Embracing weight training for women: why it is important?
Do you know what is weight training? Yes, it is an important part of training that helps one build muscles and also make them strong. It involves lifting weights and other exercises as well. This has largely been perceived to be a thing of men only with women entertaining the idea that they might be a female version of the hulk. However, weight training for women is important with many benefits. This article delves into this aspect and proves why women should embrace weight training.
What are the benefits of weight training for women?
Contrary to the idea that weight training makes women bulky, it offers a very wide range of benefits that each and every woman should have. Some of the benefits include:
● Building and maintaining lean muscle mass
As one becomes older, their muscles naturally begin to reduce in mass. To counter this, women may decide to go for weight training. This training will increase muscle mass & improving metabolism. This ensures that they maintain a healthy body.
● Strengthens Bones
Again, as women age, their hormones begin to drafty change. Especially estrogen which has a role in strong bones. Strength training can help ensure that bones remain as strong therefore reduce cases of osteoporosis and the complications that comes with it.
● Role in mental health
Aside from the physical benefits of weight training for women, research has consistently shown the role of lifting weights in improving mental well-being of women. The changes in hormones as women get older are at times associated with changes in odds which affect mental health. With strength training, women get to be more confident and their overall mental health improves significantly.
Debunking the myths about strength training for women
Many people think that weight training for women is not good. In truth, as seen above, this training does help in reality. It has been thought that weight training for women will make them masculine. This is not true and it has been propagated by people who do not know the science behind muscle growth.
● The science of muscle growth
Muscle growth is termed as hypertrophy. This happens when muscles are repaired after having been damaged through lifting weights. It is a complex process that involves protein synthesis with a host of enzymes and coenzymes. The end result of course is the increase in muscle mass. Weight training thus provides the much needed stimulus to help them grow.
● Why strength training for women does not make them bulky
While strength training has an effect on muscle growth, it does not always give women a muscling look. This is because women have much lower testosterone levels to cause the bulky nature of muscle growth as seen in men. Also, muscle growth is not just a function of strength training alone but also takes into consideration other factors such as diet hormonal balance.
A guide on appropriate training program
Having a good training program is key to reaping the benefits of it. This can be very tough especially for beginners who want to start lifting weights. To ensure that you succeed, here is a simple guideline that one can follow:
● Identify the goals that you need to achieve
Do you want to boost muscle density or just your fitness levels? This is an important step and includes determining your fitness level.
● Identify the Right Exercises
Weight training for women has a lot of Exercises and not all are meant to be used. Depending on your goals, you can choose the right exercises. Consult with an expert to get to know exact details.
Once you have everything set, you can begin your training and get the benefits as well as debunk the myths about weight training for women.
The vital Role of Strength Training for Women During Menopause
Do you know the end of a woman's reproductive life is called Menopause? Yes, it can be a difficult time for some women because it involves hormonal changes often with negative effects. To counteract these negative effects, strength training can come in handy. Strength Training is particularly important when it comes to maintaining muscle density, preventing osteoporosis, balancing hormones, among other benefits. This article highlights the importance of strength training for menopause women’s.
Why is strength training crucial?
During Menopause, women experience a decline in two important hormones, estrogen and progesterone. These leads to various symptoms producing brought hormone, such as hot flashes, weight gain and mood swings. These changes may bear down on the daily routine of women necessitating measures to help alleviate them. Other hormones that get altered in women during this period include the growth hormone and even cortisol. These too bring about negative effects which may affect the life of any woman during Menopause.
One way of alleviating such symptoms is through strength training. Strength training, otherwise known as resistance training, is defined as any form of training where movements or equipment come into play to help build muscle mass, strength as well as endurance. What are the benefits from it? Strength Training has been shown to:
● Help build strong bones hence reducing instances of fractures and associated complications.
● Reduce weight
● Help in managing chronic diseases such as arthritis and backpack.
● Enhance overall quality of life through enhancing density of muscles.
Strength training and increasing bone density
With an imbalance in estrogen and progesterone hormones during Menopause, bone density tends to reduce and eventually, osteoporosis sets in. Strength training has been shown to directly be involved in increasing bone density and hence reduce the risk of osteoporosis and associated complications. Exercises such as push-ups and using equipment such as dumbbells help put stress on the bones and this stimulates production of new bone tissue.
Strength training and Balancing hormones
Problems during Menopause are majorly due to an imbalance in hormones. Some of the hormones implicated include growth hormone and cortisol. Regular strength training can increase the growth hormone which will improve not only bone density but also muscle density. Also, the exercises may help regulate cortisol which when produced in excess will have negative impacts on the body. It can also help in balancing the hormones estrogen and progesterone with almost similar effects.
Increasing muscle density
Apart from bones, muscles also suffer during the drastic changes that occur in Menopause. Strength training is a good way to improve overall health and function through increasing muscle density. Muscle density is crucial especially when it comes to daily activities since without muscle density, walking and even climbing stairs becomes retarded. It is therefore important that strength training either through lifting weights or using equipment such as dumbbells be part of any woman during Menopause.
Designing Strength Training program
The importance of strength training for menopause women cannot be overemphasized. To succeed and have a smooth life during Menopause however requires that one comes up with a program that is effective. The principles of a good resistance training program include:
● having the right exercises
● Optimizing how often one works out mainly through trial and error
● Managing to get the right intensity by adjusting the strength accordingly.
While many women think that strength training is not effective, evidence has shown beyond doubt that strength training plays a very big role in alleviating some if not all the negative effects that come with Menopause. It is therefore important that one designs a good strength training program that will ensure that they get the best out of the training