I have another confession to make. I don’t enjoy lifting weights. At all. I never have. In fact, there were days when I would rather walk across hot coals in my bare feet than head up to the weight room. On personal reflection, there were three reasons for this. First, I have always considered myself an endurance athlete. I like cardio & I like to go long. I’m not overly fast, but I can go forever. It’s where I get my endorphin rush from. As a long distance runner, I didn’t feel it was overly necessary…more of something you did to keep the ‘bat wings’ away & keep the “muffin-top” at bay. Secondly, I will admit that I was quite intimidated by the weight room. It was a very scary place…all those weights…all those machines…and all those men!!! It seemed that every time I opened the door to enter, the whole room stopped to look. Needless to say, committing to train for a figure competition, which required heavy weight training 5 days a week, was a very scary thought indeed. But as the saying goes…’If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you,’ and change me it did. Weightlifting not only reshaped my body, but also my mind. As my body became stronger, so did my overall well-being. I became more confident, more knowledgable, and, a more happy individual. And much to my surprise, my running/endurance improved too. So today, in the spirit of sharing knowledge, here are just a few the reasons why we should be lifting heavy…
1.) To Protect Our Bones.
- Studies have long shown that regular weight training, 3 times per week, combined with high impact cardiovascular activity, and a diet rich in calcium & vitamin D, significantly increases bone density, which can help protect against osteoporosis down the road. This is not only important for the general population, but especially for peri & post menopausal women. As estrogen levels decrease in the body, so does bone density, which can lead to fractures later in life.
2.) To Protect Our Heart.
- This came as a surprise to many, myself included, as we are generally under the assumption that cardio workouts alone are all that is required to maintain healthy heart & lungs. But a review conducted by a panel of cardiovascular experts, and published in the journal, Circulation, agreed that heavy weight training also lowered blood pressure, improved heart & lung function, and reduced the risk of diabetes. One of the studies reviewed demonstrated that 12 weeks of strength training improved participant’s walking endurance by 38%. I experienced this personally while training for my figure competition this past spring. For the entire 3 months of training, I did no long distance running. I resumed running 2 weeks after the competition starting with my base 19k LSD, with no decrease in running speed, & no painful muscle stiffness afterwards.
3.) To Prevent Injury and Reduce Pain.
- Stronger muscles also mean stronger connective tissue, and more stable joints, which help us to avoid injury, not only when working out/running, but all throughout our normal everyday activities. Numerous studies have shown that by actively strengthening our core muscles, we can relieve, and sometimes completely eliminate low back pain. It can even reduce the discomfort of arthritis.
4.) To Maintain and/or Lose Weight.
- In general, for each pound of muscle we gain, we burn 35-50 more calories. Again, studies have shown that adding heavy weight training to your cardio routine, preferably before your cardio, increases the overall calorie burn for up to 24 hours after your workout is done. One study, published in Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise, demonstrated that women who lifted more weight for fewer reps burned nearly 2x as many calories during the 2 hours after their workout, than when they did more reps with light weights. Why? Lifting heavy weights actually increases our basal metabolic rate. When we work against heavy resistance, we create tiny muscular tears throughout the body. We need to expend a greater # of calories post-workout to repair those tears, therefore, increasing our overall daily calories requirements. Now we’re talking!! 🙂
So How Do We define Heavy Lifting?
Heavy weight/resistance training is defined as lifting 85-90% of our maximum weight, where maximum is defined as the amount of weight one can no longer lift with good form, for 2-3 sets of no more than 6-8 repetitions.
Will We Get Bulky?
Absolutely not!! And here’s why. First off, testosterone is the primary muscle-building hormone, and women just don’t produce enough of it naturally to produce ‘hulk-like’ muscles. Secondly, women don’t generally consume the amount of calories required to create that kind of muscle mass without supplementation. Think about it…when was the last time you purposefully over ate in order to gain weight? Thirdly, most women won’t generate the degree of force needed to make those kinds of muscle gains. Building significant amounts of muscle requires you to push beyond the point of comfort. Men have a larger degree of drive to push their bodies beyond the limits of comfort. Many men will even push on to the point of injury. See above re: testosterone. Again, these hormonal factors will keep most women from generating extremely large muscle mass.
So there you have it… Just some of the many reasons why heavy weight training is so incredibly beneficial to our overall well-being, and why I continue to do it now, even after competition training has finished. Now get out there & start lifting!! 🙂
Sources:
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