Being a woman, it was often a daunting task to walk into the weight room of the gym and stand next to a bunch of guys curling hundreds of pounds of iron. It was seen as the macho guys room and the women belonged in the aerobics room with their fancy leotards.
It was a misconception that women had where they believed that if they started pumping iron with the guys in the weight room that soon they would start to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Luckily for women, times have drastically changed for the better. Female celebrities like Brooke Shields, Sheryl Crow and Kelly Ripa have helped change the way we see weight training for women. Their arm muscles in particular are so defined and sculpted that women now try to emulate them.
Weight training for women will not bulk you up for a few reasons. You certainly could increase your muscle size if you were to spend 5 hours a day in the gym pumping very high weights. Even women bodybuilders are not huge; they are just ripped to the hills.
A good goal to shoot for when starting a weight training program for women is to be able to do 15 repetitions of an exercise such as arm curls and have the muscle becoming tired toward the end of the rep. Increase the weight if the muscle is not being challenged. After 3 sets of the exercise the muscle should be highly fatigued.
Not only will weight training provide you with a sleek and toned body but there are significant health benefits to adding weights to your fitness routine. Weight training will leave your muscles in a high calorie fat burning mode for hours after your workout is complete which helps you maintain a healthy weight. It also builds stronger bones which will help you to stave off osteoporosis later in life.
Whichever way you choose to start weight training, whether at home or at the gym, will benefit you for years to come.
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