You can blame it on the fear of developing a “bulky” and “masculine” physique, or on the discomforting questionable stares you think you will receive from bulky and masculine guys in your university’s weight room. There is a multitude of reasons you can feed yourself regarding why you shouldn’t weight train and why hours upon hours of cardio is what women ought do to get fit. However, most of these reasons are fictitious gym horror stories. There is no valid reason women should stick to the elliptical and be repelled by the dumbbells. The benefits weight training has exclusively on the female anatomy is numerous, and is just as essential to women’s fitness as it is to men’s.
The myriad of benefits a woman can gain from weight training is aesthetic, physical, and emotional. Honestly, it doesn’t matter if you’re motivated to improve your health or look good in a bikini because all three of these benefits are delivered as a packaged deal. Lifting can sculpt curves and burn fat in ways that cardio cannot and the idea that lifting makes a woman bulky is a complete myth. In fact, weight training burns nearly as many calories as cardio and as a bonus; increased muscle mass burns fat even on rest days. It takes years of specific dietary alterations, elite supplementation and extreme dedication to heavy lifting for a woman to resemble anything close to “bulky.”
The only thing that’s bulky is the volume benefits that your body will reap from only a few weeks from heavy reps. Your immune system will skyrocket while your chances of developing diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease will begin to diminish. Specifically for the female anatomy, PMS symptoms will reduce and the risk of breast cancer and osteoporosis will decline. Weight training promotes more sound sleep and you’ll sleep better knowing that you’ve done something that day to promote your health.
Exercise in general releases endorphins and is a great stress reliever. While cardio can accomplish this, weight training promotes a peace of mind and a sense of strength both physically and mentally. Personally, I find that when I do cardio myself in a sweaty daze and my mind shuts off. While lifting, I find myself in more a meditational state that requires focus which lasts even after I re-rack the dumbbells. I also feel a sense of strength which lasts not only after discovering a change in my body, but also every day after leaving the gym. As opposed to literally running away from everything doing cardio, lifting weights provides invigoration and empowerment.