We pride ourselves in London as being pretty
clued up. We all think we have a pretty good idea as to how
to keep fit and healthy. So why is it that if you ask any
fitness trainer in London the reaction that they typically
get from their female clients when trying to introduce them
to resistance (weight) training, they'll say the same thing?
'Will I bulk up?' 'I don't want to end up looking butch' or
one that I recently had...' I don't want to scare my husband
away!'
Well, with my hand on my heart I can honestly say that none
of these things will happen, in fact quite the opposite! Women
don't build muscle in the same way as men as we have 10-30
times less of the male hormone testosterone. In fact any man
trying to build muscle will tell you how much hard work is
involved and that it doesn't happen by accident, even when
you have lots and lots of testosterone! What will in fact
happen, if you are working out correctly, is that you'll end
up with a tighter, smaller and more shapely physique. This
is because you will be burning fat and replacing it with muscle.
A kilogram of fat takes up to 5 times more space than a kilogram
of muscle, so you may find that you initially don't end up
weighing less but your clothes will feel loser and you'll
have less wobbly bits!
Of course, I wouldn't be so impertinent as to imply that
woman in London are so superficial as to only care about looking
good, perish the thought! We are so much deeper than that!
There are so many more reasons to include resistance training
into our workouts...the benefits are endless, here are just
a few:
Your metabolism at rest will increase.
Weight training helps to increase your basic metabolic rate
by an average of 15%. So when you're just sitting in one of
Islington's cool bars, or sunbathing in one of the gorgeous
parks of Highgate or Hampstead doing nothing more than looking
good you'll be burning fat! This works for 2 main reasons.
More energy is required to maintain muscle, so once you've
increased the proportion of your lean tissue to fat tissue
you'll be burning more calories. Research has shown that each
pound of muscle gained will burn 35-50 kilocalories extra
each day, so if you lose 5kg of fat and replace it with 5kg
of muscle, not only will you look smaller in size, you'll
be burning and extra 175-250 kilocalories each day! Furthermore,
although cardiovascular exercise may burn more calories while
you are actually training, resistance work keeps your metabolism
higher for more hours after you have finished your workout
and during the muscles' repair process, which happens 24-72
hours after you weight train! It's also worth noting that
after the age of 25 we naturally lose an average of half a
pound of muscle each year, which would normally result in
a decrease of our metabolic rate and increase in body fat,
unless of course we combat this by including resistance training
in our workout.....
Your heart will be stronger
Regular, resistance training lowers your resting heart rate,
so your heart works more efficiently and lowers your blood
pressure resulting in a reducing the risk of suffering from
heart diseases and strokes.
You reduce your risk of diabetes
Research has shown that regular weight training over a 4-month
period increases glucose utilization in the body by an average
of 23%.
You'll increase your bone density
This is especially important for women. As we age, bone density
diminishes for both men and women as bone remodeling, which
peaks at puberty, slows down. In addition to this, the changing
hormones of postmenopausal women can rob the bone of essential
minerals and so can result in thin, brittle bones and a condition
called osteoporosis. Any weight bearing or resistance exercise
will help work against this by enhancing bone remodeling and
increasing spinal bone mineral density.
Less likely to become injured or suffer from back pain
Weight training helps to make your ligaments and tendons stronger.
When you work a muscle it increases the blood supply to the
area and builds stronger connective tissues, increasing joint
and spinal stability and therefore reducing the risk of injury.
Ligaments and tendons also become weaker as we mature, another
reason why it's important to weight train at any age.
More strength and stamina
The increased strength and stamina gained from weight training
will help you carry out your day-to-day activities more effectively
and with more ease. Whether you’re rushing home from
work to pick up the kids before cooking dinner, helping with
homework, or having to schmooze potential clients over late
night dinners after working a 10 hour day in the office.
You'll sleep better
Weight training helps promote a better nights sleep and so
will help with concentration and managing stress during your
waking hours.
You'll feel good and are less likely to suffer from depression
Extensive research has shown that resistance exercise reduces
clinical depression, lifts mood and increases confidence.
So making sure that you include weight training into your
workout will help you cope with whatever life throws at you
I am sure that you will have read or heard about many of
the benefits of weight training before so what else stops
women including weight training into their workout? Well,
having worked as a fitness instructor in London and been in
many gyms from Islington to Manhattan to Nicosia, I tend to
see and hear the same things from women. Women tend to spend
hours on the cardiovascular equipment, desperately trying
to work off the one or two biscuits they intended to have
with their tea that turned into a whole packet. Then when
they've finally fallen off the step machine in a sweaty, exhausted
heap, they have no energy or time left to do any resistance
work! So it's worth remembering that balancing your workout
with cardiovascular and resistance work will not only give
you a better shape but will also keep your workouts more varied
and interesting.
Another common reason why women don't do as much resistance
work is that the weights area can seem pretty daunting, full
of heavy weights, and is a male dominated area. However if
you are taught how to use the weights properly and keep remembering
the many benefits of weight training (including gaining confidence!)
what's to stop you getting on with your own thing without
feeling intimidated by men who are probably as self conscious
as the next person?!
Hopefully you are now raring to go and start enjoying the
benefits that resistance training can bring to your life,
but before you pull on your lycra and start pumping iron like
there's no tomorrow, it would be irresponsible of me not to
point out the dangers of incorrect technique when working
your muscles against weight. You could cause yourself various
muscular and joint injuries and potentially cause yourself
permanent damage if resistance work is performed incorrectly.
Ensuring you exercise with good form, take correct rest and
recovery, breathe correctly and perform all of the exercises
with good posture will make the difference between an effective
work out and a complete waste of time! This is where we come
in! If you work out at a gym make sure that you book a session
with a good, fitness instructor, who will take the time to
guide you through using all of the equipment and will watch
you to ensure that you are performing the exercise safely
and effectively. If you prefer to work out at home or outdoors,
it would be a good idea to hire a personal trainer until you
are comfortable and confident with using weights and resistance
equipment.
Hopefully now you have been reassured that you won't suddenly
develop a hairy square chin and a neck thicker than your head
and you will start enjoying a more varied and balanced workout
and the great body shape and confidence that that will bring!
Maria Inzani
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