Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Will Women Get Bulky If They Lift Weights?

By Howe Russ


There is not a girl in any fitness center who hasn't wondered at least once during a workout, 'Should women lift weights or will it make us big and bulky?' This is one of the most commonly asked questions in the fitness industry and today's article will help you to get to the bottom of it once and for all.

The unfortunate thing about the health and fitness industry is that everybody, even non-professionals, have an opinion on what people should and should not be doing. Many of those opinions don't take any scientific research into consideration and this often leads people down a path of confusion.

If you are old enough to remember the 1970's you will know the origins of this famous fitness myth. This all started during the glory days of bodybuilding. With massive, overly muscled guys like Arnold Schwarzenegger gracing stages around the world it's no wonder that most women were put off the idea of training with heavy barbells and dumbbells. Thanks to the thriving home circuit workout market during the 1980's VHS boom, the notion that women should stick to cardiovascular exercise was set in place.

Naturally, if building muscle was as easy as simply lifting up a dumbbell a few times per week then most guys would be completely ripped. However, common sense did not prevail at first and for many years there were countless ladies who avoided exercises which could have helped them to reach their goals faster.

There have been many scientific studies performed on male and female exercise enthusiasts over the last four decades which confirm that women should indeed be performing regular resistance training for a number of important reasons. They are listed below:

* If you only perform cardiovascular workouts you will not build the lean physique most women want to achieve. Resistance training plays a major role here.

* One of the major benefits of building more lean muscle is that your body will burn off unwanted fat more effectively. This will help you to reach your goals faster, as well as making you look even better once you reach them!

* Be prepared for a great increase in fitness.

* Like HIIT, which is great for bringing your body fat percentage down, resistance training also has many fat loss benefits.

While those 4 points are all great, there is one major concern which almost every woman has. Is it going to make you look bulky? The answer is no. You cannot achieve a bodybuilder physique without living a bodybuilding lifestyle, which means learning what supplements to take and how to structure your diet to match your goal. Female bodybuilders find it even harder, because they need to supplement with testosterone boosting products as they don't have enough natural testosterone in their system to support as much muscle growth as men.

Lifting up a dumbbell is not going to automatically put you on the road to the next Mr. Olympia contest, so don't worry about that at all.

Should women lift weights? Absolutely. In fact it is one of the best ways to get in shape even if your overall goal is weight loss. The myth that ladies should stick to cardio is as old as time itself, it can be one of most confusing aspects of fitness alongside learning what supplements to take or which how many times per week you need to work out for maximum results.




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