February 18th, 2009 Milan
Women can and should train equally as hard as men to reshape their bodies. This includes seeking real strength – not simply trying to make strength training more like cardio exercise.
Without strength training, muscles disappear. The more muscle you loose, the slower your metabolism works, and that equates to fat storage and weight gain.
I cannot stress enough the importance of strength training with intensity for women.
I understand the fears some women have, that strength training will develop big muscles. But you won’t get big doing 15 intensive repetition. So put your fears aside. The lean muscle you build will translate to the tone and shape you desire.
Adding lean muscle can be the fastest and easiest route to achieve what most women want: a sculpted, lean, fat-burning physique that’s full of energy, vitality, and strength to make you look and feel great.
Muscle gives your body a shape. It conveys an aura of strength and confidence. With strength, you carry yourself with purpose, you look and feel like the force you truly are.
It does all that for me. It influences the way I feel every day, and can do the same for you.
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February 12th, 2009 Milan
Many people, mainly women, resist strength training because they’re concerned it’s going to make them “look big” or muscle bound.
Here is the irony: Strength training shapes you smaller.
That’s because a pound of muscle is much smaller and takes up less space than pound of fat. A pound of fat is about the size of a big grapefruit. In contrast, a pound of lean muscle is about a size of a lemon.
Using these analogy, imagine how great you would look and feel if you swap 20 pounds of fat (think 20 grapefruits) for five pounds of lean muscle (think 5 lemons).
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June 6th, 2008 Milan
Despite the universally acknowledged health benefits of resistance training, of the 12.7 million women who belong to health clubs, only about half use weight machines and only one-third lift free weights.
Weight training – just two times a week is an essential part of the total wellness package.
For optimal health and fitness benefits, especially women need to do a combination of aerobic and strength training on regular basis.
Weight training has a lot of benefits for womans body in any age.
What intensive, regular weight training does to woman body?
- reduces blood pressure
- strengthens bones, muscles and connective tissue
- changes body – body looks younger
- boosts mood
- fights aging process by maintaining lean muscle tissue
- burns fat
- improves muscle tone
- increases bone density
- increases athletic performance and strength
- women who regularly lift weighs have better self-esteem
- they get sick less often
- improves the way the body processes sugar, reducing the risk of diabetes
- it is key factor for loosing weight or preventing weight gain
- builds lean muscles – 2-4 pounds of muscle = extra 100 calories burned each day
- increases metabolism for several hours after workout
- decreases resting heart rate
- decreases body-fat %
- by keeping body strong, it prevents injury
- by strengthening body, it makes daily demands of life, like picking up a child, carrying groceries easier
Even with all these benefits, many women still resist strength training for one reason: fear of getting bulky.
The reality, however, is that it’s physically impossible to build bulky muscles like a guy. Women don’t have the hormonal makeup to get as muscular as men. In fact studies show that combining resistance training with regular cardio workout will only help you look leaner as you become stronger.
Women should do two full-body strength workouts a week. They should be done on two nonconsecutive days and you can do them in as little as 25 minutes.
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