. At the conclusion of the study, the "endurance only" group lost a total of 3.5 lbs.; 3 lbs. of which was fat and a half pound was muscle loss. On the other hand, the "endurance and weight resistive" group lost 8 lbs. with an actual fat loss of 10 lbs. and an increase of 2 lbs. of lean body weight.

In other words, you can lose more fat and gain lean muscle by adding weight training to your exercise program. Endurance exercise alone cannot give you the same effects - as the study showed, it can actually lead to muscle loss!

It doesn’t end there though. There are many more benefits that weight training can offer women. I’m sure you’ve heard your doctor recommend weight training to strengthen your bones (at least I hope you have). Lifting weights is particularly important for postmenopausal women, who, are more likely than men to fall and break bones.

Weight training can also be good for your heart. Studies show increasing evidence that weight training can favorably modify several risk factors for heart disease including lipids and cholesterol levels, blood pressure, body fat levels and glucose metabolism!

The point of this post is: Start weight-training and make it part of your exercise routine.

About Alex Savva - The Low Carb Grocery's Official Fitness Expert

Alex Savva is a certified Kinesiologist with a degree in Physical and Health Education and is also the fitness expert for urbanmoms.ca. Alex is the founder of CircuitFIT studio and appears regularly on City TV and CP24's Perfect Fit as a fitness expert. You contact Alex at info@circuit-fit.com.