Weight Lifting 101 for Women

If you have read about me and/or my fitness journey, you know that I first began exercising when I was 13 years old, at home, doing exercise videos. They all required free weights/dumbbells/whatever you want to call it. I always thought lifting weights was just a part of exercise. I did not worry about becoming "big and bulky". The women in the videos were not big and bulky, they were just really toned and had pretty muscle definition. I liked it. However, I can see why women worry about lifting weights. It is understandable. There are some women who partake in bodybuilding and try to become bigger. Women can, if they eat a very high caloric diet of protein and carbohydrates and pair that with lifting extremely heavy weights; but truth be known, they will need assistance from an artificial substance to become as big as some of them do. That is just the bold truth. I have friends all across the United States who are bodybuilders, bikini, and figure competitors, etc. and I have been around the industry for a long time. Naturally, women do not have the testosterone in their body to have the muscle enlargement that men do. However, every woman is different. What works for one woman may not work for another so when it comes to exercising, engage in activities that most positively respond to your body.

Weight lifting is important for every woman. There are so many benefits to it that cardio alone can not provide. If you pair weight lifting with a clean diet, you will start to see more results than you do with just cardio. Weight lifting and strength training increases bone density which is essential for us women, it burns more calories at rest, helps with stress and depression, increases "good" cholesterol, makes you stronger, it can assist with lowering blood pressure, and lowers the risk of breast cancer; as it reduces high estrogen levels linked to the disease. 

The first thing to understand about weight training is how important your form is. Correct form comes above anything when you are lifting weights. If you have lift a piece of paper because any other weight is too hard to do with correct form, then do it. If your form is not correct, you are wasting your time, not building muscle, and you are very susceptible to injury. 

There are many ways one could divide their workouts for weight training. You could do two body groups a day; a lot of my friends who are more focused on building muscle rather than fat loss, do this. I do not right now, as my primary focus is just fat loss. I have plenty of muscle, I just need to lose the fat on top of it.

If you decide to do two muscle groups a day, paired with cardio, I would recommend one "push" muscle and one "pull" muscle. The reason I recommend this is since the two body parts engage in different ranges and motions on the exercises, you do not burn out. You are able to lift heavier, more reps, and with correct form. 

12-15 reps are ideal for most women. If you want to focus more on really building muscle, go with 12 reps. That will be hard and it should be. The last two reps should be a struggle for you. If your focus is more on fat loss, go with 15 repetitions. However, even then the weight should not be easy. If you can perform all of your exercises with correct form, and are not struggling at the end, you need to bump your weight up. Your work outs should always be a challenge; if they aren't, you will stay where you are. I recommend 3-4 exercises per muscle group and 3 sets per specific exercises with 12 repetitions. A 60-90 second rest should occur after each set. Often times you will see it written as "3 x 12" - that means 3 sets of 12 repetitions. 

The way I personally lift weights now is by a weight circuit. I do this 3 times a week. The other days I like to hike, do a plyometric workout, leg, and core workouts. When I do my weight circuits, I do each upper body muscle group; one specific exercise, 3 sets of the exercises, and 15 repetitions per set. The body parts are back, chest, biceps, triceps, and shoulders. 

If you see below I have outlined each upper body muscle group and three specific exercises for each group. This is a sample you can go can buy for a week of training; this allows you three days of weight circuit. Engage in one exercise per muscle group, each day. Anyone can do this - you can do this at the gym or in your own home.

Weight Loss Fads I Do Not Follow

One thing I have learned about people while on my weight loss journey, as a Personal Trainer, and as a blogger who not only writes, but loves to read other blogs is: a lot of people are looking for a "quick fix" when it comes to losing weight. They go crazy over a new product that has become available as it promises to deliver a miracle, they can do something for only 5 days and drop 10 pounds, etc. When I was younger, I fell victim to a few of these, but I quickly learned that nearly everything is a gimmick.

If you want to lose a significant amount of weight and live a happy, healthy life, you need to fall in love with clean eating and regular exercise. Executing those two things are what guarantees a life of being fit. I will add this disclaimer that every persons body is different; what works for one person, may not work for someone else. You may love doing some of the "fads" that I don't; that is fine too! My writings, research, and opinions are not the only way to do things. "Different strokes for different folks".

1) Juicing

I like this idea if you do this naturally to get in more fruits and/or vegetables. If you have a juicer at home and you put fresh produce in there, make your own, and have it WITH a meal, I think juicing is fine. I would not use it in place of eating vegetables and fruits though. Juicing as weight loss, meal replacements, and/or to "cleanse" you, I do not believe is a good idea. Juicing all of your fruits and vegetables takes away a lot of nutrients; the skin is where an abundance of those are found. Furthermore, a diet of only "juicing" slows down your metabolism. Your body needs proper fuel to burn fat and provide energy. Juicing lacks significant amounts of protein, fat, carbohydrates, and fiber. Juicing alone cannot provide all of those nutrients. When a person starts significantly depriving themselves of those, the body shuts down to prevent itself from going into "starvation mode". The body begins burning muscle and storing fat. Then once your juice cleanse is over and you are back to eating regular, solid food, your body has a slower time digesting it and using it as expendable energy. Juicing is expensive from what I have found and can add a ton of unnecessary sugar. Your body has a colon and kidney's that "cleanse" your body, you do not need a "juice" to do that for you. Eat proper foods and exercise - that cleanses. 

