Strength Training Benefits For Women: Way More Than Just A Flat, Sexy Stomach

In the end though, what it comes down to is the biggest benefit you as a woman will get out of doing resistance exercise is...

It will help you live life to its absolute fullest.

Strength training can help you feel better physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. The benefits extend way beyond having a "flat, sexy stomach".

How Strength Training Helps You Feel Better Physically

Strength Training Makes Everyday Activities Easier

Whether it's...

• Carrying a baby or toddler;
• Pushing a baby stroller;
• Lugging groceries from the car into the house;
• Pushing a lawn mower;
• Shoveling snow;
• Moving furniture;
• Lifting items off a shelf;

It's empowering when you can get through a hectic, busy day with energy left to spare. With strong muscles tasks that sap others will feel like nothing to you.

Strength Training Helps Keep Your Body From Aging Prematurely

Perhaps the greatest benefit of strength training for women is how it reverses the aging process. And fortunately it doesn't mater how old you are when you begin lifting weights. You can see almost immediate results from your efforts. Consider Beatrice Maullin of Pasadena, California. At the age of 74, after lifting weights for seven years, she entered and won her first weight lifting competition.

Which one of these strength training benefits would you like to experience?

Increased bone density - Osteoporosis affects approximately 1 in 4 women over the age of 50. Having weak, porous bones decreases your mobility and can make you dependent on others. While osteoporosis can strike at any age, the fact is it's more prevalent among women going through menopause.

Strength training has been shown to not only stop the loss of bone density but it can actually increase bone density. No other exercise can make that claim...not walking...not running...nothing. And...these exercises do nothing to increase the density of bones in the upper body like the spine, neck or shoulders. Only strength training can do that.

Increased muscle mass - While many women are familiar with osteoporosis, there's a new threat to the health of women everywhere. It's called...

Sarcopenia.

Defined as the age-related loss of muscle mass, strength and function, the physical and financial costs of Sarcopenia are staggering. The loss of muscle mass and strength results in millions of people being confined to wheel chairs placed in permanent care facilities prematurely.

Greater flexibility - By performing exercises that move your muscles through their full range of motion, you can significantly improve that muscle's flexibility even without performing any specific stretching exercises. Improved flexibility is very important as we age to help prevent injury due to falling or slipping.

If you fall and your muscles are flexible, they are able to move easily in different directions, reducing the chance of sustaining serious injury. If, however, your muscles have the elasticity of a steel wire, then something has to give as you fall. The result is often torn tendons, ligaments and muscles, dislocated limbs or broken bones.

Protection you from injuries - The stronger your muscles are, the better equipped you are for dealing with life's unexpected surprises such as a slip on the ice, or tripping on a crack in the pavement. Strength training can protect you from injuries sustained while doing mundane activities such as shoveling snow, cleaning the gutters, taking out the trash and teeing up a golf ball (a huge contributor to low back injuries). And without a doubt, it helps to protect you from injuries sustained during sports.

Greater muscle tone. - One of the biggest complaints I'd hear from my female clients was the "turkey waddle" under the arms. No doubt about it, firm, strong muscles make you appear younger.

Improved skin appearance - As time goes by, your skin becomes less elastic. When you take inelastic skin and add a loss of muscle, you end up with saggy skin. Increase your muscle size and you maintain a tighter, more youthful appearance to your skin.

Lower cholesterol - Strength training has been shown to improve your good cholesterol (HDL) and decrease bad cholesterol (LDL).

Improved Digestion - Wayne Westcott, Ph.D., and research director at the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, Massachusetts states that a recent study showed a 56 percent decrease in gastrointestinal transit time after three months of strength training. This is significant because delayed digestion puts you at a higher risk for colon cancer.

Reduced resting blood pressure - Strength training alone has been shown to lower resting blood pressure. When combined with cardiovascular exercise, it gets even better. After just two months of exercise, exercisers were able to reduce their systolic pressure by 5 mm Hg and their diastolic reading by 3 mm Hg.

Reduced arthritic pain - On its website, the Arthritis Foundation writes: "You may think that exercise and arthritis do not go hand in hand. If so, you would be mistaken. It was thought for many years that if you had arthritis you should not exercise because it would damage your joints. Now, however, research has shown that exercise is an essential tool in managing your arthritis. Mainly, exercise reduces joint pain and stiffness, builds strong muscle around the joints, and increases flexibility and endurance. It also helps promote overall health and fitness by giving you more energy, helping you sleep better, controlling your weight, decreasing depression, and giving you more self-esteem."

