Should Women Stick To Cardio Exercise And Stay Away From Lifting Weights?

By Russ Hollywood


Should women lift weights in the gym? This is one of the most commonly asked questions in fitness circles and today you will find the answer. You'll also find out what supplements to take if you are a lady trying to build a lean, toned physique.

The world of exercise and fitness has moved forward incredibly quickly over the last twenty years. Every year there are new developments in sports supplements and training methods, as well as new scientific research on previously unproven theories. It's barely the same world we lived in just 20 yeas ago. Yet despite all of this, there are many people who still have the same mentality which was floating around health clubs and gyms two decades ago.

They'll tell you that you should stay away from protein powder because it will damage your kidneys. They'll lead to you believe you need to spend two hours per day on a treadmill to lose weight. They'll also have you believing that ladies need to stick to lifting pink, fluffy dumbbells for hundreds of repetitions to tone up. One thing is common in these individuals, and that is a lack of results. []

For some reason, huge amounts of exercise enthusiasts are unaware that many of the age old theories and myths surrounding weight loss and muscle building have been scientifically researched and now have either evidence to back them up or evidence to disprove them. Sadly, most people still stick to advice like the things you can read above, which date back decades and have no academic foundations.

Contrary to what you may have been told in the past, lifting weights is excellent for losing fat. Furthermore, if you aspire to achieve a lean, ripped body then they are a vital part of your training program.

What about the old wives tales? Won't you end up getting huge muscles like a bodybuilding competitor?

No, you will not. Imagine if building lean muscle was as easy as simply picking up some dumbbells a few times per week. Every guy in your workplace would own the physique of Rambo! It's not that easy, and bodybuilders only obtain that type of muscular physique by dedicating their lifestyle to their craft. If you want to bring out the definition in your muscles then you need to start doing some form of resistance training on a regular basis.

One of the main reasons why ladies shouldn't be concerned with the prospect of gaining a lot of muscle mass is testosterone. Testosterone levels are severely lower in females than in males and this factor alone is enough to squash any doubts lingering in the back of your mind. This also squashes the myth that ladies must do high rep sets to avoid gaining size, so feel free to pick up a weight which actually challenges you next time.

Try to stick to compound movements such as squats, deadlifts, bench presses and lat pulldowns for the first couple of months. This will allow you to significantly increase your strength, while keeping your weight sessions relatively short as you ease yourself into your new lifting lifestyle.

A good supplement plan is very simple. It's easy to over complicate the whole procedure here and end up eating pills with breakfast, lunch and dinner. The truth is when you have a solid diet in place you do not need an endless array of additional products. Ensure you get a top whey protein, but everything else is optional. If your goal is to build more lean muscle than you have right now then you should also look towards adding a creatine monohydrate and glutamine product to that list.

Knowing what supplements to take can become tricky due to the amount of hype out there, so the best advice is to simply get a solid diet in place and then keep things simple. Not only do you now know the answer to the age old question 'Should women lift weights or not?', you are now in a position to help others get to the bottom of this popular fitness myth.




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