Benefits of Resistance Training For Women

I remember a time when resistance training for women was new. You rarely saw women in the gym hitting the weights. You might see them attending an aerobics class, if you belonged to one of those kinds of clubs. But, being muscular was not a desirable attribute for a woman. Of course, I’m probably quite a few years older than you are.

The first women’s “physique” championship was not held until 1978. The first Ms. Olympia was not named until 1980. Rachel McLish was the winner of that title. She wrote two books about weight and resistance training for women. Over the years, those books have been followed by many more.

In recent years, fitness and figure competitions have become increasingly popular for women. Rachel’s appearance was actually closer to that new category than to what is now considered female bodybuilding. In fitness and figure competitions, the emphasis is on muscle “tone” rather than size.

Depending on your current level of fitness, you may want to increase the size, strength and tone of your muscles, as well as decrease the amount of fat that you have on your body. In order to do that, you need strength building exercises. Resistance training is one way to build strength.

You also need to focus on your diet. Your protein, fat and carbohydrate intake should be well balanced. You should be sure that you are getting enough calories to support your body’s functions. If you get too many calories from dietary fat, it ends up getting stored on the body. It would be difficult to get too much protein. If you get too many carbs, your body will burn that for energy, instead of its fat stores.

Since the goal of resistance training for women is to build more muscle mass, you must give your body what it needs to do that. The necessary ingredient is protein. If your diet is too low in calories, because you are trying to lose weight, your body will break down your muscles to get at the protein and other nutrients stored within them. So, you should be able to see why your diet is so important.

The most effective form of resistance training for women makes use of elastic bands. Not only do the bands work the muscles harder and prevent cheating, they are also more convenient and safer to use than free weights. With a good set of bands, you can perform almost any exercise that you might see in a gym and you can do it in the privacy of your own home.

If you have trouble controlling your weight, building more muscle will help. Resting muscles use free fatty acids as their choice fuel. In other words, muscular people burn more fat-stores when their bodies are at rest.

You don’t have to spend hours at the gym. In fact, you shouldn’t. There are short programs that provide maximum intensity resistance training for women. These programs allow you do get the best results, in the shortest amount of time.

source:fitness.resourcesforattorneys.com