7 Benefits of Weight Lifting Every Woman Should Know

 

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Discover the benefits of weight training and how to build strength with easy exercises.

It’s still a large misconception that women should not lift weights and many women still spend most of their time in the gym on cardio machines. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, only about 20 percent of women practice strength training.

It’s time for that number to change. Pumping iron a few times a week will not only trim inches off your hips and waist, it can transform your entire body and your health.

The benefits of strength training can last hours after a workout and can boost your mood all day.

7 Benefits of Weight Lifting for Women

1. Lose Body Fat

Weight training builds muscle, as lean muscle increases so does metabolism. A higher metabolism means that you will burn more calories all day long. 

Studies found that the the average woman who strength trains two to three times a week for two months will gain nearly two pounds of muscle and will lose 3.5 pounds of fat. For each pound of muscle you gain, you’ll burn 35 to 50 more calories per day.

That can really add up over the long term; for example, 4 extra pounds of muscle can burn up to 10 extra pounders per year!

2. Gain Strength without Bulking

One of the most common reasons women avoid weight training is because they are afraid of “bulking.” This is a misconception as it physically cannot happen. Women simply don’t have the testosterone to build muscle like men.

Women have 10 to 30 times less testosterone than men and have a much harder time gaining size from strength training. Insead women develop muscle definition and strength without the size.

3. Decrease Risk of Osteoporosis

Weight training not only strengthens muscles, it strengthens your bones. Weight training increases bone density, which reduces the risk of fractures and broken bones. 

Research has also shown weight training can increase spinal bone density to create a strong and healthy spine.

4. Reduce Risk of Injury

Weight training also increases strength in connective tissues and joints. Strong joints, ligaments, and tendons are important to prevent injury and can relieve pain from osteoarthritis.

Strengthening muscles and connective tissue will make injury from daily tasks and routine exercise less likely, and can even improve sports performance.

5. Burn More Calories

Weight training has been proven to raise your metabolism for up to 24 hours after a workout. The more intense the workout the more calories are burned.

After an intense workout there is more Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption, or EPOC, meaning there is an increase in oxygen consumption, helping break down fat stores in the body.

6. Improve Posture and Reduce Back Pain

Weight-training will strengthen your back, shoulders, and core, helping to correct bad posture so that you can stand taller, with shoulders back and spine straight. A stronger back and core will also prevent lower back pain

7. Enhance Mood and Reduce Stress

Exercise and weight-training release endorphins. Endorphins are neurotransmitters that prevent pain, improve mood, and fight depression. An increased in endorphins naturally reduces stress and anxiety.

Endorphins also stimulate the mind, improving alertness and boosting energy. Weight-training can brighten your entire day or help you combat a bad one.

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Beginner’s Dumbbell Workout

Complete 10-20 repetitions, depending on your strength, and three sets of each exercise. Do this workout two to three times per week to build strength and muscle.

Goblet Squat

Hold one dumbbell by the end and stand with feet a little wider than shoulder width apart and knees and toes slightly turned out. Lower down into a squat. keeping your torso upright and your abdominals engaged. Press through your heels and stand back up, squeezing your glutes at the top.

Deadlift

Hold dumbbells with palms facing in and shoulders back. Hinge at your hips, keeping your back straight, and keeping the dumbbells close to your legs. Keep your weight in your heels so that you feel a stretch in your hamstrings, and straighten back up pressing your hips forward.

Chest Press

Lay on a bench, holding both dumbbells at 90 degree angles out to your sides. Press the weights up over your chest and squeeze your chest muscles together at the top. Slower lower back to the starting position.

Single Arm Row

Hold one dumbbell with your RIGHT hand and place your LEFT hand and knee on a bench. Keep your back flat, holding the weight with your palm facing in. Leading with your elbow pull the weight up, sqeezing your shoulder blade at the top. Repeat with the LEFT arm.

Overhead Press

Hold both dumbbells with a 90 degree bend at your elbows and your elbows shoulder height. Keeping your core strong, press the weights overhead without letting your back arch.

Watch this video – 30 Min FULL BODY DUMBBELL WORKOUT at Home | Muscle Building

Written by Deanna Dorman

Author Bio:

Deanna is an ACE® certified personal trainer, Balanced Body® Pilates instructor, and NASM® Fitness Nutrition Specialist. She is passionate about inspiring others to lead a healthier lifestyle through fun workouts and healthy food. When she’s not creating new workouts and recipes for her blog The Live Fit Girls she enjoys running with her two dogs and traveling.

A lot of people have gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer. However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to complete.

Fortunately, Kelsey Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.To find out more, click on – Keto Slow Cooker Cookbook

7 Strength Training Benefits + a Total Body Workout

 

Click HERE to Discover these 80 Keto-Friendly and Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes

7 Benefits of Strength Training (Plus: A Total Body Workout)

If you are looking to boost your immunity, energy, and your mood in one go, a strength training routine is just the thing you need.

Just like eating healthy and taking your vitamins, strength training is an essential part of a healthy and well-balanced lifestyle. Don’t be fooled into thinking that lifting weights is just for building muscle. In fact, the benefits of adding this type of exercise to your workout are vast.

Here are the top reasons you should dust off those dumbbells and get lifting!

