Strength Training For Women

I have had the craziest week ever! I don’t think I’ve had a chance to catch my breath since last Saturday when my band spent 13 hours in the recording studio.  It was a lot of fun but exhausting.  On Sunday, our church had it’s annual Thanksgiving dinner and I performed a special as Hannah Montana’s alter ego.  It was a hoot but my voice was already exhausted from the day before and by Monday I was feeling it. 

I am hosting a kettlebell workshop this Saturday so I needed to get my manual finished for all the attendees.  It is almost done.  I need to take some pictures today and I’ll be able to take it to the printers.

My free website for homeschool moms is moving along with 23 members as of this morning.  A lot of great questions have been asked, such as, what do you eat for snacks and lunch, how to identify trigger foods and many, many more.  Be sure and jump on board to get the answers to your most pressing fitness and health questions.

One question I received is, “What is the best exercise program for me to use?”  Well, of course I’m going to say mine.  Ha! 

Seriously, women need to be strength training.  It should be the main focus of your program.  Building muscle will enable your body to burn off unwanted body fat.  More muscle = less fat.  I don’t like videos or programs that have women moving little pink dumbbells around. You will never make significant body composition changes with those little gals.  Lifting heavy will not bulk you up.  Lifting heavy will make you lean and strong. 

When you strength train you will improve the strength of your ligaments and tendons which support your joints.  When your joints are strong you will have a lesser chance of injury from other activities.

You will reduce your chances of osteoporosis.

Your metabolism increases from the increase in lean muscle tissue.  This is due to your muscle tissue coming alive and active using energy (calories) while you are resting.  It’s nice to know that you’re burning off fat while sitting on the couch reading with the kids.

Are you really afraid you will get too big?  Women do not produce enough testosterone to produce bodybuilding sized bodies.  We are not genetically made that way.  The difference you will see when strength training is toned, lean muscles.  You will also have more strength and energy!  Very important when you’ve got kids to teach.

Don’t think that you have to lose all your body fat first before starting to strength train.  If you perform strength training exercises along with intervals for cardio, you will burn more calories than you would if you only were doing cardio only.  Also, combining strength training with cardio will help reduce the problems of droopy skin from loss of weight but lack of muscle tone.

A really well put together strength training routine can be done in 20 minutes.  Great news for busy moms.  You should be challenging your muscles when you work out otherwise you’re wasting your time.  Stay away from isolation exercises like bicep curls and tricep extensions.  Go for multi-joint exercise that cause you to expend more energy like squats, lunges, deadlifts, rows, pull-ups and push-ups. 

I am partial to kettlebells because you can get your strength and cardio workout done in 20 minutes or less with one piece of equipment that easily stores in a little cubby hole somewhere.   

Don’t shy away from strength training.  It will reshape your body and help you remove unwanted body fat fast!