Weight lifting for women does more than strengthen and tone muscles. The benefits of weight lifting expand into overall health improvements and stress reduction. Plus, weight lifting does not require a lot of time. If you can dedicate 15 to 30 minutes each day to weight lifting, you will see and feel the following benefits:
Increased Weight Loss – You may be worried that if you build larger muscles, your weight will increase. This myth was created in an attempt to explain that muscle tissue is denser than fat tissue. So, even though it takes up less space, in other words your inches decrease, muscle tissue does weigh more. However, the increase in muscle tissue increases your metabolism and enhances your weight loss efforts. Muscle tissue burns calories even when you are at rest, so your overall daily calorie-burning benefits increase. As your weight falls into a healthy range, your risk for cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and back pain also decrease.
Improved Posture – When you complete a total-body workout that targets all your muscle groups, you develop muscles equally. This equal muscle development improves your posture by keeping your back, neck, hips and shoulders in a healthy alignment. This natural alignment reduces back discomforts from years of poor posture or from sitting at an unhealthy work station. Through weight training, you stand taller and appear more confident.
Enhanced Self Confidence – Not only do you appear more confident when you weight train, you feel more confident. As you learn the strength of your body you begin to depend on yourself more. The feelings of empowerment extend into all aspects of your life. Your productivity at work increases, your relationships improve and you readily move forward toward your personal and professional goals.
Lowered Blood Pressure – A consistent weight lifting program reduces blood pressure. If you currently have high blood pressure, seek the advise of your physician before you start a resistance-training program. Although you experience a slight increase in blood pressure during a weight lifting workout, after approximately four weeks of training, your overall blood pressure decreases. Since high blood pressure is one of the factors related to strokes, you also reduce your health risk for strokes and cardiovascular disease.
Reduced Stress – Weight training is a natural way to de-stress. When you train with weights, your body releases endorphins into your blood stream. Endorphins are your body’s natural “feel good” chemicals that help reduce your stress. After your weight training workouts you feel better able to tackle large projects or return home to a stressful environment.
Weight training does more than boost your appearance. The strong and toned muscles are a visual benefit but many of the other benefits are felt deep within your body. For your protection, wear weight-training gloves to protect your hands during your workouts and always use proper technique.
