Strong Is The New Beautiful

When I was 15 or 16 my dad brought me to the gym for the first time.  He introduced me to strength training.  I continued to go with him a few days a week until I was old enough to get my own gym membership at the nearby city complex and then I started to go by myself in the mornings before school.  I learnt  from a very young age the benefits of being strong and healthy.  I remember one of my guy friends in high school telling me that I shouldn’t lift weights anymore because my arms were going to get too big and guys hate muscular girls.  Huh Really….??  I’m so glad I never listed to him.  But this  is such a common misconception .  That was said to me when I was 16 and I’m now (gasp) 34 and I still hear the same comments from woman  on why they shy away from strength training. Some of the comments I hear are “My arms are already big enough”, “I don’t want to look like a man”, “I’ll get hurt”.   When somebody tells me this,  I’m quick to tell them that this is so far from the truth.  Woman are not built like men  It’s impossible for us to build the same type of muscle mass because of hormonal differences.  Men have higher testosterone levels than woman which is why they have more muscle mass.

Ladies, the negative attitude about strength training has to stop.  Not only will strength training help you to look and feel better but below is a short list of many other benefits.

1. Your bones will benefit from strength training. By stressing your bones, strength training increases bone density and reduces the risks of osteoporoses
2. You’ll be physically stronger. Increasing your strength will make you far less dependent on others for assistance. If your maximum strength is increased, daily chores and tasks will be far less likely to cause you injury.  Various research studies conclude that even moderate weight training can increase a woman’s strength by 30 to 50 percent.  Research also shows that woman can develop their strength at the same rate as men
3.  Strength training helps control your weight. As you gain muscle, your body begins to burn calories more efficiently.  The more toned your muscles, the easier it is to control your weight
4. You’ll boost your stamina. As you get stronger, you don’t get tired as easily.  Building muscle can also help with balance which helps you maintain independence as you age.
5. Strength training helps manage chronic conditions.  Strength training can reduce the signs and symptoms of many chronic conditions such as back pain, arthritis, heart disease, and diabetes.
6. Strength training can sharpen your focus.  Studies show that strength training can also help improve attention in older adults

And don’t worry.  If you don’t have a gym membership or if you feel more comfortable strength training at home, consider the following:

• Body weight exercises. Exercises such as push ups, pull ups, abdominal crunches, squats, lunges
• Resistance tubing.  Resistance tubing is inexpensive and portable.

If you’ve never strength trained before I understand the anxiety you may feel of not knowing what to do or where to start.  Always feel free to ask questions.  I never get annoyed when friends or family ask me questions.  I love helping people and you’ll find that most people that work in the fitness industry feel the same way. The primary reason why I started to write this blog was to post ideas for friends and family to help them in their healthy lifestyle journey.  This is a passion of mine that I love to share.

I’ll continue to post workouts on my blog that you can use or incorporate into your daily routine so check back often 🙂