But I don’t want to get bulky and look like a man. I hear this so many times from women. My advice would then be, don’t drive because you will become a NASCAR driver. Seriously, the ego on these women thinking they can do something and be an automatic professional. I hope everyone can see the ridiculousness of both statements. The only way a women would look like a man is if she had surplus of testosterone in her body. The only way that could happen is through supplementation (steroids) or an endocrine disease such as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. Exercise will elevate a women’s testosterone level but without an endocrine condition, her estrogen-testosterone levels will still favor the estrogen side which would still not make you look like a man. Also, bodybuilding is a lot of work and discipline. Bodybuilding is a 24 hour job. If you aren’t spending hours in the gym and eating an extremely clean diet I think you’d be OK to lift heavy a couple of times a week. Before getting to the list of the top 9 reasons to lift heavy, I want to dispel the paradigm of lifting light weight for a lot of reps to get toned. The toned physique happens because of muscle. More muscle equals a more toned physique. In order to increase muscle you need to lift heavy. Lift a pencil and then lift a vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaner requires more muscle recruitment because it is heavier which will give you more muscle. It really isn’t any harder than that. Light weights work the slow twitch fibers of the muscle which is great for endurance work but not for a toned physique. So without further ado here are 9 reasons to go heavy in the gym ladies:
- Fat burning. Muscle needs fuel to grow and be sustained. Simply, more muscle = more fat used for fuel = more fat loss. After lifting weights your metabolism is ramped up for up to 48 hours. Cardio and light weights can’t do that.
- You can eat more. Bigger muscles require more energy to contract which means along with #1 above you will need more calories to fuel your new fancy muscles. In the scientific community they call that a win-win.
- Curves. Muscles give you curves and who doesn’t like a woman with curves? Cardio will give you that marathon shape because the weight you use during running is both fat and muscle. Heavy weight lifting will give you those desired curves.
- Take up less space. Muscle does weigh more than fat. However the amount of space 1 lb of muscle takes up is considerably less than 1 lb of fat. It’s the same as the space needed for a 16 lb bowling ball vs 16 lbs of feathers.
- Increased energy. Lifting heavy increases your body’s ability to produce energy. Think of it as your bodies energy processes being optimized which goes hand in hand with #1 and #2 above.
- Heart health. Lower body fat percentages puts less stress on your heart by lowering your blood pressure and regulating glucose and insulin levels in the body.
- Bone density. When put under stress from lifting heavy your bones adapt too. Your bone density will increase and become harder which will help for the increased risk of osteoporosis later in life. This means you might not ever say the phrase “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”
- Stress. Work, kids, spouses all cause stress. There is not a better way to relieve stress than to move around some heavy weights.
- Brain function. In addition to your body energy being optimized your brain function also becomes optimized. Studies show that weight lifting improves the cognitive function of the brain.
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Dave
