Why is it hard for women to gain muscle mass?
"I don't want to lift weights because I don't want to get big muscles," or "I only do aerobics and sit-ups to lose weight because if I lift weights, I might get big muscles and look like a man."
Ladies. Have you ever said these things? Aww, come on, ladies! If you've ever said something like this, you've done yourself a huge disservice and are missing out on many great benefits of working out with weights. Have you ever pointed to your stomach or buttocks and said, "This is where I want to lose weight"? So you've managed to convince yourself that sweating a lot is the key to a slim and attractive body, and you go to the gym every day to sweat off your belly fat or butt fat.
So you peddle away on your stationary bike in the gym like little hamsters or frantically step away on the step up machine. Then you do crunches after crunches in the hope of having a flat belly and a well-rounded, shapely butt, but you don't realise that there is no such thing as spot reduction.
You never even bother to look at the weight lifting machines or the free weights that are all over the gym, let alone touch them. Gosh. This terrible myth about women building big muscles makes women so afraid that they never lift weights, which is bad for them.
Ladies! If you are paying attention, I want to say this very clearly. Women can't build big, strong muscles unless they take special supplements and work out in a way that is designed just for them. Some of the big-muscled women you've seen may even be taking steroid drugs, which are illegal and dangerous. Using steroids to build muscle is a bad idea.
So, why is it hard for women to get big muscles? Well, it's because you don't have enough of the male hormone tetosterone, which makes your muscles grow. In fact, women have ten to thirty times less tetosterone, a hormone that helps build muscle, than men do. Women who believe the myth that lifting weights will make them big-muscled will miss out on all the other benefits of weightlifting and bodybuilding. Even after I tell my female clients the truth, they are still afraid to lift weights because they believe this myth. So, will women who work out by lifting weights get more muscle? Yes, of course, but they won't be as big as the muscles bodybuilders have. Your muscles will tone the shape of your body, making it tight, firm, healthy, attractive, and desirable. The shape of the body that is both healthy and very attractive. When you step on a scale, you may have seen that your weight has gone up. Muscles weigh more than fat, so this makes sense. So, as you build more muscle, your weight will go up, but your fat will go down. This will give you a toned, attractive body that most women can only dream of.
Even when you're sleeping, your muscles burn calories on their own. In fact, research has shown that for every kilo of muscle you build, you will burn 70–100 more calories every day. So, if you gain 2 kilos of muscle and lose 2 kilos of fat, you will burn about 75 more calories per kilo, which means you will burn 150 more calories per day, 4200 more calories per month, and 7-8 kilos of fat or weight a year without doing anything. A kilo is equal to 2.2 pounds. Sounds great, doesn't it?
Another reason women should lift weights is that it can be good for their bones. Weight training is a powerful way to prevent osteoporosis, a disease that is caused by bones that are weak and have holes in them. Osteoporosis is much more likely to happen to women than to men. In fact, this disease will affect most women as they get older. When someone has osteoporosis, they are more likely to break a bone. These breaks can even cause death. So, to strengthen and increase the density of their bones, women should work out with weights. Research has shown that lifting weights for six months can boost bone mineral density by up to 15%. As you build more muscle, your bones have to change to make room for the new muscle mass. So your bones get stronger by getting denser. What happened? You will have a stronger skeleton and be less likely to get osteoporosis.
So, don't say you'll never lift weights again because you're afraid it will make you big and strong like the Incredible Hulk. You both won't and can't. Period.
OK, girls. That's where the weights are. Let's now pick them up! Have the last laugh when your girlfriends tell you they don't want to lift weights but watch you change into a bikini-ready goddess.
