Girl power – why should girls train with weights?
Why is it useful for ladies to develop their muscles? Power training can help you increase the pure muscle mass of your body, boost your general stamina and reach a slender shape much more easily. If the mere aesthetic reasons didn’t convince you, continue reading. You might find some arguments that will convince you that weight-lifting is really good, after all!
The lesser known effects of weight exercises
This kind of exercise improves bone density and helps prevent osteoporosis (bone hardness or loss), osteopenia (decreased bone mass) and sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass). Studies have shown that in addition to a healthy diet, regular weight training (2–3 times a week) improves the bone mass by stimulating bone growth and helping the retention of calcium. Walking, climbing stairs and running are very useful forms of exercise in this respect.
Your metabolic processes do not necessarily have to slow down as you age. But you should know that a sedentary lifestyle above 40 years of age could slow down the metabolism on average by 5% every 10 years. This can be prevented with endurance training that will also avert muscle loss.
Endurance training that is adequately compiled (e.g. for ideal weight) improve stature and balance, but could be also useful in pelvic and incontinence treatments. (Unfortunately, nowadays it is not only older people who are affected by these problems.) Impact sports (such as running) should be avoided. Instead, you should do focussed weight exercises that strengthen the core and include blocks that strengthen the perineal and pelvic muscles.
These exercises also improve insulin resistance – especially if you are suffering from PCOS – and help to keep your blood pressure within the normal range. Compared with other sports weight lifting stimulates the insulin resistance of cells to a lesser extent! I also recommend to take food supplements with magnesium, zinc, vitamin C and cinnamon if you have this condition.
As a “side effect” you can expect your self-esteem and self-confidence to grow to such an extent that can be hardly achieved in any other way. There is nothing better than when you feel physically strong and powerful, especially when women are usually considered to be the “weaker ones”.
Weight lifting helps you get close to the image you have in your mind about yourself and will help you look in the mirror and accept your naked body.
What makes this type of training good?
Let me start by clarifying that in weight lifting it is not the heavy weights that matter, but to do exercises that will work your muscles and central nervous system in a complex manner. The latter is important because your body uses energy to handle stress generated during exercise. Especially if you are a beginner, it is enough to work with your own weight. It is very important that you could handle the weight of your own body before you start using extra (external) weights.
Your body is very powerful and can adapt to many things. If you do certain exercises it will result in an amazing transformation. And the result is amazing – during these trainings you will gradually come to see that there are lots of things you never thought you could do! Weight training does not depend on gender: it has similar effects on women as well as on men, with some extra benefits that are detailed above.
THE MYTHS AND THE REALITY REGARDING FOOD SUPPLEMENTS
PROTEIN
Idea: muscle gainer, meal replacement or both at the same time!
Reality: is not too far away! If you would like to gain (quality) mass, it is indispensable that you increase your protein intake. And how much more comfortable can it get than drinking a tasty shake instead of preparing some eggs or chicken for yourself? But if you have some extra weight on, you should take some protein after training complemented with some creatine and carbohydrate. If you happen to be very slim, a mass gainer is the obvious choice for you. During a diet it can be considered as a dessert, while it is a useful nutrient that contains little calories… maybe you can even replace a meal with it? Of course! In the morning with oatmeal, during the day with yoghurt or cottage cheese… you simply can’t get bored with it!
CREATINE
Idea: muscle power, increasing muscle mass
Reality: it is a good direction you are heading towards… it does matter what you take… there are a number of options available for taking creatine in powder or even in capsule format, but among the latter there are those that contain energising active ingredients, so you have to pay attention to how much you take of that and how. Moreover, creatine can’t be a pillar in muscle building unless you follow a proper diet and train as you should with rest times included, since this is how the product can really reveal what it is capable of.
PRE-WORKOUT FORMULAS
Expectation: to highlight the veins, give power, would work on your behalf, would pump your body fully!
Reality: energisers provide much help to those who get tired by the end of the day or go to train in the morning… but you shouldn’t expect a miracle. The right preparation is the key to success. If you are going to munch on chips, coke and hamburger all day long, don’t expect to push 200kg on the bench. It can help if you are rested, have the right kind of food in your body and then take stuff prior to training… but first it should be protein and then the energiser.
DIETARY PRODUCTS
Expectation: build muscle from fat, weight loss, fat burning
Reality: these products help in weight loss, may it be a thermogenic or lipotropic active ingredient. But this is where it applies the best: dieting starts in the kitchen.
AMINO ACID/BCAA
Expectation: shredding, cleaning
Reality: amino acids help in regeneration, and they postpone catabolic processes and they also launch the anabolic rockets. If you have all the basic food supplements already in place, then start considering the purchase of a good amino acid.
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