Strength Training for Women - The Benefits of Lifting Weights

Strength training is probably the most beneficial exercise activity that women can do for general fitness, appearance and long-term health benefits. Unfortunately, women usually shy away from lifting weights. Partly because strength training is more popular amongst men, and men dominate the weight room. Ladies gyms are becoming increasingly rare to find. Another reason is the lack of knowledge of how beneficial strength training is, for all aspects of their life: health, physical and mental wellbeing, anti- ageing and quality of life. Strength training is also known as resistance training or lifting weights, and in this article the terms will be used interchangeably.

I have been enjoying the benefits of lifting weights for 30 years now. For this reason, I am a big advocate of lifting weights and I want to help other women enjoy these benefits too. I will do my best to convince you to start strength training, the soonest.

The biggest myth about women who lift weights

There are many factors that scare women off from lifting weights and help them make excuses and avoid this type of training.

The most common myth is that women who lift weights will grow big muscles and look like men, or like competitive bodybuilders. The word bodybuilder is in general a bit misunderstood. Everyone who is trying to tone up and gain some muscle is a bodybuilder to some degree. If you are trying to shape your body, you are a bodybuilder too. A petite bodybuilder.

What most women don’t know is that female competitive bodybuilders, who sometimes lose their femininity, have dedicated their life to achieving a specific look they’re after. They put in many hours of training almost daily; they use extreme dieting methods; they lift very heavy weights; they go through many years or decades of lifestyle sacrifices and if they’re still struggling to achieve their ideal look, they might use steroids.

Getting so big and ripped that you lose your femininity is far from easy. It can only come as a result of deliberate and consistent actions towards a specific goal.

I hope you understand that the goals of these women are on a different level than the average woman’s goal who wants to look like a Baywatch model or like Xena the warrior princess. Even building this type of physique can be difficult for many women.

Now that we got that straight that you will not become Hulk, let’s see why all women should be lifting weights, and why you should start NOW.

8 Reasons Why Women Should Do Strength Training

Let’s start counting! I will start with the reasons that are the most appealing to the majority.

Strongwoman Abbey Stockton performing one hand shoulder press with a heavy dumbbell. — **1940s strongwoman Abbye Stockton**

1. You will look thinner.

Most women have a problem staying thin. When you lift weights, you get stronger and you gain muscle mass. Muscle tissue is more dense than fat tissue, meaning that muscle takes up less space. The fit, trained, athletic version of you at X weight will be slimmer and look more slender than the untrained, flabby version of you at the same X weight. A slimmer you, means sizing down in clothes.

Resistance training, combined with a balanced, healthy diet tailored to you, will also burn fat. In summary, you will end up with more defined, feminine curves and less flab. It sounds good.
2. You can enjoy more food.

Strength training increases your metabolism. Not only do you burn many calories during the workout, but your metabolism will stay elevated for the next 24 hours following your training session. When you do cardio, you burn some calories during your session, but this is where it ends. There’s no after-effect on your metabolism.

Maintaining muscle tissue requires more energy than maintaining adipose tissue (fat). Progressively, as you gain muscle mass and lose fat, your body composition changes. You will need more energy to maintain your weight and this translates to more food.

As we age and enter perimenopause, our metabolism drops because of hormonal changes, and as a result, we gain weight. It is obvious how important it is to have some extra muscle mass and do your strength workouts regularly. You will still be able to enjoy delicious food and maintain a healthy body weight.
3. Strong is the new sexy.

Lifting weights increases your charm! Not only because you are overall in better shape and your body has better symmetry. Strength builds self-esteem, confidence, improves your body image, and increases your vitality. You walk taller and with purpose. It improves your social status. You look healthy and you are full of energy.

If you are the skinny type, and you combine resistance training with the right diet plan, you will build a slender, athletic body. If you are the skinny fat type, you will also build a toned, firm body with less saggy skin. If you play a sport, for fun or as an amateur, resistance training will help you perform better, stay injury free and active in your sport longer in life.

Men love a feminine, toned body. It also gives them a signal that we take care of ourselves and we are not the lazy couch potato type. Now you could argue that men can also be couch potatoes. True. But you do it first for yourself and not to please anyone else. The fact that you also become more attractive to men comes second.
4. You will build strong bones.

Women have a smaller and thinner skeleton than men. After the age of 30, bone density starts declining and as we enter perimenopause and estrogen levels drop, our bone density reduces even further and faster. When we do strength training, our bones also get stronger, not only our muscles. Stronger bones means reduced possibility of bone fractures and injuries.

Having a low body weight also makes us more prone to osteoporosis. You may have heard before that astronauts can develop osteoporosis because of the lack of gravity in space. This does not mean that you have to become obese to maintain bone density. You can maintain bone density by lifting weights or doing high-impact exercise, like running or jumping rope. High-impact exercise, though, is not for everyone, especially as we age, so lifting weights is the perfect solution.

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5. Lifting weights delays ageing.

As we age, we lose muscle and bone density. Our body changes, we look shorter, softer, our muscles and joints become stiffer. Having some extra muscle mass helps to maintain firmness and reduce saggy skin.

Most people live sedentary lives, at work and at home. They habitually hunch their back and drop their head and shoulders forward. Crossing the legs when we sit for long hours can lead to imbalances in the hip area. Leaning on the desk can cause shoulder pain and lumbar spine disorders.

All these bad habits that we develop over time can have long-term side effects. Body posture can change permanently for the worse. Muscle and joint pain can become permanent. It’s not uncommon for even young people in their 20s and 30s to develop such problems.

Strength training improves body posture and corrects many imbalances caused by an inactive lifestyle. Also, it helps to maintain our joint mobility. Even more so with aging, maintaining our mobility, physical fitness and independence are priceless.
6. Better mental health.

