Hi All
I hope you had a good week filled with great nutrition and training. I have a had a great week filled with some awesome sessions with clients celebrating birthdays ( Happy Birthday Noura), a new group of TRXers!!! and of course the Pumpers and Attackers that keep bringing the energy!!
It is also a BIG week for me in that I have decided to relocate in the new year
to a new country. I will hopefully make some bodies better in Kuwait.... I also hope that my new clients will be as equally as lovely as they are here in Riyadh.
So before my cyber tears start I will get on with the serious stuff and outline
this weeks blog, which is simply.
Setting the story straight - ironing out some fitness myths regarding women and lifting weights
My top five!!!!
With working in the fitness industry and of course being based in a ladies only gym I am regularly confronted with women concerned about weight training. With this blog, I'd like to share the facts regarding weight training for females.
Myth #1 -Weight training makes you bulky and masculine.
FALSE... This is probably the main one I hear " I don't want BIG BULKY MUSCLES.... Rest assured you will not .... here is why. In order for
muscles to grow a large amount of the hormone testosterone needs to be present, women naturally do not produce sufficient amounts in comparison to our male counterparts. It is impossible for a woman to gain huge amounts of muscle mass by merely touching some weights. You may see women bodybuilders that are quite big however it is unfortunate to say that the majority use anabolic steroids (synthetic testosterone) along with other drugs in order to achieve this. You may also see some ladies that are very well conditioned. Tse women will more than likely have been blessed with good genetics coupled with an unbelievable work ethic that enable them to gain muscle quickly when they lift heavy weights. But bear in mind that THEY WANT TO LOOK LIKE THAT!!!!! Women who conduct weight training without the use of steroids get the firm and fit cellulite-free looking body.
Myth #2 - Resistance exercises will increases your chest size.
FALSE... Sorry to burst everyone's bubble, I WISH. Breasts
are composed mostly of fatty tissue, not muscle, therefore, it is impossible to
increase breast size through weight training. Quite the opposite actually, if
you are training hard and decreasing body fat you will find that your breast
size will decrease. However weight training DOES increase the size of the back,
which may make your upper body feel larger and as such you may increase in cup size. The only way to increase your breast size is by gaining fat or getting
breast implants.
Myth #3 - If you stop weight training your muscles turn into fat and vice versa if you train with weights fat will turn into muscle.
FALSE....I ask you the question can wood turn to metal????
Muscle and fat are two totally different types of tissue. The science bit is
that when you exercise and lose weight your body will lose fat, water and a
little muscle, however correct nutritional manipulation and resistance based
exercises will tone shape and grow the muscle, so where you lose one you gain
the other they don't turn into one another. People have this idea because when
they have been carrying out a resistance program and then stop, they start losing muscle due to inactivity (use it or lose it) and they also usually drop the diet as well. So it gives the impression that the muscle is being turned into fat
while in reality what is happening is that muscle is being lost and fat is being
accumulated.
Myth #4 - As long as you exercise you can eat anything that you want.
FALSE.... That would be everyone's genie wish!!!! How your body
deals with food etc is mainly determined by your individual metabolism, each
persons calorie requirement is different. Bottom line is that if you eat more
calories than you burn on a consistent basis, your body will accumulate these as fat regardless of the amount of exercise that we do. However there are some
exceptions some individuals (hard gainers) have very high metabolic rates that
no matter how much they eat or what they eat, they rarely meet or exceed the
amount of calories that they burn in one day unless they put their mind to doing so.
Myth #5 - Women only need to do cardio and if they decide
to lift weights, they should be very light.
FALSE... My favourite one!!! OK yes we all need cardio exercise for health benefits but everyone's workout should be balanced with sufficient amount of CV, Resistance and stretching etc. If all you do is cardio then muscle and fat would be burned for fuel, resulting in that soft look with norshape of definition. Women that only concentrate on cardio will have a very
hard time achieving that shapely look that they want. As far as the lifting of
very light weights, (head in hands) this is just more nonsense. When training
with weights to achieve that shapely look, the muscle needs to be challenged and if the resistance is too light and the muscle is not fatigued then, there will be no reason for the body to change, and ultimately a waste of time.... To see the change you must feel!!!!!
Please please please do not be afraid of the weights area. Here are a few benefits to finish off, why you should train with weights-
You will be stronger without the bulk,
Body fat will decrease,
Decreased risk of osteoporosis,
Decreased risk of injury,
Sporting performance will improve,
Decreased risk of diabetes, heart disease,
Decreased risk of depression.
So on that note, I hope you enjoyed this article and also its never too late to start. My mum started 7 years ago when I persuaded her with
my charms and today she looks better than she did 15 years ago... we get
mistaken for sisters....check out a recent picture of her above!!!!
