Weightlifting for Weight Loss

One of my pet peeves is when girls tell me they don't lift weights because they don't want to look like this:

You will not become this without some medicinal help (aka steroids). Women just don't have the capacity to build muscle like that naturally. So no need to worry about that happening to you if you lift weights. This will never become your body unless you work extremely hard to achieve it. What you may achieve through lifting weights could be a body like this:

This is Jaime Eason a popular fitness model and trainer on bodybuilding.com. She advocates weight lifting and lifting a lot of weight. In order to have her lean and defined body she lifts some heavy weight. I've been following her 12 week program on bodybuilding.com and it is fabulous. There are some things I'd change about it in order to use time better and help recover your muscles. It's a great program nonetheless. 

Now if the visuals weren't convincing enough let me tell you a couple of facts. Weight lifting increases your metabolism. No food you eat will increase your metabolism. Sorry to burst any bubbles but you can not do that through diet. The way your metabolism is the calorie requirement that your body needs to function each day. Muscle mass uses the highest amount of calories. The more body mass and muscle mass you have the higher your metabolism will be. Since most people do not want to increase their body mass the only way to increase your metabolism is through increasing your muscle mass. We increase our muscle mass by lifting weights! Weightlifting burns about 9 calories a minute during the exercise but it continues to burn calories throughout the next 24 hours. It increases your body's need for energy during the time in which the muscle is repairing itself. 

So in summary weight lifting is good for weight loss because it will increase your metabolism, help you look like Jaime Eason, and still burn a ton of calories during your workout.  

For those of you ladies who are more concerned about your health, I have a few facts for you too. Exercise, such as weight lifting, lowers your blood pressure and helps you handle stress better. Any weight-bearing exercise has been shown to help lower your risk of osteoporosis. This is common as women age and can be very dangerous. Weight-bearing exercise like weight lifting helps to prevent bone loss and strengthen muscles. Muscle growth begins to slow and stop as we reach middle age. Many people see that they lose muscle mass at the same time. this also means their metabolism slows down. However most people continue to eat the way they have their whole life. These are common reason's for weight gain as you reach middle adulthood. By continuing to lift weights throughout this time you can maintain your muscle mass and your metabolism. Like they say, if you don't use it, you lose it. 

How to apply this to your life:

I recommend that all women incorporate weightlifting into their routine. I'd recommend at least 3 days a week that focuses on weight lifting. There are several resources you can use to begin a program. ACE has an exercise library by muscle group. their explanations are very thorough and  have pictures. Bodybuilding.com also has an exercise library by muscle group. Both of these databases have rating systems to tell you which moves are good for beginners, intermediates, and advanced populations. If you are interested in weight loss I recommend lifting weights first (to help build muscle and get that post-workout calorie consumption) followed by a session of cardio. This will help you burn a lot of calories and gain the lean defined body you desire.

Happy lifting! :)