Reasons why women should do strength training

Many women are afraid to do strength training. Instead, they prefer to do yoga, go running or do gymnastics exercises. There are many reasons for this: they are afraid of quickly building up too much muscle mass and losing their feminine curves, damaging their joints or putting on a lot of fat as soon as they stop strength training. The reason for thoughts of this kind are stereotypes of women who do weight training: Toned female bodybuilders with a tiny amount of body fat, so that veins are visible on the arms and other parts of the body. In the following article, you will find out why your worries are unfounded and what positive effects strength training has for women.

Calorie consumption and feminine curves

Training with weights costs your body a lot of energy - it consumes more energy than most endurance sports. A positive side effect is the afterburn value (technical term: additional oxygen intake after the end of work). This means that your body needs more oxygen for certain metabolic processes not only during a strenuous training session, but also for hours afterwards. The consequence of this is that you continue to burn calories after strength training - very pleasant for women who want to lose weight, but also for those who simply want to tone their body a little.
You can think of your muscles as little power stations - except that they don't run on coal or gas, but on energy from your food. When you build up muscle mass, your "body power plant" is bigger than before and therefore requires more energy. The greater the proportion of muscle in your total body weight, the more calories you burn, even when you are resting. Endurance sports only build up relatively little muscle mass, which is why this effect hardly plays a role here.
The energy supply during aerobic activities (e.g. endurance sports) is fundamentally different from that during anaerobic activities (e.g. strength training). If you do a lot of endurance training, you not only lose fat, but also muscle mass. As a result, you lose your feminine curves. The situation is different with strength training (unless you reduce your body fat percentage to a minimum with numerous diets): Exercises such as squats and deadlifts ensure slim, toned legs and a beautiful bottom.

Effects on physical health

According to studies, the quality of sleep of people who do weight training is improved: they fall asleep faster, are better able to sleep through the night and generally rate their sleep as more restful and better. However, women who suffer from sleep problems should be careful not to do their strength training too late in the day: Until about two hours after your workout, you have a higher level of body activity, which makes it harder to fall asleep. Training sessions should therefore take place in the morning or afternoon if possible.

Muscles are not only needed for all kinds of physical exertion, they also have a supporting and stabilizing function. If you regularly train your back and abdominal muscles, you will improve your posture. Posture-related pain in the back and neck occurs less frequently, as you unconsciously adopt a straight - and therefore optimal - posture.
Strength training is also a "matter of the heart": studies have shown that women who regularly do strength training have a healthier cardiovascular system on average. Risk factors such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar levels and a high waist circumference are therefore less common in them than in untrained test subjects. This means you remain resilient even in old age and can cope with everyday activities without much effort.

Osteoporosis, also known as "bone loss", is a particular problem for women after the menopause, when oestrogen levels slowly decline. As a result, the density of the bones decreases, making fractures more frequent and posture increasingly poor. However, this process can be effectively slowed down with regular strength training - endurance training such as swimming or cycling is not enough.

Consequences for the psyche

In the hours after strength training, many exercisers - both men and women - feel more active and full of energy. This is a consequence of the "increased oxygen intake after work". Those who train regularly can of course benefit from this pleasant effect more often and feel healthier and simply fit in the long term. The positive body feeling is also transferred to other areas and ensures greater balance and self-confidence.

Sport is the ideal, healthy balance for stress in everyday life. What's more, people who regularly go to the gym to train with weights are better able to cope with stressful situations later in life than people who never exercise. In addition, memory and cognitive abilities are better preserved in old age.

Conclusion

Strength training also has many positive effects on women's physical and mental health. Not only does it ensure that your body fat percentage drops automatically and your feminine curves come into their own, it also has a positive effect on your posture, your cardiovascular system and your mental and physical resilience.

You don't have to worry that you will have an extremely muscular body like most professional bodybuilders - most of these women have ideal genetic conditions for muscle building and also help with all kinds of substances.