10 things you should know about weight training
Written by Emma Frain, head of fitness at Protein World.
1. It won’t make you 'bulky'
Let’s just bust this myth straight from the word 'Go': weight training does not equal manly, bulky, or masculine."The truth is, women have very different hormones to men and, as we do not produce as much testosterone, it is actually much more difficult for women to build muscle and become 'bulky'", Emma explains. "If you are looking for the more muscular look, this takes a lot of time and dedication to training and diet. I repeat, it is not going to happen as the result of three or four weight lifting sessions per week."
2. It can help you to hit weight loss goals more quickly
Combining weight training with cardio or resistance training is great for burning fat, particularly through HIIT classes or circuit training.
"By adding resistance combined with the exertion of lifting weights, the calorie burn increases whilst building lean muscle mass. Muscle is more metabolically active than fat, which means it requires more nutrients and oxygen to ‘live.’ By increasing lean muscle mass in the body, this increases basal metabolic rate, which means that your body continues to burn more calories even whilst resting. Women, on average, can burn an extra 100 calories in the 24 hours after exercise has finished."
3. Switch things up to keep muscles engaged
"The great thing about weight training is that it’s so easy to help avoid any dreaded plateauing. You can vary workouts by moving from 8-10, 10–12 and 15-20 reps. The higher the rep range, the more cardiovascular your workout will become. Lower rep ranges, such as 3-5 or 6-8, are specifically used to lift heavier weights to work on strength goals. If you’re happy with your rep count but still want to mix things up, try increasing or decreasing the tempo of each rep – count four seconds on, one second off, or speed up to build power.
4. You might need to reassess your diet
To see the best results from weight training and avoid your metabolism slowing down, you might need to change the way you eat - and introduce protein, protein, protein.
"Weight training and cardio are very different in the results you’ll see, and the impact on the body. This is good news for many, as you may need to increase your calorie intake to support weight training. Weight training helps to speed up the metabolism which will burn calories faster, however if you are not fuelling your body and workouts efficiently, the metabolism will slow down. This can cause a plateau in weight loss and lean muscle gain."
