Should Women Avoid 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 women will get big and bulky if they touch weights. They will advise you that carbohydrates are to be treated as the enemy. They'll ignore recent scientific proof in favor of following routines laid out by their favorite television celebrity. Usually, they'll also struggle to see any significant long-term results. []

The days of training that way are long gone. So many of the old myths surrounding fitness have been proven wrong in the last few years by scientists with a keen eye on improving life in the gym. Yet many gym users remain unaware and continue to do the same old things which weren't working for them in the first place.

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. If it were that easy to obtain a bodybuilding physique then most of the men you'd see walking down the street would look like The Rock or Sylvester Stallone! Lifting weights will improve your strength and tone your muscles in a way that cardiovascular exercise simply can not. If you aspire to achieve the lean look demonstrated on athletes such as Jessica Ennis at the recent London Olympics, then lifting is very important.

You certainly do not need to worry about getting big and muscular, because the female body does not have the testosterone levels to create a bulky physique without the outside influence of supplements. For this reason, you also don't need to be afraid of aiming for relatively low repetitions in your sets. You'll often hear that women should do sets consisting of 25 or more reps, but this is old advice which has been proven incorrect.

If you can work on developing a good technique with the major compound exercises, such as deadlifts, lat pulldowns and squats, you will notice excellent physical results.

Supplements can be kept to a bare minimum if you have a good diet and training program. Most people are familiar with whey protein so that is a good place to begin. If your goal is to get leaner and cut body fat then you should find a protein product which gives you a relatively low carbohydrate content and no more than 25 grams of protein in each serving. Other items you could use include creatine, which boosts your explosive strength to help you train harder in the gym, and glutamine, which aids muscular recovery after a tough workout.

Learning what supplements to take is nowhere near as difficult as it's sometimes made out to be. If your diet and exercise routine is good then you can get great results without needing to take dozens of pills throughout the day! So, should women lift weights? Absolutely.




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