Why Women Should Strength Train
Whether it’s using body weight or dumbbells, strength training could make all the difference for women. There are many elements to strength training, also called resistance training or sometimes weight-lifting, but it essentially comes down to using your body weight against you or adding some basic weights to your workout routine.
HOW IS STRENGTH TRAINING FOR WOMEN DIFFERENT?
Strength training for women is exactly the same as strength training for men. It involves using your own body weight, dumbbells and other weights or trying resistance band workouts to build muscle mass, strength and endurance. As a personal trainer, and having trained hundreds of clients to date, I think it’s important to seek professional guidance at the beginning, such as a certified personal trainer who can help you with the basics. However, there are some strength training programs you can do at home with the help of one of the best online workout options, like my virtual training here.
I am serious about taking good care of my skin and weekly, I get asked what my skincare routine looks like.
If you want a personalized skincare recommendation, fill out my skincare questionnaire, and I’ll email you back, or you can email at angie@angiebloom.com. I know the Beautycounter skincare and makeup lines best, but if I think products from other brands will work well for you, I’ll share those too - I like to keep it real here over at Angiebloom.com and if there are other products that would be a better fit for you, you better believe I will share that with you!.
Be sure to join my newsletter to get skincare and makeup tips emailed to you, plus, I’ll send you a code to save 20% off. And I always notify you first when there is a sale or promo happening with any of my favorite brands – click here to sign up!
To see all my beauty-related blog posts and product reviews, click here.
To join my Beautycounter Facebook group where I share product updates, tips and promos, click here. Feel free to post questions in there too – lots of people will share their experience!
If you’re interested in becoming a consultant, learn more here. We’d love to have you as part of our team.
One of the biggest things I’ve heard from female clients is that lifting weights will make them look bulky. Despite how many articles or interviews counteract that fact, the myth continues to prevail. Strength work that a typical woman does is not enough to cause bulky, “manly” muscles. We simply aren’t built for it and don’t have the testosterone required to build muscle the way that men do. I do think the perception of strong female bodies is changing, but many women I know are still wary of picking up heavier weights. I highly recommend doing so!
STRENGTH TRAINING FOR WOMEN
What strength training does do for women is improving athletic performance, increase metabolism, and build confidence. The more muscle a woman has, the faster her metabolism is. This means that even during sedentary activities like working at a desk or relaxing on the couch, women with more muscle burn more calories than women with less. Isn’t that enough reason to start hitting the weights?!
STRENGTH TRAINING FOR LONGEVITY
One of the most overlooked reasons why women should strength train is that it is extremely beneficial as we age. Most of us aren’t looking that far into the future when we pick up a dumbbell, but increasing your lean muscle actually helps ward off degenerative conditions such as osteoporosis later in life. Increased muscle mass helps protect our bones as we age and make us less susceptible to falls and breaks.
Strength Training Affects Your Life Positively
Lift weights and helps you get stronger, and you’ll be surprised at how much easier your daily tasks become. Pay attention to your energy levels, the quality of your sleep, and how effortlessly you can play with your kids and carry every grocery bag into the house in a single trip. Strengthening your body makes everything better! You’ll soon start to experience this!
Strength Training Builds You Up Both, Mentally & Physically
Lifting weights makes you a better version of yourself. Period! It’s something you do to build yourself up, not tear yourself down. If you’re looking for a way to chill out and relieve some stress and anxiety, try lifting weights! Fitness is not punishment for overindulging, missing a week of workouts, or for any other negative reason. If you get off track, see how soon you can recalibrate. Make this the fun part, how quickly can you recalibrate? Strength training is an amazing tool that allows you to become the best version of yourself in many incredible ways.
Healthier Bones and Joints
Women who don’t exercise can lose anywhere from 3 to 8% of their muscle mass each decade as a result of inactivity. Studies show that doing strength training can promote bone development, reduce lower back pain, and reverse several skeletal muscle aging factors.
Strength training is not only good for your muscles, it can help ease the pain in your joints and with aiding in prevention of bone loss.
Improved Body Image
We all want to feel good in our skin. So, perhaps one of the biggest benefits of resistance training is that it can also help you feel better about yourself.
How Many Resistance Workouts Do You Need A Week
Typically, the recommended amount is 2-4 or more days per week of total body resistance training workouts that work all major muscle groups alternating between the lower body (legs, hips, back, abdomen) and upper body (chest, shoulders, and arms) for all adults.
STRENGTH TRAINING VS CARDIO
A common misconception for women concerning workouts is that they should focus more on cardio in order to lose weight. Honestly, this couldn’t be further from the truth! While cardio is important for heart health and metabolic conditioning, too much can actually cause muscle loss as the body starts to use muscle as a source of fuel. When you add in strength training, it not only helps retain and build that muscle, but also burns fat at a quicker rate than cardio alone. If you’re working with limited time during a workout, the priority should be on strength training over hopping on a treadmill for 20 minutes. Working on improving your strength also tends to produce results quicker than excessive cardio, typically leading to visible differences within a few weeks.
Do I need a Gym Membership and/or Dumbbells
You don’t always need to have a full set of dumbbells to strength train. Using your own body weight as resistance is another way to help increase muscle and improve strength. Workouts done at home or outside that incorporate movements such as push-ups, squats, pull-ups, tricep dips, hip extensions, single leg squats, and anything that stresses muscle groups with added resistance will help develop strength and muscle tone.
Here is a demonstration of little to no equipment for a full body workout in the comfort of your very own home.
The typical recommendation for building muscle is to complete three to four sets of eight to 12 reps of an exercise. If you choose a heavier weight and do fewer repetitions (e.g., 3 to 6), you're more likely to gain muscle strength, while lighter weights and higher repetitions lead to gains in muscle endurance.
WHAT ARE REPS AND SETS?
Reps is short for repetitions, meaning the number of times you do a certain exercise.
Sets refer to the number of times you do a specific amount of reps.
So if you are going to do 10 reps and 3 sets of an exercise, that means you'll do the exercise 10 times, rest, and then repeat those 10 reps two more times for a total of 3 rounds. You'll have done the exercise a total of 30 times: 1 set of 10, a second set of 10 and a third set of 10.
Reps and Sets for muscle size (Hypertrophy) 3 to 6 sets of 6 to 12 reps
Hypertrophy, or muscle size, is different from strength in that it is more focused on building the size of the muscle.
Reps and Sets for Muscular Endurance - 2 to 3 sets of 12 or more reps
Muscular endurance is all about being able to sustain an activity or movement over a long period of time. It's important for sports like running or cycling, where your muscles need to repeatedly exert force to sustain you over many miles.
Reps and Sets for Muscular Power - 3 to 5 sets of 1 to 5 reps
Muscular power is the ability to produce a large amount of force in a short period of time. Think: power cleans and box jumps. Anything that involves doing a high-intensity movement quickly.
Some of my Favorite Post:
