8 Reasons Women Should Lift Weights.

Being a personal trainer I hear a lot of insights on what people personally think about when it comes to things in fitness. One of the top things that brings opinions and worries in discussion would be weight training. 'I don't want to get bulky.", "I don't want to look manly." or "lifting weights will make me gain weight.". There are so many excuses reasons people shy away from weights. Well I am here to tell you that the worries you have, are not valid.
Trust me when I say it takes WAYYYYYY more than a couple reps to become 'bulky' or 'manly'. What they will do and why you should be weight training is this;

1. Increase your energy!
Resistance training causes an increase in energy expenditure hours after you actually finish training. Which means that the chronic increase in energy expenditure effecting the energy balance and fat oxidation, will take the place of that early afternoon cup of coffee. So grab a dumbbell.

2. You say you wanted some curves!? You got it!
When building muscle, your body starts to take a beautiful hourglass shape. Yupp, not lien to you.  When weight training you will lose weight while keeping your muscle tissue helping you create and sustain your hourglass shape.

3. Better sleep at night.
Weight training greatly improves your quality of sleep quality. Helping you not only fall asleep faster, but sleep deeper and wake up less often during the night.

4. Lose more fat, more effectively !
It is not only about washboard abs and ripped arms. When comparing cardiovascular training and resistance training on the battle of burning calories, resistance training wins every time. Not only do you burn fat during exercise but even after!

5. More muscle, more calorie expenditure.
Once you increase your strength and lean muscle mass, your body will begin to use calories more efficiently. The more muscle contractions your body has during the day, the more calories you will actually burn. [ex. sitting burns less calories than standing. as walking burns less calories than weight training.]

6. Better bone health.
It is no secret that the older you get, the risk of losing both bone and muscle mass rises. Resistance training is an excellent way to combat loss of both bone and muscle mass. And for us women, when hitting menopause, the risk of osteoporosis increases. Start early to lessen that risk!

7. Better heart health.
Large waist circumferences, high triglycerides, elevated blood pressure, and elevated glucose levels are all risk factors in heart disease. All these risks that can be lessened and/or avoided by resistance training. Resistance training can also significantly lower your blood pressure and resting heart rate!

8.Stress relief!!
Resistance training is not the only thing that will reduce stress but all exercise in general. However research has shown that people who participate in regular resistance training tend to manage their stress better than those who do not exercise.

As women we all want to feel confident and comfortable. We want to be strong and have energy. We want to be moms who keep up with their kids. And we want to be our husbands arm candy [not in a bad way]. Point is we all want to be better. We want better. Resistance training can help you with that.