Until next week
Stay Healthy
Jill
I hope you had a good week filled with great nutrition and training. I have a had a great week filled with some awesome sessions with clients celebrating birthdays ( Happy Birthday Noura), a new group of TRXers!!! and of course the Pumpers and Attackers that keep bringing the energy!!
It is also a BIG week for me in that I have decided to relocate in the new year
to a new country. I will hopefully make some bodies better in Kuwait.... I also hope that my new clients will be as equally as lovely as they are here in Riyadh.
So before my cyber tears start I will get on with the serious stuff and outline
this weeks blog, which is simply.
Setting the story straight - ironing out some fitness myths regarding women and lifting weights
My top five!!!!
With working in the fitness industry and of course being based in a ladies only gym I am regularly confronted with women concerned about weight training. With this blog, I'd like to share the facts regarding weight training for females.
Myth #1 -Weight training makes you bulky and masculine.
FALSE... This is probably the main one I hear " I don't want BIG BULKY MUSCLES.... Rest assured you will not .... here is why. In order for
muscles to grow a large amount of the hormone testosterone needs to be present, women naturally do not produce sufficient amounts in comparison to our male counterparts. It is impossible for a woman to gain huge amounts of muscle mass by merely touching some weights. You may see women bodybuilders that are quite big however it is unfortunate to say that the majority use anabolic steroids (synthetic testosterone) along with other drugs in order to achieve this. You may also see some ladies that are very well conditioned. Tse women will more than likely have been blessed with good genetics coupled with an unbelievable work ethic that enable them to gain muscle quickly when they lift heavy weights. But bear in mind that THEY WANT TO LOOK LIKE THAT!!!!! Women who conduct weight training without the use of steroids get the firm and fit cellulite-free looking body.
Myth #2 - Resistance exercises will increases your chest size.
FALSE... Sorry to burst everyone's bubble, I WISH. Breasts
are composed mostly of fatty tissue, not muscle, therefore, it is impossible to
increase breast size through weight training. Quite the opposite actually, if
you are training hard and decreasing body fat you will find that your breast
size will decrease. However weight training DOES increase the size of the back,
which may make your upper body feel larger and as such you may increase in cup size. The only way to increase your breast size is by gaining fat or getting
breast implants.
Myth #3 - If you stop weight training your muscles turn into fat and vice versa if you train with weights fat will turn into muscle.
FALSE....I ask you the question can wood turn to metal????
Muscle and fat are two totally different types of tissue. The science bit is
that when you exercise and lose weight your body will lose fat, water and a
little muscle, however correct nutritional manipulation and resistance based
exercises will tone shape and grow the muscle, so where you lose one you gain
the other they don't turn into one another. People have this idea because when
they have been carrying out a resistance program and then stop, they start losing muscle due to inactivity (use it or lose it) and they also usually drop the diet as well. So it gives the impression that the muscle is being turned into fat
while in reality what is happening is that muscle is being lost and fat is being
accumulated.
Myth #4 - As long as you exercise you can eat anything that you want.
FALSE.... That would be everyone's genie wish!!!! How your body
deals with food etc is mainly determined by your individual metabolism, each
persons calorie requirement is different. Bottom line is that if you eat more
calories than you burn on a consistent basis, your body will accumulate these as fat regardless of the amount of exercise that we do. However there are some
exceptions some individuals (hard gainers) have very high metabolic rates that
no matter how much they eat or what they eat, they rarely meet or exceed the
amount of calories that they burn in one day unless they put their mind to doing so.
Myth #5 - Women only need to do cardio and if they decide
to lift weights, they should be very light.
FALSE... My favourite one!!! OK yes we all need cardio exercise for health benefits but everyone's workout should be balanced with sufficient amount of CV, Resistance and stretching etc. If all you do is cardio then muscle and fat would be burned for fuel, resulting in that soft look with norshape of definition. Women that only concentrate on cardio will have a very
hard time achieving that shapely look that they want. As far as the lifting of
very light weights, (head in hands) this is just more nonsense. When training
with weights to achieve that shapely look, the muscle needs to be challenged and if the resistance is too light and the muscle is not fatigued then, there will be no reason for the body to change, and ultimately a waste of time.... To see the change you must feel!!!!!
Please please please do not be afraid of the weights area. Here are a few benefits to finish off, why you should train with weights-
You will be stronger without the bulk,
Body fat will decrease,
Decreased risk of osteoporosis,
Decreased risk of injury,
Sporting performance will improve,
Decreased risk of diabetes, heart disease,
Decreased risk of depression.
So on that note, I hope you enjoyed this article and also its never too late to start. My mum started 7 years ago when I persuaded her with
my charms and today she looks better than she did 15 years ago... we get
mistaken for sisters....check out a recent picture of her above!!!!
Until next week
Stay Healthy
Jill
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