Another rant about the obesity epidemic? Good guess, but no. Today I'd like to share with you a few reasons to give heavy weight lifting a try!
Most women are fairly comfortable with lifting the usual 3-5 lb. dumbbells found in the corner of the aerobics studio at your favorite gym. In fact, I use these light weights all the time in my Zumba classes. If you plan to do lots of repetitions at a moderate to fast tempo, then light weights are your only safe bet. The good thing about picking up these little baby weights is that you can be fairly certain you are not going to injure your shoulder or give yourself a hernia. But you also may be missing out on many of the benefits that heavy lifting provides.
Before I go any further, if you are considering diving into some power lifting, you absolutely MUST get a trainer. Work with someone who has been lifting these heavy weights for years, who knows how to teach you the perfect form, and who can spot you so that you will not end up injured. If you belong to a gym, you can probably ask around and find the trainer most highly recommended on the staff there. Or google your local Crossfit gym for an expensive but well worth the money trainer. Crossfit also posts videos online that can help you learn all the basic weightlifting moves, but I would never advise anyone to start out without an experienced trainer.
But why try to lift heavy things at all? Many, many reasons!
Lifting light weights with lots of reps will build your muscle ENDURANCE but probably not help you make any significant gains in strength, or muscle mass. Building more muscle mass is valuable because every pound of muscle you carry burns 37.5 times more calories than each pound of fat. If you want to boost your metabolism, you need to build more muscle mass. Lifting heavy weights also burns more calories AFTER your workout is finished! This is not true for cardio exercise. Because muscle takes up less space than fat, you might lose inches and pants sizes while building muscle. Be aware though that muscle weighs about 6 times more than fat, so your weight on the scale could go up. This can be disturbing to those of us (I include myself in this category) who focus a lot of attention on the scale. But keep in mind that it is MUCH healthier to carry more muscle and less fat, even if your number of pounds on the scale goes up.
Lifting heavy weights is great for your bones! If you are a middle-aged female, it is never too early to begin warding off osteoporosis. Muscle loss is fairly typical as we age, but this does not have to be the case. Building more muscle during your middle-aged years will serve you well as you head into those twilight years. (I'm not talking vampire fantasies, either.)
Lifting heavy weights also stimulates human growth hormone. This is a hormone which we have in abundance as children and teens, then it begins to drop off after about age 21-25. Human growth hormone is linked to immune function, healing, and muscle and joint repair. It is only released at night while you sleep, so getting enough rest is crucial here as well.
One more reason: feeling like Superwoman! Working out with heavy weights is the complete opposite of Zumba or bootcamp, where I feel out of breath, heart pounding, lungs straining, and drenched in sweat. A lot of effort is expended within a very short time frame. I am keeping the reps very low, but watching the numbers on the ends of the barbells rising quickly! Another PR (personal record) today on the deadlift. I am now up to 115 lbs! My husband/trainer says I can do 150 no sweat, but it is quite possible he had been drinking before our session. Either that, or I may have accidentally hit him in the head with a barbell.
Keep me posted on your progress if you give power lifting a try! And I'll let you know what happens next week when I attempt to lift something heavier than my own body!
Most women are fairly comfortable with lifting the usual 3-5 lb. dumbbells found in the corner of the aerobics studio at your favorite gym. In fact, I use these light weights all the time in my Zumba classes. If you plan to do lots of repetitions at a moderate to fast tempo, then light weights are your only safe bet. The good thing about picking up these little baby weights is that you can be fairly certain you are not going to injure your shoulder or give yourself a hernia. But you also may be missing out on many of the benefits that heavy lifting provides.
Before I go any further, if you are considering diving into some power lifting, you absolutely MUST get a trainer. Work with someone who has been lifting these heavy weights for years, who knows how to teach you the perfect form, and who can spot you so that you will not end up injured. If you belong to a gym, you can probably ask around and find the trainer most highly recommended on the staff there. Or google your local Crossfit gym for an expensive but well worth the money trainer. Crossfit also posts videos online that can help you learn all the basic weightlifting moves, but I would never advise anyone to start out without an experienced trainer.
But why try to lift heavy things at all? Many, many reasons!
Lifting light weights with lots of reps will build your muscle ENDURANCE but probably not help you make any significant gains in strength, or muscle mass. Building more muscle mass is valuable because every pound of muscle you carry burns 37.5 times more calories than each pound of fat. If you want to boost your metabolism, you need to build more muscle mass. Lifting heavy weights also burns more calories AFTER your workout is finished! This is not true for cardio exercise. Because muscle takes up less space than fat, you might lose inches and pants sizes while building muscle. Be aware though that muscle weighs about 6 times more than fat, so your weight on the scale could go up. This can be disturbing to those of us (I include myself in this category) who focus a lot of attention on the scale. But keep in mind that it is MUCH healthier to carry more muscle and less fat, even if your number of pounds on the scale goes up.
Lifting heavy weights is great for your bones! If you are a middle-aged female, it is never too early to begin warding off osteoporosis. Muscle loss is fairly typical as we age, but this does not have to be the case. Building more muscle during your middle-aged years will serve you well as you head into those twilight years. (I'm not talking vampire fantasies, either.)
Lifting heavy weights also stimulates human growth hormone. This is a hormone which we have in abundance as children and teens, then it begins to drop off after about age 21-25. Human growth hormone is linked to immune function, healing, and muscle and joint repair. It is only released at night while you sleep, so getting enough rest is crucial here as well.
One more reason: feeling like Superwoman! Working out with heavy weights is the complete opposite of Zumba or bootcamp, where I feel out of breath, heart pounding, lungs straining, and drenched in sweat. A lot of effort is expended within a very short time frame. I am keeping the reps very low, but watching the numbers on the ends of the barbells rising quickly! Another PR (personal record) today on the deadlift. I am now up to 115 lbs! My husband/trainer says I can do 150 no sweat, but it is quite possible he had been drinking before our session. Either that, or I may have accidentally hit him in the head with a barbell.
Keep me posted on your progress if you give power lifting a try! And I'll let you know what happens next week when I attempt to lift something heavier than my own body!
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