I’m sure you’d agree with me that the most underused part of any woman’s gym membership is strength training. Time and time again I’ve seen women come into the gym to spend hours on the cardio machines, perform other body workouts, but don’t go anywhere near the weights.
I know fitness has a very broad meaning and encompasses improved health, enhanced looks, and feeling better about yourself, but as a woman advances in age, her body undergoes more stress compared to a man’s body of similar age. From childbearing to hormonal changes during menopause, women who are over forty begin to lose bone density and muscle mass.
The benefits that strength training offers to a woman are numerous. From helping her regain bone density and muscular strength to helping to tone her muscles, making her slimmer and shapelier, lowering blood pressure, lowering cholesterol levels, and helping with joint stability/ flexibility, strength training helps to restore youthfulness in the lives of older women who tend to practice it.
Typical strength training programs for older women will include the use of leg weights and adjustable free hand weights. It is normally advised for one to start with the lightweights first (say 1 to 3 kilograms in each ankle cuff and 1 to 2 kilograms of dumbbells), before gradually increasing the intensity of the weights and duration of the strength training.
One great way to make the most of your strength training sessions is to do some cardio exercise immediately after a strength training workout. This is because you’ve succeeded in kick-starting the metabolism that will help you burn more calories during the cardio session. Secondly, you most likely would have depleted your carbohydrate stores during your strength session, leaving you with only your fat stores to burn through the rest of the workout.
Benefits of strength training
- Increased metabolism. The first major benefit women can derive from strength training is that it increases metabolic rate by up to 15% and this is essential for body fat loss and long-term weight control. Without engaging in the right type and amount of exercise women tend to lose about 5 percent of their metabolic rate every decade. This causes the woman to have less energy, vitality, and less desire to be active. Increasing your exercise and activity level tells the cells in every part of your body to grow while sitting around and living a sedentary lifestyle tells the cells in the body to wind down quickly. An increased metabolism allows us to burn calories more quickly, helping us to lose weight in the process.
- Improved bodily strength. Another major benefit of strength training is that it helps to keep women young and energetic. Strength training helps to increase bone density, thereby decreasing the risk of mature women contracting osteoporosis which is a health condition that makes the body not replace bone tissues as fast as it absorbs them, thereby making the bones weaker and more fragile. This disease is especially prevalent among older women.
- Maintain bodily functioning. Strength training helps to improve bodily balance, flexibility as well as maintain the body’s functionality as it ages. This means that we are less likely to trip and fall off as we get older. Strength training also helps to decrease our risk of contracting coronary disease and also helps to decrease the body’s cholesterol and blood pressure levels.
- Weight Loss. Strength training is very important in any weight loss program. A good strength training session will help you to burn more calories than similar time spent in a cardio session. Even beyond your sessions, strength training helps your muscles to continue to burn calories long after your sessions are over. That’s why sometimes, you feel parts of your body like your hands or legs aching you a day or two after you have engaged in some serious strength training sessions. This simply means that you’re still burning calories even while you’re not actively engaged in the exercise.
- Leaner, stronger muscles, and improved bodily posture. Who would not like to get into better shape and with stronger muscles; strength training helps you to achieve all that. Women especially love this benefit because this means they not only get to look younger and feel better, they also get to improve their body shape and posture which helps you feel better about yourself and increases your level of confidence.
The time you spend in a week working to improve your health and fitness in the form of strength training will benefit you in more numerous ways than you can imagine. At first, it may seem like a long way off, but when good habits are formed, they tend to stick with you for long, and then it no longer feels like work.
Tap into the additional benefits of strength training in order to look and feel your best
Don’t settle for less with your workouts, get the full fitness package while you’re at it
With Love and gratitude as always, Xo!
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Disclaimer: Please note that I am not your doctor while I am a health coach by profession. This article is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice nor does it establish any kind of medical relationship between you and me. I will not be held liable for any damage resulting from or related to your use of this information.