Ladies, it's time to lift weights

Women tend to be afraid of weights. If this isn’t you, please give yourself a pat on the back.

There are lots of reasons why weight training seems to repel women. Some of the most common reasons I hear are: “I don’t want to bulk up” and “I don’t know what I’m doing”.

However, what most women don’t realise is that lifting weights will give you the toned physique you desire. As women, we would have to work incredibly hard to bulk up from weights – it’s definitely possible but it would be incredibly difficult. This is because we have less testosterone then men, which helps them to build muscle faster.

Here are a few reasons why you should set your fears aside and be empowered by weights:

• Lifting weights helps boost your metabolism so you burn more calories than you would just by doing cardio. It also causes your metabolism to stay elevated for longer, meaning that you continue to burn calories as you go about your daily business.

• Weights help build muscle and if you have more muscle (as opposed to fat) your body will use more calories as you move around. To give you an idea, a kilo of fat will burn 5-7 calories a day, where a kilo of muscle will burn 50-100 calories a day. As a bonus, muscle takes up less room than fat.

• Lifting weights helps increase your bone density. This might not be something that you’re concerned about now, but it will be as you age. Lack of bone density can be linked to conditions such as osteoporosis.

• It’s so much fun! You don’t have to slog it out on the treadmill for 30 minutes counting down till it’s over. With weights you can create a circuit and change the exercises every minute, and mix it up every session. The options are limitless.

If this has sparked your interest, which I hope it has, I recommend getting a session with a personal trainer to set you up with a program and ensure your technique is correct to avoid injuries – then nothing can hold you back on your way to good health and fitness.

Words: Tanya Doherty, Beachfit and Wellbeing.

For more information call Tanya on 0431579542
or visit www.akac.com.au.