It's hard to believe, but even in the age of Crossfit obsession and with ALL the research and knowledge out there on the benefits and overall necessity of weightlifting, women STILL avoid lifting, especially lifting heavy.
Based on what we hear, see, and read, it seems like there are a couple of factors at play here. One is that women, more so than men, are obsessed with burning calories. It's all about how high I can get the "Calories Burned" number on the treadmill or elliptical. What they don't realize is that while cardio can give you a high calorie burn, when you build muscle, you burn 24/7 instead of just during your workout. Also, people who do chronic cardio (what we fondly call cardio whores) end up not just burning calories, but burning already limited muscle mass as well. Bad News Bears.
More "reasoning" we get from women is that they don't want to lift too often or too heavy because they don't want to bulk up, they just want the lean, toned look. We debunk your reasoning here with simple genetics. Men have lots of testosterone, thus when they lift heavy things, they get big, beautiful muscles. Women, however, have very little testosterone, thus when they lift heavy things, their figures get leaner, and tighter. Trust that the only way you'll "bulk up" or get huge from weightlifting is from eating too much simultaneously....or taking hormones. Plus, your purse probably weighs at least 10 pounds, and that toddler you're toting around is a good 25 - so please, stop with the 2 to 5 pound weights.
Look - you like to run? No problem. Love Zumba or TurboFire? Fantastic. We aren't saying don't do these things. What we are saying is that cardio should not be your only means of working out, ladies. You have got to weight-train. It keeps your body fat percentage in check, supports a healthy metabolism, helps you fight injury and illness, helps support good bone density, and damn it, you just look better with muscle!!
Still not convinced?? Here's how being intentional with weightlifting and building muscle changed Lindsay's physique:
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| Too much cardio |
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| After 1 year of regular, heavy lifting |
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| After 2 years of weightlifting! |
As always, we'd love to hear from you! Feel free to leave your feedback in the comments below, on our Facebook page, tweet us, or message us on YouTube!
In Health,
Timothy and Lindsay
This post inspired me and I starting lifting weights this morning.... but I couldn't do heavy... how do you know where to start?? Usually I do 5lb dumbbells for curls and such (wimpy wimpy wimpy)- but today I used the bar for chest presses and such, but I could still only do 30lbs. And I still couldn't curl more than 10lb dumbbells if I wanted to get 8-12 reps. So this is more than I usually do... but still not heavy. What is a good starting weight for "lifting heavy"
ReplyDeleteHi Brittney! Excellent question - 10 lbs for 8-12 reps on arms is a great place to start. You should find that with weightlifting regularly, within a week or two, that'll be too light and you'll need to bump it up. 30 lbs on a chest press is already impressive, and just like with your curls, the more you regularly lift weights, the more you'll have to keep going heavier and heavier. It is also helpful to switch your rep ranges to keep your muscles guessing - so on some days, go as heavy as you need to only be able to eek out 6 reps (or less). You want to work your muscles to failure, so whenever a weight gets too easy, on to the next one!! :)
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