Women & Weight Training

What do you do when you are in a pinch for an entry? Borrow your own work, of course! Below is the research paper I drafted for my exercise physiology class. I feel weird about posting it here, but...what the hell. I need an entry and I've been pressed for time. So here you go. If you're at all interested... I got an A on this paper. ;) Oh, and I can't find my works cited, so ignore all the superscripts throughout...

Cheers!

There is a general perception that weight training is strictly for men. After all, women don’t need to be stronger, do they? And who wants big, rippling, bulky muscles? Weight rooms are testosterone infested territories that no right-minded woman would dare venture into. That’s just for guys, right? Wrong. Here’s a newsflash: It is critical that this common misconception be changed. The sooner more women begin to lift weights, the healthier these women will become overall. Weight training just may be the single best thing a woman can do to improve her health—for both now and later in life.

Women at any age can benefit from weight training. Younger women will enjoy the end results when their clothes fit more loosely (or better yet, when a new wardrobe is in order!) and their bodies are sleeker and tighter. Sexy muscles are in high demand thanks to well-toned celebrities. But while these stars can afford to effectively “buy” their bodies, the average woman can certainly get the same results from weight training at home or at a local gym with proper instruction. Starting a healthy trend that transcends into a lifestyle change can help women prevent the cold hard realities of aging: stiff joints, brittle bones and reduced mobility. Older women who are far less active now than they may have been thirty or forty years ago will benefit from weight training. While impaired muscle power is linked to disability and limited function in older people¹, it is never too late to slow down Father Time. Weight training can stave off the effects of osteoporosis, a degenerative disease that targets more women than men. The National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends “weight bearing and resistance training exercises” to help prevent osteoporosis² by increasing bone density. Improved functionality can be accomplished as simply as wearing a weighted vest. A study by the American Geriatric Society found that seniors with mobility problems gained strength in the lower body by wearing a weighted vest and stair climbing for up to a maximum of 45 minutes, three times a week for twelve weeks³. This improved mobility can only boost self esteem because the aging senior can rely on herself more than others.

The average woman is likely unaware of how important muscle strength is in her day to day life. But whether it’s lifting groceries, opening jars of pickles, or repeatedly picking up children all day long…muscle strength is required to do all this and more. A woman who doesn’t possess great muscle strength will tire easily and spend more time desperately trying to get rested. Building muscles strength will improve this day to day functionality. In a study completed by the University of Massachusetts and appearing in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, both men and women participated in a resistance training program to assess the variability in muscle size and strength changes. After twelve weeks of training, researchers found that women made more considerable gains in relative strength than men⁴. And if there ever were a group of women who should benefit from gains in strength it would have to be the elderly. Thankfully, they can and do. “I started working with a 92 year-old woman after she fell and broke her ankle,” says Miriam Nelson, an exercise physiologist at Tufts University and author of Strong Women Stay Young. “She now lifts 12 lbs with each leg, and 8 to 10 lbs with each hand. Her balance has improved significantly, and she’s bowling again.”⁵

The most amusing misconception that women have is that weight training will make them bulk up (fortunately most women don’t have the necessary testosterone in their body to attain such a feat). But in actuality, the reverse is far more likely; the average woman will lose fat as she builds muscle. Indeed, researchers at the University of Minnesota conducted a two year study that found that women who strength trained one hour a day, twice a week lost almost 4% body fat while their non-exercising peers lost nothing⁶. And lifting weights can increase the body’s metabolism as much as 7%⁷. So while the typical woman rests comfortably on the couch enjoying the latest episode of Grey’s Anatomy, her body will be hard at work repairing and building up the proteins in her muscles that she shredded when curling those fifteen pound dumbbells. What does that do in the long run? This results in a leaner, more sculpted body, that’s what! So if strength training is such a fabulous answer to a chiseled body, what is keeping women out of the weight room? Could it really be the fear of bulking up? “I’ve never had a female client who isn’t worried about that,” says Larry Krug, a personal trainer at Crunch Fitness in Los Angeles. “It’s the very first thing they’ll ask about.”⁸ And the idea of “de-feminization” of college athletes who strength train continues to be a major concern of coaches, athletes and parents.⁹ This antiquated perception of weight training for women is proven nonsense and especially disheartening considering that a weight training regimen can significantly improve the quality of life for women of all ages.

You can call it whatever you want: weight training, strength training or even resistance training. The important thing is to Do It. The many proven benefits of lifting weights will only improve the quality of life for our mothers, sisters, best friends and wives. Creating a support system for women is a necessity for those who aren’t initially comfortable entering the “male dominated” weight rooms. This could be as simple as getting friends together to lift, spot and gossip. Ultimately women will discover that the gender gap is closing quickly in the weight room as more females discover the benefits of weight training.