Reduced back pain - Over time your muscle and bone strength decreases. This strain can result in low back pain. For some women, large breasts create an almost constant strain on the lower back. Similarly, pregnancy places tremendous demands on the lower back.

It makes sense that, if the muscles surrounding your spine are strong, they will be more able to protect the spine from undue pressure and stress. Weak midsections and lower weak back muscles contribute to countless hours of time lost in the workplace. Just a few minutes a week spent strengthening the back could dramatically improve your quality of life. I know it has for my clients.

Helps Prevent or Control Type II Diabetes - Over time, the body builds up a resistance to insulin and the body has trouble processing the sugars in the blood. This can lead to adult onset diabetes. The good news is, just four months of regular strength training has been shown to increase glucose uptake by a whopping 23 percent, meaning the body is able to process carbohydrates more efficiently, decreasing the risk of serious disease.

Increased metabolism - Your BMR or basal metabolic rate is the rate at which you burn calories. While several factors contribute to your BMR, one major factor is the amount of muscle your body has. Unlike fat that just sits on your body, muscle is an active tissue, requiring a continuous supply of energy. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn each and every day.

Strength Training Helps Improve Your Physical Appearance

Each year, women spend billions of dollars trying to look better. While cosmetics, injections, lifts and tucks can help, they certainly can't make up for a body that looks run-down. By lifting weights, you can greatly improve the way you look without spending thousands of dollars to do it.

Improved posture - How often did you hear your mother tell you to stand up straight? Nothing projects confidence and beauty like good posture. Weak back muscles prevent your body from easily maintaining proper posture. By strengthening the muscles in your back and shoulders, you can greatly improve your posture.

Improved physique - You can't fight genetics. If you're shaped like a pear - narrow across the shoulders and wider at the hips - nothing you do will give you the classic wide shoulder "superhero" physique. However, you can use weight training to make the most of what you've been given. Strength training can widen your shoulders, giving the appearance of narrower hips and therefore balance out your physique.

Decreased body fat levels - Strength training has one distinct advantage over cardio when it comes to fat burning. It increases your metabolism for up to 24 hours after your workout. Cardio on the other hand may increase your metabolism for just a few hours. If you've found it difficult to lose weight and keep it off by doing just cardio exercise, you may be delightfully surprised by the results you experience when you add strength training to your routine.

How Strength Training Benefits You Emotionally

Becoming fitter and stronger, being able to deal more easily with day to day challenges, looking more attractive all lead to increased levels of confidence. Being stronger will allow you to try new things such as participating in a fitness competition, like in the case of 74 year-old Beatrice Maullin or maybe even take up a new sport like diving. You might even choose to become a fitness coach like I did and help others experience the many benefits of strength training for women.

While feelings of confidence come from your new-found abilities, strength training affects your body physiologically to improve the way you feel. For instance, feelings of depression can be alleviated by controlling blood sugar and through the release of endorphins.

If Strength Training Is So Great Why Don't More People Do It?

If strength training is so important and offers so many benefits, why do people not do it? I've found that there are four main reasons why people avoid strength training:

1. Lack of know-how - People in general fear what they do not understand. Strength training is no different. Unsure of which exercises to do, how to do them or how often to do them, people feel it's much easier to take up something easy like walking.
2. A perceived lack of time - Lack of time is the number one reason given for not starting an
3. Lack of Know-How - Unlike walking or even jogging, strength training does require the willingness to learn new skills and the patience to perfect those skills. By far, the best way to learn how to perform strength training exercises is to hire a professional fitness coach. I would recommend starting with five sessions to start. Then take it from there. If money is a concern, check out the free online exercise videos found on this site and others.

   Avoid looking to other people at the gym for guidance. You'll just end up learning the bad habits passed on from one generation of gym rats to the next.

By now, it should be clear how beneficial it is for you to start lifting weights or performing some form of resistance exercise. However, if you don't support your efforts with a solid nutritional program, you'll only end up feeling frustrated. To help you better understand the food you eat without resorting to fad diets I've written a comprehensive guide titled, TAKING IT OFF! It may be the best $14.95 you spend.