There are women who are engaged in fitness routine; however there are very few who are engaged in weight training workouts or lifting weights. Though lifting weights helps greatly in building muscle mass, most women do not perform this kind of workouts and go for the cardiovascular or aerobic exercises. However, if you are a woman, you definitely need to read this article that talk about some of the amazing reasons why women should lift weights.
13 Amazing Benefits of Lifting Weights in Women:
These are:
It Helps You In Making Physically Stronger:
You become physically stronger when you lift weights regularly. By increasing your own strength you will become far less dependent on others for any assistance in your daily living. Your chores will become easier, lifting groceries or laundry will no more be tough for you and your daily tasks will become easier and there will be less chance of any injury.
According to research studies, it has been concluded that even with moderate weight training, women can increase their strength by 30%-50%. Research has also shown that women can develop their physical strength at a similar rate as men.
Lifting Weights Helps You To Burn More Calories And Reduce Body Fat:
One more amazing reasons why women should lift weights, is that it helps you to burn more calories and to reduce more of the body fat. It helps in building muscles. It takes more of calories or the energy for your body so as to maintain muscle cells than it takes for the fat cells. So, when you lift weights you add more of muscle mass, and you boost your body’s metabolism and turn your body starts burning more of fats.
Studies which have been performed by Wayne Westcott, a Ph.D from the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, Massachusetts, has found that the average woman who does weight lifting or strength training 2-3 times in a week for 2 months, gains nearly 2 pounds of muscle and loses 3.5 pounds of fat. (1)
Lifting Weights Help In Maintaining Muscles:
Lifting weights help in maintaining muscles. Research has shown that women in between their ages 30 to 70 years, lose an average of 22% of their total body muscle mass. And the worst part is that over time, the muscle void is usually filled with fat. It must be mentioned that 1 pound of the fat takes 18% more space than 1 pound of the muscle.
However, doing strength workouts like lifting weights 2-3 times every week and 30 minutes of one session, you can get the best results in keeping your tightly packed or maintaining your muscles. You also need to include 3-4 days of cardio workouts, either on the same days or in the alternate ones.
It Helps In Creating And Sustaining Your Body Curves:
As you build muscles, your body begins to take a beautiful hourglass shape. Though endurance exercise might help you in losing weight, that weight is the form of both fat as well as muscle tissue.
If you are losing both your fat as well as muscles, you can probably lose your body’s lovely curves as well. So, strength training like lifting weights could help you in creating and sustaining those beautiful curves of your body.
You Get Improved Quality of Sleep When You Lift Weights:
What could be a better thing for a woman than getting a quality sleep? However, weight lifting can help you get quality sleep. So, we must mention that amongst the most amazing reasons why women should lift weights, this could be in the top lists. You get improved sleep quality, helping you fall asleep faster, sleep more deeply, and wake up less during the night and thus wake up fresh in the morning.
A study that has been published in the International SportMed Journal has suggested that morning resistance training or high intensity training affects the sleep quality significantly and lengthens the sleep time after the training. (2)
Women Get An Increased Energy By Lifting Weights:
Women start having an increased level of energy by lifting weights. According to a study which was published by the National Institute of Health, it has been suggested that the chronic increase in the expenditure of energy, even after a small resistance training session, might affect the energy balance and the fat oxidation quite favorable. (3)
You Build Stronger Bones Through Lifting Weights:
One of the most amazing reasons why women should lift weights is that they help in building stronger bones. When you are lifting weights, you are engaging your muscles that pull on your tendons, which, ultimately pulls on the bones. This stress, make your bones stronger. Having stronger bones help you in fighting against osteoporosis, which is something that affects 10 million Americans, and 80% of the affected population are women.
Lifting Weights Help In Improving Heart Health:
One more reason why women should lift weights is that it helps in improving the heart health. Pumping iron could help you in reducing the risk of various heart diseases and it was approved as one healthy form of exercise for people who are at a risk from the American Heart Association.
According to a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning, it was found that individuals lifting weights are less likely to develop the risk factors of heart disease, such as high triglycerides, large waist circumference, elevated glucose levels, and elevated blood sugar. (4)
One more study that was conducted by the researchers in Brazil showed that though there was an increase in the heart rate of the patients during heavy bouts of training, their resting heart rate and blood pressure were quite lower in the following morning. (5)
Weight Lifting Reduces The Risk Of Osteoporosis, Arthritis, Back Pain And Injury:
Weight lifting is also known to reduce the risk of getting osteoporosis, arthritis, back pain and unwanted injuries. It must be mentioned that weight training, such as lifting weights can actually increase the spinal bone mineral density and also enhance the bone modeling. This, along with an adequate amount of calcium in diet, can be one of the best defenses against osteoporosis in case of women.
You not only build stronger muscles by lifting weights but also build stronger connective tissues and also increase your joint stability to a greater extent. This in turn acts as reinforcement for your joints and also helps in preventing injuries. Strengthening the lower back muscles could also help you in eliminating or alleviating lower back pain; and lifting weight can be of a great help in this. It can ease the pain of osteoarthritis and can strengthen your joints and also can prevent you from injury and improve back pain.
It Helps In Improving Your Balance:
When women are lifting weights they are also improving their balance. This is because as we age, the fast-twitch muscle fibers start deteriorating. These muscles are the ones which help in speed and power movements, and they contract quickly and with sufficient force to catch yourself while you lose your balance. We must let you know that resistance training or weight training like lifting weights, maintains the ability of such fast-twitch muscle fibers to activate.
You May Reduce You Chances Of Getting Diabetes:
You might have a reduced chance of getting diabetes when you lift weights. It helps in improving the way that your body processes sugar, and this in turn can help in preventing diabetes. And, in case you are someone who is already suffering from diabetes, then be known that research has shown that longer periods of strength training can improve in controlling the blood sugar level as well as taking a diabetes medicine. In fact, combining strength training like weight lifting and aerobic exercises might be more essential than the diabetes drugs.
You Become Happier And Less Stressed:
When women lift weights they release the “feel good” hormones, known as the endorphins. This in turn helps you remain happier and manage the unwanted stress of day to day life.
Researchers have found quite consistently that people who regularly practice strength training, tend to manage their stress better that those who do not perform any exercise. (6)
It Strengthens Your Brain:
One more reasons why women should lift weight is that, it helps in improving your cognitive function and your memory. In other words it can be said that lifting weights strengthens your brain.
As per a study conducted at the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute at the University of the British Columbia, it is explained that older women lifting weights at least twice in a week for 6 months on a row, showed much improvements in their memory tasks. Japan’s researchers even found that older adults performing a combination of aerobics, muscle strength and balance training exercises for about one year, performed better on the memory tests than the group of participants that didn’t exercise.
Conclusion:
It is true that all of us want to be and feel strong, confident, and determined in our life. So, if you are a woman with strong goals and want to have a beautiful body, and fit and fine at your physical and mental health then do try lifting weights. However, make sure that you first plan your fitness goals, hire a fitness trainer or join a fitness center and start doing your weight lifting under the supervision of an expert so that you do them right and start feeling healthier, stronger and more confident about yourself.
Reference Links:
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3810/psm.2009.06.1709
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235428933_Effects_of_endurance_and_strength_acute_exercise_on_night_sleep_quality
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2862249/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22207254
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20360924
- http://www.humankinetics.com/products/all-products/principles-and-practice-of-resistance-training
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