As you’d expect being a fat loss specialist I talk to many women about training and how to get the best body shape. It still amazes me that despite all the benefits you can read about, women still shy away from the very style of training that will get them the best results.

When I get past the usual weight loss questions, I find out that women really do want the tighter arms, a flatter stomach and a smaller bottom! Women want to look in the mirror in their underwear and like what they see.

One of the first things you notice when you walk into M10 is that there isn’t rows of treadmills and x trainers, you see dumbbells, racks of barbells, machines and benches. Look around your local gym or health club and tell me what section has more women with the little bottoms, toned arms and flat stomachs, you’ll come back to me and tell me that it’s the weights area right?

So why do we still see more women than ever pounding out the miles on the treadmills and cross trainers or hitting it hard in spin classes every night? In many cases I feel its lack of knowledge and a lack of confidence about how to lift weights.

In life how much easier does something become once you feel more confident about it? You feel at ease in that environment and are more likely to return time and time again.  It’s important that women learn how to lift weights which will in turn increase their confidence to train in the free weights areas. Once they start to spend more time lifting, their results will improve dramatically.

When I assess a female client who spends more time on the treadmill than she does at home, I come across poor flexibility in the thighs and hips, a pelvis that is tilted forward (especially post natal), glute muscles that aren’t firing correctly, complaints of lower back pain and rounded shoulders. These aren’t areas that can be improved by simply prescribing more work on a treadmill. These areas need strengthening and then progressing.

How many times have you started at the gym and quit after a very short time? When you stick to cardiovascular training you will inevitably get bored as there are very little progressions you can make. Your body will always adjust to the level of work you are putting in and you will find that your results will stagnate. With strength training, progress can always be made and there are so many variables you can use.

One of the main things that scares women when they learn that they’re going to be lifting weights is the worry about getting big muscles. You’ve probably heard this a hundred times before but you really won’t end up like Arnold Schwarzenegger if you start lifting. Why, well women typically have 10% of the testosterone that men have. Testosterone is the primary muscle building hormone, so since women have less of this hormone they’re really going to struggle to gain large amounts of muscle mass.

One of our female clients strength training at M10

Many women don’t eat anywhere near enough to develop a lot of muscle mass. To make considerable changes to your body shape, you must however develop some lean muscle. You must create damage to the muscles (through strength training) and then provide them with adequate protein to support repair and grow, after all this is what will give you more tone and shape. To make sure you are hitting your protein goal I recommend that you eat at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. For a 60 kg women this will be 130 grams of protein spread out over 5 meals so roughly 25 grams of protein per meal (medium chicken breast).

So what are the main benefits to strength training?

• Stronger bones and connective tissue - lifting weights is load bearing exercise which helps strengthen your bones. Maintaining strong and healthy bones lowers your risk of osteoporosis.
  
  
• Lifting weights increases EPOC (Excessive post exercise oxygen consumption) - Your body always likes to return to a state of natural balance after anything that it does, this is called homeostasis. When you lift weights your body has to work very hard to bring you back to balance. This extra energy required burns calories for many more hours after your session.
  
  
• Your metabolic rate will increase – For every pound of lean muscle mass you gain you burn an extra 50 calories per day.
  
  
• Decrease your risk of injury – lifting weights helps you develop stronger tendons, this gives your joints more support and stability through daily task.
  
  
• Boost stamina and energy levels – when you are stronger you have more energy for day to day tasks and you don’t get anywhere near as tired.
  
  
• Increase your self confidence – I’m yet to come across a woman you hasn’t felt 100% better in herself from uncovering the body of her dreams. The benefits of increased self confidence carries over into your relationships not just the ones with your friends but also with your loved ones.
  
  
• You have so much more variation available to you if you lift – You can change to countless exercises for different muscle groups, change the reps, sets, tempo and rest. If you just do cardio you only have that one bit of kit to use and you cover the same distance time after time without seeing improvements.
   
• Anti – aging – You lose muscle and strength as you age, however if you strength train you will develop and retain your strength and muscle mass helping to maintain your youthful shape.
  
  
• Reduction in body fat levels - This goes hand in hand with having more lean muscle mass and speeding your metabolic rate up. Lowering body fat reduces the amount of toxins in your body which improves the quality and elasticity of your skin.
  
  
• When women lifts weights regularly they tell me that they feel empowered, stronger and so much sexier. They feel amazing and have a completely different perspective on life.

The difference in women that change their body shape through strength training over weight loss and hours doing conventional cardio is night and day.