Ladies......don't be scared of the iron!!!!!!!

So very often in the gym I hear woman complaining that they are training 4-5 times per week yet never feel that they are getting the results that they desire and also work so hard to try to achieve.


When I ask what it is they are doing during their workouts, a lot of the time it seems that all they do is spend hours and hours, week after week just plodding away on a bike or a stepper,never dreaming of entering the weights and resistance section of the gym. When I ask why I am always given exactly the same answer every time..."weights wont help me to burn calories, they will just make me big and bulky..."


Yet this common response could not be further from the truth!!


First of all due to the fact that woman do not...and can not... produce as much testosterone as men ( testosterone is one of the main hormones that is responsible for increasing muscle size) it is impossible for girls to gain large amounts of muscle mass just because they do a bit of training with some weights!


The "body building" girls we so often see in magazines, on the Internet and on tv achieve such a drastic look by unfortunately taking anabolic steroids (synthetic testosterone). This level of muscle size which these woman achieve is probably also down to genetics as well as an unbelievable amount of hours spent in the gym. The way they look is what they spend their whole life trying to achieve, it is not done by accident!!


In fact, regularly using weights as part of your training programme will give you some great results. Not only will you get a lot leaner and stronger than if you are just doing cardio alone, you will also find that you drop your body fat percent a lot quicker....let me explain:


Lean muscle is what is known as "metabolically active"...what this means is that just by this muscle being on your body, it demands a certain amount of calories to maintain. So by using weights and increasing your lean muscle you will burn more calories even when you are resting or sleeping...eventually turning you into a calorie burning furnace!!!!!


For maximum results try using what are known as "compound exercises" meaning a series of exercises using the larger muscle groups of the body and usually more than one muscle group at a time.


So for the lower body try exercises such as squats, lunges or even a leg press machine. And for the upper body try exercises such and chest presses, shoulder presses and bent over rows...all can be performed using a barbell or dumbbells and on resistance machines.


And ladies, don't be afraid to lift heavy !! Of the few woman I do know who work out with weights most of them lift very light weights with sky high repetitions such as 20-30 reps each set. For better results and to get leaner quicker try making the weight heavier and only doing 6-8 reps, taking your muscles to failure on each set.


Try to record the weights you are lifting to help you monitor your progress.


Keep posted as I will soon be posting some of my favourite weight training workouts, as well as some advice on safe and effective training techniques, as well as some top tips to help you get the most from your time spent in the gym


Happy training!!
Glenn