HEALTH BENEFITS FOR WOMEN WHO LIFT WEIGHTS

By: Sharon S. Joag


1. YOU WILL BECOME PHYSICALLY STRONGER: This is called Functional Fitness
Resistance training will enable you to do daily activities much easier since it increases your strength. Muscles which are worked against resistance increase in strength.
Your chores around the home will seem easier to do.

-IMPROVES ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE AND DECREASES INJURY.
-BUILDS STRONGER CONNECTIVE TISSUE AND INCREASES JOINT STABILITY BY STRENGTHENING JOINTS.

-Women at any age, even in their 70’s and 80’s have built up significant strength with weight training. Resistance training helps to fight aging by maintaining lean muscle tissue and increasing bone density.
-Women in their mid-30’s start to lose 5-10% of muscle strength each decade.

2. GAIN STRENGTH WITHOUT BULK
A long standing myth is that women who lift weights risk growing muscles like a man! This is just a MYTH.
Because women have more estrogen and less testosterone, women gain more tone and definition and less hypertrophy or bulk. Men gain muscle hypertrophy. Therefore, no matter how much a woman works out, she can never gain as much muscle as a man. This can only happen with hormone supplementation or hormone imbalance.

Another myth is that lifting weights makes women gain weight! This is not true.
You will not gain weight by lifting weights. Instead, you will actually be able to control your weight by toning your muscles. Muscle is more dense than fat, however, it takes up less space than fat. Also, muscle cells, even at rest burn more calories than fat cells.

With age, your metabolic rate decreases. That means that there is a decrease in the rate at which your body uses calories. By strength training, you offset the loss in muscle tissue that occurs when you age. You also increase your metabolic rate and prevent age-related weight gain.

3. DECREASED RISK OF OSTEOPOROSIS
Weight training increases spinal bone mineral density by 13% in 6 months. This with adequate calcium can be the best defense against osteoporosis, because it decreases the risk of fracture. Therefore, weight training improves balance, bone density, and muscle mass.

4. DECREASES THE RISK OF HEART DISEASE; and CANCER
Decreases LDL cholesterol
Increases HDL cholesterol
Decreases BP
Decreases body fat.
Decreases appetite.

5. DECREASES RISK OF DIABETES MELLITUS
-Weight training can increase glucose utilization in the body by 23% in 4 months.

6. EXERCISE INCREASES:
-Cardiac function
- Insulin sensitivity
-Bone density

7. EXERCISE HELPS ARTHRITIS: This happens as stronger muscles can take the pressure off the inflamed joints.

8. IMPROVES PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH
- Fights depression: In a study done on depression, it showed that 10 weeks of strength training decreased symptoms of depression more successfully than standard counseling.
-Increased confidence and Self-esteem.
-Decreased anxiety

STUDY ON WOMEN AFTER TREATMENT FOR BREAST CANCER:
- In a study done in 2001 at St. Paul/Minneapolis, Minnesota, on two groups of women, both of whom underwent treatment of Breast Cancer within the last 3 years. One group was assigned to an exercise group and the other group of women had no exercise regimen to follow. The Exercise group met twice a week for 3 months and were then encouraged to continue the exercises for another 3 months.
Both groups were later asked questions regarding their physical well-being, mental happiness, and sexual activity.
The women who had done exercise felt that they had increased their strength over all. They had increased speed, self-confidence and a feeling of control over their bodies.
The women who did not exercise did not have such a feeling of well-being and were more depressed in general.

GUIDELINES BY THE AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION AND THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SPORTS MEDICINE:
-All individuals should do 8-10 repetitions for each of the major muscle groups: Biceps; Quadriceps; and Hamstrings.-Resistance exercises should be done on 2 or more non-consecutive days of the week.

These may seem to be simple rules to live by, but you will be surprised at how many people including yourself actually follows these guidelines.

As you start lifting weights and become stronger, you will also become more active and will have more energy. Your overall body balance will improve. Weight training will keep your body weight and your waist line healthy. Your overall positive mood and increased energy will enhance your life.