What are the benefits of strength training for women?
A lot of women are very nervous about strength training. They think it’ll make them bulky or masculine. Many even believe that strength training is best left to the guys, and women should only do “feminine” workouts like yoga, Pilates, and aerobics classes.
They are so wrong!
The reality is that strength training is one of the most valuable types of exercise a woman can do. In fact, instead of avoiding strength training, it should be compulsory for any woman who cares about how she looks or feels.
That’s why, at WarriorBabe, I’m championing strength training for women. It’s time to shrug off all the myths and misconceptions associated with lifting weights and embrace it like the miracle workout cure it is.
Not convinced? Here are five benefits of strength training for women, all backed by science!
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Lose weight faster and easier
If you want to get lean and stay lean, strength training should be your go-to workout. Not only does lifting weights burn calories while you do it, but it also increases your metabolism for several hours after your workout has finished.
Not only that, increasing muscle size increases your resting metabolic rate, so you burn more calories 24/7 – even while you sleep.
If that wasn’t enough, strength training also increases your tolerance for carbs by improving your insulin sensitivity. This means that the carbs you eat are better able to enter your muscle and liver cells and won’t end up being converted to and stored as fat. That’s good news if you are one of the keto women or someone who just enjoys eating carbs but still wants to get lean.
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More functional strength
Women are often called the weaker sex, but that doesn’t have to be the case. You can be as strong as you want to be, but you’ll have to lift weights to achieve it. Being stronger makes many everyday activities much easier, and you’ll get to the end of each day feeling much less tired if you are strong. It also feels great to know that, when something heavy needs lifting, you are the woman to do it!
Sadly, all women lose strength as they get older, so if you want to avoid being a weak and feeble elder, you need to start building strength now. Strength training women also lose muscle more slowly than their cardio-only compatriots.
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Reduced risk of osteoporosis
Strength training isn’t just good for your muscles, it’s good for your bones too. When you lift weights, you expose your bones to stress. Your bones respond to this stress by getting stronger and denser.
Like muscle mass, bone mass tends to decline with age. This makes them more fragile, porous, and prone to fracture – a medical condition called osteoporosis. If you have osteoporosis, an accidental fall could lead to a fractured hip, and, once that happens, your days of living an independent, fulfilling life are numbered.
While some bone loss is unavoidable, you can slow it to a crawl with regular strength training. Lifting weights can also reverse bone loss, which means it’s never too late to start strength training for women.
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It’s the best way to get toned
The best get toned workouts involve strength training. Cardio can help you burn fat but, if you want to sculpt and tone your muscles, lifting weights is a must. Your body adapts to the stresses placed on it – something exercise experts call specificity. The best, if not the only way to increase muscle tone, is to lift weights. And not tiny two-pound dumbbells that are lighter than your purse, but real weights that challenge your muscles.
It doesn’t matter if you want toned arms, shapelier legs, a firmer butt, or a flatter stomach, strength training is the only way to target your muscles with the laser-like precision needed to get Warrior Babe results.
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Strength training is good for your health
There is not a single aspect of your health that won’t benefit from strength training. People often talk about cardio as being the healthiest type of exercise, but, for women, strength training is just as good and could even be better.
The health benefits for women strength training include:
- Reduced abdominal fat
- Lower levels of blood glucose
- Improved cardiovascular function and health
- Lower blood pressure
- Reduced risk of certain cancers
- Lowered risk of injury
- Control of menopausal symptoms
- Less back pain
- Faster recovery from illness
- Better mental health
- Improved flexibility, mobility, and balance
- Better self-image and confidence
- Longer life span
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Better posture
Long periods of sitting can wreak havoc on your posture. Poor posture not only affects how you look, but it also affects how you feel. Hunched shoulders, a rounded back, and a forward head position adds years and pounds to your appearance and are a common cause of back and neck pain.
Strength training can help women reverse the effect of gravity so you can stand up straight and proud. Fixing your posture will make you look taller, slimmer, and more confident.
How do you get started?
At WarriorBabe, we understand that starting strength training as women can be a daunting prospect. After all, gyms are full of people who already know what they are doing, and it’s easy to feel out of place in such an unfamiliar environment.
The good news is you can start strength training in the comfort of your home by working out with your body weight, resistance bands, and even household objects such as water bottles and cans of food.
Then, when you’ve built up your confidence as well as your muscles, you’ll be more than ready to take your first steps into the gym. Not sure where to start? No problem! At WarriorBabe, we’ve got everything you need to become a gym hero – including getting toned workouts, and female muscle gain to lose fat training programs. We’ve got you covered!
And don’t worry about bulking up or looking masculine; women gain muscle much slower than men, so this is not something you need to be concerned about. We also teach “what are macronutrients” and how to use them to get the body of your dreams.
It’s time to strength train!
Strength training is the most powerful thing you can do for your body as a woman. It can literally transform how you look and feel. With strength training, you can sculpt your body, adding inches to the places you want them, and trimming them from the places you don’t. You are in command – use strength training to create the perfect you. It’s the best women’s workout for toning.
And don’t let the guys at the gym intimidate you or rob you of fitness motivation; most of them have no idea what they are doing anyway!