Summary
It's obvious most women are scared to lift weights and I can understand why, but I've talked about a few things that might help them see lifting weight could actually be a good thing.
Some women are scared of spiders and as soon as they see one they'll jump onto the sofa to escape its evil clutches. The same thing sometimes happens when they see a dumbbell because they hate the thought of lifting weights, but it can actually help you in so many ways. I'm not going to force you into the weights area of your local gym, but I would like to talk about a few reasons why you should start doing resistance training if you're looking for something new to try.
You won't become Madonna
I think one of the biggest reasons women don't want to pick up a weight is because they're afraid of looking like Madonna, which I think we can all agree is a valid point. You just have to realize it's almost impossible to become too big for two reasons. The first reason is the fact women don't have enough testosterone in their body to build a huge amount of muscle mass. The second reason is that you can't build muscle fast which means you can stop whenever you want.
You'll be able to eat more
Women are a little unlucky when it comes to dieting because they can't eat as much food as men without putting on a lot of body fat. This is simply because they're structurally smaller and they don't need as many calories to maintain their current size. When you add an extra pound of muscle you can burn up to 50 calories extra per day just by being alive, so adding 5 pounds of muscle, which won't be very noticeable anyway, it means you can eat more food without putting on weight.
Burning a lot more calories
Lifting weights will burn more calories than spending the same amount of time on the treadmill. When you go for a little jog your metabolism will slow down as soon as you've jumped off the machine, but after you've lifted weights your metabolism will still be on fire long after your session has finished. It means you'll lose weight quicker and with summer just around the corner you want to look as good as possible in your bikini when you're at the beach.
You'll look more toned
You won't be able to create the toned look without doing any form of resistance training. You will definitely lose a lot of body fat by going on a diet and doing lots of cardiovascular exercise, but when all is said and done you'll just look like a smaller version of your current self. The only way you'll get the toned look most women crave is by losing fat, but also by building a tiny bit of muscle which you'll get even if you don't lift seriously heavy weights.
Your daily life will improve
Guys who lift weights fall into two different camps. You've got the ones who want to build as much muscle as possible, but you also have the ones who only want to get stronger. If you can train like the strength athletes you'll build a lot more strength without it affecting your size or shape to any noticeable degree. Now throw in the fact your daily life will improve because you'll be a lot stronger and you'll realize it's crazy to spend all your time in the gym running on the treadmill.
I hope you're still reading
Now that you know you're not going to become huge or suffer a sudden brain injury by picking up a dumbbell I hope you can see there are a lot of benefits you'll be missing out on if you shy away from the weights. I only ask that you try them out a few times and once you see they're not so scary you might learn to love a little resistance training.
The author of this article, Karen Fernandes, is a freelance blogger who enjoys sharing her ideas and experiences online. Her hobbies include gardening and pottery. She likes travelling and exploring new places in her leisure time.