Is Weight Training for Women?
As personal trainers in Wichita, Kansas, we work primarily with women (women who usually hate the gym that is).
In fact, over my 18+ year career as a personal trainer the majority of my clients have been women. The reward as a trainer to see a 58 year old grandmother regain her confident to wear her favorite jeans again or simply get up from the floor without pain is priceless.
You’ve raised a family and now it’s time to think about yourself but you’re unsure about what to do, where to go, and what about your low back pain and wonky shoulder? Not to mention the confusion about what to do–cardio vs weights?
With so many fitness options on every corner these days, it’s easy to get confused and end up in a high intensity fitness class with 30 year olds leaving you feeling more helpless or worse, in more pain.
Cardio seems to be the easy option, but the looming question always seems to be “as a woman, should I be doing weight training?”.
Yes, Women Should Lift Weights!
Without a doubt if you’re a women (or a man) and your goal is to lose weight, remove daily aches and pain, boost energy, and become you best self, weight training is a must 3-4 times per week. Here’s four reasons why…
4 Benefits of Weight Training for Women
Before you dig in, let’s set the tone for what weight training is.
Weight training for women should be personalized to where they are in their fitness journey. At GoTimeTraining, we practice highly individualized fitness coaching that includes a individual functional movement assessment, strength training, and nutrition program design with supportive lifestyle coaching every step of the way.
1. Heavy weight training for women can increase metabolism by 10% for up 72 hours after workout.
Whenever the body is called to do work, like repairing and rebuilding muscle tissue it cost calories. Think of your body like a factory of workers and those workers have to get paid. After intense weight training there is now more work to be done, therefore more calories that need to be paid.
So, if I told you, you could lose 10% more weight or eat 10% more food while losing weight or maintaining weight, would you think that be a good idea? Well, that’s exactly what heavy weight training can do for you.
2. Heavy weight training builds strong bones.
Women have higher risk of Osteoporosis compared to men. Did you know it is estimated that 1 in 3 women over 50 will experience osteoporotic fractures. Not only does heavy weight training keep strong bones, it can actually reverse osteoporosis. I’ve coached many women who have made great improvements to their bone density.
3. Heavy weight training helps you keep sexy lean muscle as you age.
Did you know non-0weight training women on average lose up to a half pound of muscle a year? Doesn’t sound like much, but in 20 years that 10 pounds of fat burning muscle that could be contributing to decreased strength and increased body fat, that affects many of us as we age. If you recently hit your 40’s and 50’s and are not weight training as a women, you likely are starting to feel what I’m talking about.
4. Heavy weight training makes you feel strong and confident 🙂
Increasing strength and focusing on performance, not just cosmetics, can be very empowering for women while finally making exercise fun.
Who doesn’t enjoy getting stronger and more confident? Yes, everyone does!
Hopefully, I’ve done by job to educate you that as a women, you must be weight training. I’m not asking you to become the next Olympic athlete with extreme workouts. Remember, your weight training should be individual to how you move, consider past injuries, and includes what you enjoy, too.
If you ready for an expert coach like myself to guide you on how to get started, I highly recommend you take advance of our 14-days of Free Personal Training at our PRIVATE studio. When you join any program, you’ll get 14-days added on for free!
Please please please share this so others can enjoy the awesome benefits of weight training, too.
Raymond Elliott
Lead Personal Trainer
Personal Trainer Academy Director
ACE & NASM Certified Personal Trainer, OES, CES
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