Train live & online, or in person! Let’s get started >
Strength Training for Women
Too many myths cloud the topic of active aging and fitness. These myths keep us from living healthy lifestyles. Strength training for women is no exception. Most of these falsehoods come from old-fashioned thinking.
To be more precise, women over 50 hear this falsehood too often and avoid the most important type of exercise they need:
Strength Training!
“I don’t want to lift weights because I
don’t want to get all big and bulky.”
Have you ever heard or said something like that?
It’s astonishing how this thinking doesn’t fade out as an old-fashioned falsehood. So, let’s take another shot at it here for the ladies being held back from an optimal life by a myth. Sports West Athletic Club in Reno, Nevada provides the necessary education along with your fitness program.
Strength training will not
make you bulky!
Strength training, also known as weightlifting, includes using free weights, machines, body weight, resistance bands, Yoga, Tai Chi, and Pilates.
It is not the same thing as bodybuilding in the Arnold Schwarzenegger fashion. There are certainly big muscular ladies out there; what needs to be clear is that it involves specialized training in a unique niche.
All humans need muscle to perform basic tasks like standing up, but we lose it if we don’t use it. In fact, common age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia) is why we often see older people struggle to stand up from the couch or lose their balance.
“Sarcopenia is one of the most prominent causes of functional decline and loss of independence in older adults,” Dr. Jeremy Walston said at the:
National Institutes of Health.
Losing muscle contributes to falls and fractures, and it reduces our strength and mobility for all kinds of tasks. Less muscle can mean more body aches and pains, poorer posture, and more trouble.
Sarcopenia is not inevitable. We can strength train so that we are able do all kinds of physical activities.
About The Myth of Women and Strength Training
Here’s what’s NOT easy: Accidentally getting “big and bulky” like bodybuilders.
It takes intense concentration and effort in the gym to build big muscles. It also takes testosterone. So, there’s no way a healthy dose of strength training for women will make you “big” OR “bulky,” let alone both.
If you exercise regularly with resistance, you will have more muscle mass to feel, move and look better. Strength training for women burns fat, improves balance, eases arthritis pain, builds bones, and helps us sleep better. And if you want to avoid falls, it’s essential.
See us at Sports West Athletic Club in Reno, Nevada, and put this old fashion myth to rest once and for all. Strength training with us is simple, empowering, and safe!