Strength training improves psychological wellbeing and cognitive health. It can help you recover from depression, release stress, anger, disappointment, and many other negative emotions. If you had a bad day, lift weights.

The increased confidence can help you become more assertive. Lifting weights and staying committed to your fitness and diet plan, exercises your ‘discipline muscles’ and can increase your determination to reach any goal.
7. More health benefits.

Strength training increases insulin sensitivity and regulates glucose levels. As a result, it decreases the risk of developing diabetes. It improves sleep quality. Better sleep improves cognitive functions and mental health. Additionally, our body repairs muscle tissue when we sleep.

It reduces the likelihood of injuries as it strengthens our muscles, bones, ligaments and connective tissue. It increases mobility and the range of motion of joints. It also improves cardiovascular function. Finally, it shows that it helps maintain cognitive functions in older adults. Exercise is medicine.
8. Better quality of life.

Because of all the positive effects that strength training has on our physical and mental wellbeing, we experience an enhanced quality of life.

Quality of life starts declining fast after the age of 40, if not earlier. Most of us would love to stay young and healthy for as long as possible, for many reasons. We want to enjoy more quality time with our loved ones. To be able to do our shopping and our chores. To maintain mobility and good hygiene at an older age. To be able to do things for ourselves. To enjoy that pension we worked so hard for! The last one sounds funny, maybe, but it’s true. Who wants to spend their pension years forgotten in a care home? Nobody.

Can you lose weight by only lifting weights?

If you want to lose weight, strength training will help you reach your goal in many ways. By burning calories during your workout, by increasing your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), by helping you build muscle mass which requires more energy to repair, maintain or build, and by increasing your confidence. Your enhanced mood and confidence will also increase your drive and your commitment to your weight loss plan.

A fit woman doing barbell deadlifts at the gym. — **The deadlift is one of the best exercises to build strength, gain muscle and boost your metabolism**

Following a balanced, healthy diet high in protein and planning your meals to support your workouts will help you gain muscle and lose fat. We won’t offer a generic range of macronutrients here, as it would be inaccurate. Each person has different needs and goals. But you will need to eat a good amount of protein in order to repair, maintain and build muscle and support your weight loss goals. Protein is essential. For an introduction to exercise nutrition, check out our article The Best Food Choices to Reach your Fitness Goals.

The key to losing weight is to create a caloric deficit via exercise, restriction of calories, or a combination of the two. It all depends on how much weight you want to lose and how fast. Although exercising with weights exclusively will have the best results in the long term, and you will be able to see changes in your body quite soon, the actual weight loss will be slower. Your strength will be increasing faster and your body composition will be changing faster. But not seeing the number on the scale reducing fast enough can get many of you worried and stressed.

Doing exclusive strength training for weight loss is for those who want to lose a small amount of weight – let’s say up to 5kg – and who have the support and the patience to do it. Also, younger women in their 20s can get away easier with doing only strength training as their metabolism is still high. So what happens if you want to shed a lot of weight or you are not still in your 20s?

Creating an additional, moderate, caloric deficit by eating less food will accelerate the weight loss process. Adding a few low impact cardio sessions per week will accelerate the process even more. There are many different methods to stimulate fat loss with strength training.

Keep in mind that high-intensity cardio, or long and frequent cardio sessions, are not a good match for strength training. They will leave you drained and will hinder your efforts to build strength and gain muscle. Overtraining is one of your worst enemies when you try to lose weight for good. The release of catabolic hormones has a negative impact on your physical and mental health. If you want a toned, firm body with feminine curves, strength training combined with a balanced nutrition plan and adequate rest should be your priority.

Is it too late to start strength training?

It is never too late to start lifting weights. You can increase your strength and build muscle at any age. As we age, our hormone levels drop and it is true that we don’t have the potential of a teenager or of a young woman in her early 20s. But it is also very unlikely that we want to begin a career in competitive sports at an older age. Nonetheless, there are people in their 40s and beyond, who compete in strength, power, physique competitions and sports. It is definitely doable. You don’t have to be competitive, though, to enjoy the benefits of strength training.

The reason most women should start strength training, is to enjoy all the benefits we mentioned already. To achieve this, a fitness and nutrition plan, tailored for your age, overall health and goals, is essential. Ideally, have a personal trainer design a program just for you.

There is no magic pill that will make you strong, fit and sexy by doing nothing. You put in the work and start enjoying the results. Your strength will increase fast and your body will start changing day by day. Your confidence and energy will increase. You will see your body changing, you will feel your muscles becoming more defined and fuller, and you will love it. When I say “fuller” don’t misunderstand me, I mean small and feminine muscles. As you gain experience with strength training, you will understand what I mean by fuller muscles. The opposite term is ‘flat muscles’.

What happens if you stop lifting weights?

When you have reached your goal, and you have sculpted the toned, firm, feminine body of your dreams, you will have to do some maintenance work. Maintenance work is easier than growth work.

When you quit lifting weights, your muscles gradually atrophy, and start shrinking. Your skin may start looking less firm because you will have less muscle to fill in any loose skin and hold everything in place. Similarly, if you quit yoga, stretching, Pilates or any other activity, the results will be reversed. The problem is that if you stop strength training, there is much more to lose.

Everything in life needs some maintenance to keep working. Your relationships, your house, your car, etc. The same goes for your body.

Conclusion

I hope it is clear by now how beneficial strength training can be for the health and wellbeing of women. All physical exercise is at some level beneficial for our health – except for those suffering from certain chronic conditions. But not every type of exercise offers all the benefits of strength training; it is the best long-term investment for your health, fitness and quality of life. Now get up, take action and become that healthy, strong, fit, and empowered you!