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7 Benefits of Strength Training
Lifting weights is not just for men. As a matter of fact, all personal trainers and bodybuilders will tell you that lifting weights is better than cardio. However, cardio exercises where you exercise for longer, with a lower amount of weight or even without it is the most popular choice.
Lifting weights is a strength workout, meaning that you train your muscles for delivering full strength over a shorter period of time (completely different than a cardio workout). This is simply related to some impressive benefits you will get, so let’s see them.
1. Burn more fat than ever before
During a cardio workout, you burn muscle and fat. What this means is that you will burn less fat than you may want to. Strength workouts or lifting weights if you prefer will burn mostly fat. In simple terms, you will lose more weight than ever before, but you will exercise for a shorter period of time.
The best part is the fact once you have mastered a weight limit, you will increase it and continue getting this benefit. In general, this is the first and the most important reason why women should lift weights.
2. You will get lovely curves
One of the biggest issues with cardio workouts is muscle burning. This is a side effect and it cannot be undone. In essence, you burn fat, but your muscles will also decline, as we already mentioned above. As a result, women will look fit and they will lose weight, but they will lack a toned and curvaceous body.
Today, women with curves are more attractive to men, most men see a strong woman as sexy. The best way you can get a curvy and toned body is by lifting weights. Your muscles will become bigger and stronger, therefore curves will appear.
3. Increased amount of burned calories
Our body is designed to burn calories as fuel and therefore provide us energy. No matter what you do, you will burn calories, but the amount of them will vary. For example, just reading this article you burn calories, but the amount is very low. During cardio exercising, you burn a lot more calories, but still fewer than while lifting weights.
This kind of exercising will require the use of more muscle before and after the training, those muscles will have to recover, so they will need more calories to burn. Important: Now you know that burning calories and fat are the main advantages of lifting weights, so this is the ultimate solution for women who want to lose weight.
4. Sleep quality will be better
Yes. Lifting weights will help you sleep better. According to the study, published in the Sport Media Journal, lifting weights is related to better and longer sleep. Better means that the quality of sleep will be improved, so you will wake up in the morning with more energy and you will be more relaxed.
How this is possible is actually very simple. By burning more calories, fat, and energy, you will require more time to gain them back. Muscles and body, in general, will require more time to repair themselves, so you will have to sleep longer (human body repairs itself while sleeping). Tip: Women need between 8 and 10 hours of sleep per day in order to rest completely.
5. Better body flexibility
Almost all women believe that Yoga and cardio exercising is the ultimate way to improve flexibility. Although most of them are right, scientists have discovered that strength exercising also improves flexibility. They performed a series of tests and determined that women can get the same, or even better flexibility by lifting weights.
This is possible due to full-motion. In general, you lift and perform a full-motion move, which makes a set of muscles and bones more flexible. Because you exercise under stress, the end results will be seen much sooner. The key fact here is the weight you should use. Always start with a lower weight and build your way up. The number of reps cannot be generalized. Here, more is always better.
6. More and more energy
The human body is designed to use as few calories as possible. Calories mean energy, so burning them is definitely something you should do. In a case of lifting weights, you will get more energy during the workout and after.
This occurs because your body will need a lot more energy while exercising than ever before. This leads to better oxygen oxidation and chemical process optimizations. After your workout, you will still have more energy, because your body is prepared for it. Fatigue and chronic low energy levels can be solved after just a few workouts. Don’t forget that you will get more and more energy as you advance in exercising.
7. Promoter of overall health
We saved the best for the end. Lifting weights is related to several benefits on health. In essence, it is more than just important for overall health and for specific organs. First of all, your heart will get additional benefits. It will pump more blood and more nutrients than usual. This has been linked to a lower blood pressure and lower risk of heart diseases. After the training, you can expect a lower heart rate as well.
Your muscles are attached to your bones. When you lift the weight you increase the stress on the bones as well. The body will interpret this as something that must be solved, so new bone cells will be produced. Yes, your bones will be stronger. We will also add the fact that the entire skeleton will get these benefits.
These are just 7 reasons why women should lift weights. In reality, you can expect up to 30 different reasons. Each reason is one benefit more, so you can imagine the end result. We will have to tell you that this kind of workout doesn’t have any side effects nor drawbacks.