Do You Believe the Misconception About Women and Muscles?

The misconception about women and muscles have been around for a long, long time. You know the one. If a woman lifts weights, she’ll get big and manly. It’s a flawed idea.

Why flawed?

It’s simple, really.

Women generally don’t have high enough testosterone levels to build muscle size typically associated with men. But what about those body building women who have physiques like men?

Well, that’s simple too. Those women are supplementing with things like human growth hormone (HGH) or other similar substances. Consider the four divisions of female body building competitions in the image above: bikini, figure, physique, and bodybuilding. Out of the four divisions, bikini is what most would consider the most feminine. It requires competitors to be physically fit (obviously), but curvy with toned musculature. As the divisions move up towards bodybuilding, the women are expected to carry more and more muscle.

So, before you say, “See? That’s why I don’t want to lift weights!” sit back and cool your jets for just a second. I bring up the four bodybuilding divisions for one point and one point only.

WOMEN IN ALL FOUR DIVISIONS LIFT WEIGHTS!

That’s right. Even the bikini girls lift weights and they do so regularly. Look, I realize that like far too many women, you might shudder at the thought of picking up heavy metal stuff. But let’s take a deep breath and look at why you should and discuss some less threatening alternatives.

3 Reasons why you should…

1. You want to lose fat, right? Do you know what burns fat longer and more efficiently than hours of cardio? Muscle! Because muscle is harder to maintain, the body has to work harder in order to do so, which keeps your metabolism running hot for much longer. It’s not that cardio doesn’t burn calories. It does. But cardio only keeps your metabolism burning for a couple of hours after you stop activity, whereas lifting weights or any other type of resistance training keeps your metabolism burning for up to 2-3 days. Why? Because of that harder to maintain bit we mentioned before. In addition, your body has to repair muscle fibers damaged (in a good way) by lifting weights.
2. Healthy muscle helps to maintain bone density. As we age, our bone density decreases. Of course, supplementing with calcium helps to prevent bone loss. But putting bones under pressure, such as the kind of tension caused by healthy muscle also prevents bones from becoming porous. Losing bone density is the reason why older people fall and break bones much easier. The scary part of this equation is that statistics show that one in three adults aged 50 and over dies within 12 months of suffering a hip fracture. Older adults have a five-to-eight times higher risk of dying within the first three months of a hip fracture. The only way to maintain healthy muscle is by resistance training, such as lifting weights.
3. You hate that jiggle under your arms and on your thighs, right? Muscle doesn’t jiggle. Fat does. And that’s all I’ll say about that one.

But is lifting weights the only way?

Resistance training (or strength training) includes lifting weights, but it is not the only way. Resistance training is basically any exercise that causes the muscles to contract against an external resistance, such as weights, resistance bands, or even body weight. 

Case in point…me.

When I first started on my weight loss journey, I had very little in the way of exercise equipment and couldn’t afford a gym membership. I had weights, but not much. Most of what I did in the beginning consisted of body weight and resistance band exercises. Pretty much any exercise you can do with weights has an equivalent with bands or body weight.

So, if you’re holding onto those negative ideas about women and muscles, just stop. Those fears are unfounded. And now that you have the knowledge, it’s just an excuse. Or maybe you’re intimidated by the idea of dumbbells, barbells, or workout machines at the gym. You might want to start off with just body weight exercises or resistance bands, or a combination of both. And the really great thing about this day and age is that you can find how-to videos on YouTube for any exercise.

Here’s the thing about women and muscles…unless you actually want to join the physique and bodybuilding ranks of competition, you won’t actually look overly muscular during normal daily activity. I’ve been told by my trainer that I could have competed in the figure division. I receive complements on my arms all the time outside of the gym. Women constantly ask how to get arms like mine. You could tell I work out but I’m not overly muscular unless I flex or am actually exercising.

So, there’s no need to be afraid of lifting weights. You won’t get big and manly. You will burn fat faster and ditch the jiggly arms and thighs. And, you will prevent losing bone density, which bodes well for you as you continue to age. You’ll have far less chance of becoming a statistic of falling and breaking a hip.

It’s okay to lift something heavier than your purse or shopping bags.

.

.

.