Most of the women we speak to are completely misinformed about what it means to build muscle. The first thing I hear when I mention weight training is “Oh No, I don’t want to get big, I just want to tone up”.
The word “tone” is nothing more than a marketing friendly term created to get women to weight train. The word weight train conjures up images of steroid abusing muscle bound women who look more like men.
Toning on the other hand create images of firm youthful looking bodies. But what is so magical about body toning exercises? Nothing. Toning is simply weight training all dressed up to appeal to a different market. Nothing more.
Most people assume that building muscle is very easy, and if you start weight training you will turn into a muscle bound women in not time flat. The reality is it takes years of extremely intense training and perfect diet to build even moderate amounts of muscle. It doesn’t happen overnight, or a week, or even a month, though you will definitely begin to see the benefits almost immediately.
So what benefit does weight training have for women? Lets start with bone growth. One of the only effective ways to stimulate bone growth is through weight bearing movements. When the skeleton is forced to support more weight it responds by building stronger bones, plain and simple. You can take all the calcium pills you want thinking you’re building stronger bones, but you’re not. Calcium in conjunction with a structured weight training program on the other will increase bone density.
It’s a shame more doctors don’t recommend weight training to their female patients before osteoporosis sets in. It’s not that they don’t want to, it’s more that they just don’t know.
Even if you have already been diagnosed with osteoporosis, you can still reaps the rewards that weight training has to offer. The first and probably most important benefit of weight training is bone development for both men and women. The next big benefit is the effect lean muscle has on metabolism.
Your metabolism is basically the rate at which your body uses calories. This is dependent on several things including your genetics, your diet, activity levels, and most importantly on body composition. Your body is basically made up os fat tissue, water, muscle tissue, and mineral deposits in the form of bones, teeth etc. Water does consume very many calories, bones sort of just sit there, and fat, well fat is where excess calories are store.
Calorie consumption by and large is the result of lean muscle tissue. Muscles tissue makes up more than simply what you can see. All your organs are classified as muscles too. This is where things get interesting. The more muscle you have, the more calories your body uses. So if you build even a few ounces of muscle, your body will burn more calories, plain ans simple.
What could be better? Not only will you be stronger and have more energy, but your body will naturally become leaner. That’s right, you’ll actually burn fat all day just because you’ve built a little bit of muscle.
You’ll also start to notice that loose skin begins to tighten up. There’s no magic behind this, all you’re doing a building the muscle underneath the skin which pulls it tight. Weight training is probably the most important physical activity you will ever do in the gym.
Muscle is the only thing that will create those to die for sexy curves all over the body. Without weight training all you are left with is a weak, shapeless physique. Sure your pant size may have gone down, but you’ve also sacrificed your much needed muscle tissue. Here’s some food for thought that’ll hopefully make you think. At first glance many of those runway models look pretty slim. At a closer glance however many of them are clinically obese. You heard right, they have so little muscle mass on their body that they are considered obese.
The key to building a beautiful physique is dedication, and patience. Building muscle doesn’t happen overnight. Give yourself some long-term goals so you know where you’re heading, and get ready to see some miraculous changes in your body.
If you’ve never weight trained before, enlisting the expertise of a personal trainer is a very smart idea. Weight training is more than just pushing a few machines back and forth. A personal trainer can devise a program custom tailored to fit your specific needs. They will also work with you one-on-one to ensure that perfect form is being used each and every time.
|