7 Benefits of Strength Training

Increases Bone Density

Your bones, like your muscles, are a living tissue that gets stronger with exercise. Weight- bearing exercises like weight training and calisthenics have been found to be the most effective for building bone density – reducing your risk of osteoporosis. Bone mass peaks for most people during their 30’s, so the earlier you begin strength training, the better.

Aids in Weight Loss

As we age, our resting metabolic rate – otherwise known as our metabolism – naturally decreases, leading to an excess of stored fat. Strength training helps increase your muscle mass, boosting your metabolism so that you can burn more calories at rest.

Prevents Injury

Strength training promotes the growth and strength of tendons, ligaments, muscles, and bones, helping to stabilize the joints and to prevent tears, breaks, and other injuries.

Increases Overall Performance

Adding strength training to your routine can increase performance in other areas of your life. From daily activities like carrying the groceries into your house and getting up off the floor, to running and playing sports; strength training will make you stronger, faster, and more balanced, helping you to kick butt on the day-to-day.

Eases Chronic Disease

Strength training can help to reduce the signs and symptoms of chronic conditions like rheumatoid arthritis (RA), back pain, obesity, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s.

Boosts Energy and Mood

Strength training puts the body under stress, causing the release of mood-enhancing endorphins. These hormones help to decrease stress, depression, and anxiety; improving your mood and energy naturally.

Improves Posture

Most people sit at a desk all day, commute to work in a car or bus, and then go home and watch television at night. All of this sitting leads to tight chests and hip flexors, rounded shoulders, a forward head, and a weak core. Proper strength training can reverse some of these negative effects and improve posture through strengthening the back, shoulders, and abs.

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Total Body Strength Training Workout

Follow this total body workout to strengthen your whole body and to get all the benefits of strength training. All you need is two lightweight dumbbells (about 3-5lbs) and an exercise mat.

Dumbbell Squats | 12 reps

This exercise helps to strengthen the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and core.

Stand with your feet hips-width distance apart.

Hold a light dumbbell in front of your chest with both hands and engage your abs.

Inhale as you sit your hips back, like you are sitting in a chair, until your knees are at a 90-degree angle. Keep the weight in your heels and your chest lifted. Make sure your knees stay in line with your toes.

Exhale to press into your heels and stand all the way back up, squeezing your glutes at the top.

Repeat for 12 reps.

Single Leg Deadlifts | 12 reps per side

This exercise targets the hamstrings, glutes, and back; strengthening your lower body and core.

Hold a kettlebell in your right hand.

Shift your weight onto your left foot and pick up your right foot to point the toes behind you. Keep a slight bend in your left knee.

Engage your abs and keep a flat back as you inhale and start to lift your right foot up behind you while also lowering your chest down.

Exhale to return to the starting position.

Repeat for 12 reps, then switch sides.

Single Arm Row | 12 reps per side

This exercise strengthens the upper back, biceps, and core.

Begin in a low lunge with your right leg forward, the dumbbell within arm’s reach.

Place your right hand on your right thigh and pick up your dumbbell with the left hand. Engage your abs and find a flat back.

Exhale to reach your elbow up in line with your ribs, squeezing the shoulder blade up.

Inhale to straighten your right arm, lowering the dumbbell back towards the ground.

Repeat for 12 reps, then switch sides.

Shoulder Raises | 12 reps

This classic strength training move tones the shoulders, arms, and core.

Start standing with your feet hips-width distance apart, holding one dumbbell in each hand. Engage your abs and bend your knees slightly.

Keep a slight bend in your elbows and inhale to lift your arms up, bringing the dumbbells in line with your shoulders.

Exhale to slowly lower the dumbbells back down to your sides.

Repeat for 12 reps.

Curl Kickbacks | 12 reps

This exercise strengthens the biceps, triceps, and the core.

Stand with your feet together, a dumbbell in each hand. Engage your abs.

Keep your weight back in your heels and sit your hips back at a 45-degree angle.

Keep your palms turned in and inhale as you curl the dumbbells up towards your shoulders.

Exhale to straighten out your arms, flexing your triceps for an extension.

Repeat for 12 reps.

Bridge Sit-Ups | 12 reps

This dynamic exercise strengthens the lower back, glutes, abs, lats, and shoulders.

Begin lying on your mat with your knees bent and your feet on the floor.

Hold a dumbbell in each hand and reach your arms straight back behind your head.

Inhale to lift your hips to come into a bridge position.

Exhale to slowly lower your hips to the ground, then do a sit up while reaching the dumbbell straight out above your knees. Keep your arms straight.

Lower back to the starting position.

Repeat for 12 reps.

Watch this video – 45-Min Total Body Strength Training (No Weights, No Jumping!) | Joanna Soh

Written by Kelly Collins

Author Bio:

Kelly is a certified Personal Trainer with NASM, a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher, and has her B.S. in Kinesiology from San Diego State University. She is co-owner of Roaming Yogi Adventures, a yoga and adventure-based retreat. She believes that having fun and well-rounded exercise is the key to maximizing strength, flexibility, and mental health.

A lot of people have gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer. However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to complete.

Fortunately, Kelsey Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.

To find out more, click on – Keto Slow Cooker Cookbook