When most girls go to the gym, they tend to hit the cardio right away. This isn’t true for all girls, but from what I have seen and observed in the gym, girls are ALL about the cardio. Whether it is the elliptical, the treadmill, or the track, many girls tend to be cardio junkies. Many girls think that cardio is the best and fastest way to shed pounds. While cardio does great things for our body and is the main way to burn fat, what gets pushed to the wayside is resistance and strength training. Dieting and just doing cardio will not make you lose weight as fast without including muscle-strengthening activities.
The common misconception with girls is that if they pick up a weight they are going to get huge and bulky. Girls instantly think female body builders when they think of women lifting. This is not true at all. Testosterone is one of the main hormones responsible for increasing muscle size. Women do not and cannot naturally produce as much testosterone as men, so it is impossible for them to gain massive muscles by simply touching some weights. Resistance exercise generally leads to a more toned “tighter” body and you end up losing inches rather than weight.
Keep in mind that muscle weighs more than fat, so while doing resistance training it is important to not fixate on the number on the scale but to really look at how your body is transforming and how you feel. Strength training also assists in developing and maintaining strong bones. Cardio such as running can get to be a lot of wear and tear on the knees and joints. It is important to strengthen your muscles to keep those bones protected from injury. Strength training stimulates the cartilage to stay strong and improves joint alignment.
In society today everyone wants to lose weight. The media is filled with incredibly skinny women and that is what everyone strives to be. While strictly lifting weights does not burn as many calories as running may, studies show that the larger the presence of muscle in your body, there is an increase in basal metabolism at rest. In simpler terms, your body will burn more calories at rest and the ability to burn fat even while sleeping shoots up exponentially. This fact alone goes to show that simply doing cardio will not give you the fastest results. Cardio along with strength training gives you the best bang for your buck. A great plus is that even when you are resting, the calories are burning at a higher rate due to the increased mass of muscle.
Overall resistance training can increase lean body mass, lower body fat percentage, and increase metabolism at rest. These are all things us girls strive to get! So next time you are in the gym, make sure to hit up the weight machines or free weights before or after your cardio sesh!
Sources:
Physical Activity & Health: An Interactive Approach Third Edition by Jerome E. Kotecki
http://www.oneresult.com/artic…