Ladies, listen…
Lifting weights is great for you.
It’s great in general, but it’s especially great for you. Want to know how I know?
Because lifting weights is great. That’s how I know.
Too many women are afraid of lifting weights. They’re afraid they’ll gain “too much muscle” and won’t lose enough fat.
Well, they’re wrong.
You’re wrong.
Here are 7 undeniable reasons why weight lifting is an amazing workout for women.
Related: 8 Easy Tricks To Get Started And Stick With Exercising
You Become More Flexible
This one is actually true – and amazing. Researchers from the University of North Dakota found that working out with weights helps your flexibility JUST AS MUCH as a typical stretching session.
In other words, do you want to just do some stretches, or do you want to do some stretches WHILE YOU BURN BELLY FAT AND GET LEANER?
Yeah. That’s what I thought.
It Makes Your Body Burn More Calories
Look, let’s get one thing out of the way right now: your body is always burning calories.
It burns calories to survive. If it didn’t have any calories to burn, you’d shut down and starve. Duh.
But the amount of calories your body burns to keep itself going is variable.
In fact, if you have more muscle compared to fat, your body will burn more calories while you’re sitting around doing nothing than if you didn’t have the muscle.
That’s called boosting your metabolism.
So lift some weights, put on muscle, and burn fat while you sit around the house doing nothing. Sounds like a winning plan to me.
More: 8 Killer Ways To Speed Up Your Metabolism
It Makes Your Bones Stronger
Bones. Bones are important.
If you didn’t have any bones, imagine where you’d be… In a gelatinous pile on the floor, that’s where!
Bones are important. And for women, strengthening them is even more important, due to the risks of osteoporosis.
When you lift weights, you’re strengthening your muscles, but you’re also strengthening your bones, making them more dense and resilient.
More benefits for weight training. Awesome.
No More Joint Pain
Joint pain sucks. It sucks to have creaky knees when you’re getting out of bed. It sucks to tweak your back when you’re bending over to pick something up.
It sucks. It really does.
That’s another reason why weight training is awesome. It actually relieves joint pain!
Weight training works to strengthen your joints – which makes straining them much less likely. Awesome.
You Lose Tons Of Fat
Not that I’m saying you had tons of fat to begin with.
But the treadmill just ain’t getting it done anymore.
A new study published in Obesity demonstrated that lifting weights and strength training is better for people who are trying to lose belly fat than cardio.
In other words, want to lose the belly fat? Pick up the weights.
Your Size Will Go Down
So many women don’t want to do any strength training because they don’t lose as much weight. They think, “Oh, I only lost 5 pounds, that’s not enough, this isn’t working.”
They’re wrong.
In that scenario, they might have actually lost 20 pounds of fat – and replaced it with 15 pounds of muscle.
And since muscle is much denser than fat, they’ve slimmed down a lot. Like, a few dress sizes a lot.
So don’t be fooled by how much weight you’ve “gained” or “lost”. Instead, look at your size going down, and smile.
Plus, if you’re looking for rapid weight loss – why don’t you try our plan for Losing 5 Pounds In A Week?
You’ll Make Your Heart Healthier
This one is a benefit that should appeal to both sexes, but I put it in here anyway because men don’t need any more encouragement to lift weights, but women do!
An Appalachian State University study found that people who did 45 minutes of strength training lowered their blood pressure by 20%
20%! That’s a lot! Holy crap!
So just do it. Your body, belly, dress size, and yes, heart, will thank you later.
If you loved this article, then check out these other must-see related posts:
The Best Workouts For Your Body Type
The 5 Best Strength Moves for Weight Loss
In summary…
The Best Strength Training Benefits For Women
- You Become More Flexible
- It Makes Your Body Burn More Calories
- It Makes Your Bones Stronger
- >No More Joint Pain
- You Lose Tons Of Fat
- Your Size Will Go Down
- You’ll Make Your Heart Healthier
At last some raoiinaltty in our little debate.
Stellar work there evreyone. I’ll keep on reading.
I typically like a good cardio workout, but after reading this, I am going to add some of these to my daily routine. You cannot argue with results, right?
Drop a dress size, get a healthy heart AND flexible joints? Why haven’t I done this before?
Overall health is a great reason as well! I personally do the exercises so that I am more flexible and to avoid injury doing for workouts. Good list!
Getting that strength training in is a big deal for sure, but doing so will also help your heart, also a great thing!
I have not been able to get into strength training yet, because of an injury, but when I am able, I am going to be so excited to get these benefits.
I have been working out with weights for a few months now and I cannot believe how much weight I have lost. For the most part, my diet has not changed, but working out and getting my muscles toned has really helped!
Has anyone else experienced this?
My heart rate goes up. When that happens, I feel great and I am burning calories like a mad person. That is why I do the strength training!
I am all for being more flexible. If I can exercise and that makes my joints feel better, that is another bonus for sure!
Strength training has become so hard for me to do since I wrecked my knee. However, I can see the benefits of adding it to my normal routine!
My size going down is enough reason for me to give it a go with these!
I was going to say the same thing. That is the one main thing that caught my attention about this post. Good luck!
I have to agree with these exercises. They are ALL great and can only do good for your body as long as you are not getting injured while doing them!
As a trainer, I would suggest these at any time during your workout routine. Getting more flexible is not ever going to hurt and any time that you can build elasticity into your body, the better off you are going to be.
I train in this way and I ALWAYS feel great! My core, joints, muscles all feel great when I run through a routine like this. I have also lost a ton of weight over the last year!
Getting my heart healthier is enough of a reason for me to strength train. I prefer to do an all around routine, but I will start to focus on strength moving forward.
I have not been able to workout for the last few weeks because I am sick and it is driving me nuts. The best benefit to doing the strength training is that it does burn the fat right off your body. Build the muscles so they eat the fat, easy as that!
I put my heart into my workout and I love to know that my strength is going to be getting a workout when I do these exercises! Thanks!
Working on strength training is hard to get into, but once you start to condition your muscles, you will feel much better! These benefits are just the beginning!
If I am going to get stronger bones and better joints that are flexible, I am all over that strength training. These seem pretty easy to do.
You are right about that. The ease comes through repetition and routine. Stay on track and you will see the benefits in a matter of weeks. Good luck!
Being a physical trainer for woman really opened my eyes about how they can build serious muscle. Keep up on your routine and you should be good to go for bikini season.
When I started to get serious about strength training, I noticed that my body was more flexible and that I was trying less to do what most would consider “normal” activities. It was a great feeling!
Having less joint pain would be so nice right now. I have been dealing with sore knees for sometime and if all it takes is a little strength training to get the benefits for my joints, I will do that!
CrossFit has brought so many more people into the weight lifting game and that includes women. I think there is always going to be a benefit to strength training and when it comes to getting more healthy, it helps!
I would say that the weight control and bone strength are some very good reasons to do some training when it comes to women.
Burning calories, more flexible and becoming less prone to injury are the reasons that I strength train.