2) No Carbs

I hate how carbohydrates have such a bad reputation. When I first started my weight loss journey, I told you guys how I researched and had notebooks full on information that I was finding. I not only wanted to lose weight, I wanted to learn and understand my body. I saw a lot of "low carb" diets and how it was the best way to lose weight. I thought I would try it and I did. I was miserable. How bad my mood was, was just the tip of the iceberg, plus I exercise far too much to deprive my body of essential carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are broken down into three different types: sugar, fiber, and starch. Simple carbohydrates are the delicious yet unhealthy types of carbohydrates to consume - a big base of those are sugar and starch. Complex carbohydrates such as fiber are essential for well-being, digestion, and energy. Carbohydrates provide a thermogenic effect that will increase calorie burning. The carbohydrates standard role is to be our MAIN source of energy and/or "fuel". Carbohydrates are also kind of like the "partner" for protein. This is called "protein sparing". The protein sparing effect conserves protein for muscle tissue, and expends carbohydrates for energy. Carbohydrates protect the protein you consume from being converted to glucose (sugar) to serve as an energy source when glycogen and plasma glucose levels decrease. Depriving your body of essential carbohydrates over a long period of time causes major stress on one's liver. The liver has to manufacture glucose from fats and proteins. Ammonia is produced as proteins are converted into glucose, which can be toxic to the immune system and cell function. Carbohydrates are especially essential to anyone who exercises heavily, athletes, etc. If you are not as active, high(er) carbohydrate intake is not necessary, but you still need to consume them. Consumption just needs to be the right items. See below for a list of complex carbohydrates.  

3) Fully relying on squats

I have always had big legs and a big butt; even when I was a child. Part of it is definitely genetics and part of it was growing up taking gymnastics and dancing. I hated my big legs and butt growing up, but now I am different, thankfully! I love my big booty and it is my favorite part on me physically. I love working my legs and glutes to the core. I always plan my leg workouts the day before my rest day from the gym. Most days I can't walk after my leg workouts! However, squats are not the be all, end all. I did not start regularly squatting until May of 2013. My butt was built on high incline walks (seriously high inclines are the best), heavy leg press, hip thrusts (definitely do these, they are more glute focused than squats), walking lunges, leg extension, leg curls, and and plyometric workouts. Squatting is an awesome exercise and I love to do it (specifically back squats), but it will not make you nor will it break you. That is kind of like buying a sports car, but it only coming with an engine. The engine is very important, but you need other parts of the car to make it run. Same with glutes and legs.

   

4) Cardio only - no weight training

This makes me give the "side eye" more than anything. "Lifting makes you big and bulky! I only want to do cardio!". People want to "tone up", what do you think toning up is? It is muscle!



First off my arms are hands down the worst part of my body. Guys I hate my arms - I want to love every part of me, but my arms? No way. They are slowly... so slowly... getting smaller, but I think they make me look so much bigger than what I am. They did not start improving until I started adding muscle. Lifting heavier and 3 times a week is what is helping shape my arms and make them smaller. Clean eating is the root of course, but when I really dedicated myself to lifting weights, that is when I started to see a difference. Woman do not naturally have nearly the testosterone that men do. Therefore, we will not get "huge" by lifting weights like they can. Sure if you artificially inject testosterone into your body, women can get huge, but not by clean eating and weight lifting. Adding muscle mass to your body burns more calories when you are at rest. Cardio is great, you burn fat and calories while you are engaging in your activity, but once you stop, it's over. However that is not the case with weight lifting. Your body continues to burn calories even after you finish. Muscle is metabolically active tissue. Growing older leads to your bones decreasing in density and becoming more brittle - especially in women. By doing regular strength training, research has proven that you can both increase your bone density and work to prevent osteoporosis. Weight training enhances performance in cardiovascular activity. How awesome is that? Add muscle to your body by weight lifting, which burns calories at rest, and assists in burning extra calories while you do your cardio workouts. You are stronger therefore can go harder and longer which melts fat away from your body. No matter how old I get or what type of fitness activities I get into, I will always be in the gym lifting my weights!

[Update] I received a few personal emails and comments from women who want to lift weights but are aren't sure how to start, what to do, they're intimidated, scared, etc. I will write a post about how I started weight lifting with tips, ideas, and advice for you guys! I will have that up within the next 2 weeks.