Why Women Should Love Weights
By: Daniel Green
There are two competing myths out there that somehow work together to keep women out of the weight room. The first is that by strength training women will develop "manly" physiques and sacrifice femininity in their quest for health. The other is that strength training doesn't really work for women and is basically a waste of time. There may be the slightest hint of truth behind both statements, but the real truth lies somewhere in between. There is a small minority of women on each end of the spectrum who may experience the reality behind the myths, but the vast majority of women will experience the many health benefits of resistance training while seeing positive changes in their shape and improvements in their appearance and self-esteem.
According to the American Council on Exercise (ACE Fit Fact: "Strength Training 101"), there are three primary benefits to a regular resistance-training program.
1. Increased strength of bones, muscles, and connective tissue. This not only decreases the risk of eventually developing osteoporosis, it decreases your risk of injury in everything you do.
2. Increased muscle mass. As muscle mass increases, it becomes easier to maintain a healthy body weight. This is due to an increase in calories burned when the body is at rest.
3. Enhanced quality of life. This becomes increasingly important as we get older. What this means is that the things we do everyday - lifting our children or grandchildren, carrying groceries in from the car - will become easier as our overall strength improves.
As you probably have read in a million articles by now, the three aspects of a complete fitness program are cardiovascular, strength, and flexibility training. By neglecting any of those components, you are neglecting an important piece of your overall health.
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Daniel Green is the Managing Editor for the American Council on Exercise (ACE) and an ACE-certified Lifestyle & Weight Management Consultant. He is also a Contributing Editor to both ACE
Fitness Matters and ACE Certified News. Visit the ACE Web site at
www.acefitness.org.
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