Can we take a moment and think about how muscle is formed naturally? High T baby!!!... Due to the fact that women do not, and cannot, naturally produce as much testosterone (one of the main hormones responsible for increasing muscle size) as males do, it is impossible for a woman to gain huge amounts of muscle mass by merely touching some weights. Unfortunately, the image that may come to your mind is that of professional female bodybuilders. Most of these women, unfortunately, use anabolic steroids (synthetic testosterone) along with other drugs in order to achieve that high degree of muscularity. Believe me when I say that they do not look like that by accident. Women who conduct weight training without the use of steroids get a firm and fit cellulite-free looking body. Also, (just a side note) depending on your body-type, it may take some girls longer than others to develop muscle. My girlfriends had more of an athletic frame while I was the curvy-pear type...they were seeing results faster while it took me almost 8 months to see anything. At least I could be sneaky and lift more than it looked like I could.
If you stop weight training your muscles turn into fat.
This is like saying that gold can turn into brass. Muscle and fat are two totally different types of tissue. What happens many times is that when people (for some odd reason) decide to go off their weight training programs they start losing muscle due to inactivity. Use it or lose it!! Once the exercise goes, nutrition usually also goes by the wayside. Therefore bad eating habits combined with the fact that their metabolism is lower due to inactivity, and lower degrees of muscle mass, give the impression that the subject’s muscle is being turned into fat while in reality what is happening is that muscle is being lost and fat is being accumulated.
Women only need to do cardio and if they decide to lift weights, they should be very light.
Why? Who started this rumor? How do people bring groceries into the house or pick up their children?
First of all, if you only did cardio then muscle and fat would be burned for fuel. One needs to do weights in order to get the muscle building machine going and thus prevent any loss of muscle tissue. Muscle responds to increased resistance and if the resistance is too light, then there will be no reason for the body to change. Increased muscle means increases in the amount of calories burned at rest. In addition, weight training develops bone density to a greater extent than cardiovascular exercise, according to the National Strength and Conditioning Association. This is extremely important to decrease the risk for osteoporosis. Furthermore, increased strength supports efficient activities of daily living such as lifting objects and doing household chores. Dog food or kitty litter (I guess they have that light litter junk now...don't get me started) can be 50 lbs! Let's not forget about vacuuming or dusting behind furniture. We don't need men to move our stuff...
Weight loss should define success.
Why be obsessed with numbers on the scale? Once you reach your weight goal, will you continue your healthy lifestyle?
Body composition refers to percentage of body mass comprised of fat versus muscle. Increased muscle mass and bone density -- accrued with weightlifting -- improve your ratio of lean mass to fat mass. Such improvements in body composition reduce your risk of weight-related diseases and support a toned appearance, regardless of an unchanged body weight. I have never weighed so much in my life. I don't look bulky, I promise. I appear solid and curvy in all the right places. More importantly, I have gained a substantial amount of strength. Oh, and I have extremely better posture, too.
Washboard abs period.
I'm sorry but, no matter how many crunches you do or planks you hold you aren't going to get the stomach you want until you start looking at your nutrition. Abs are made in the kitchen.
There is a layer of subcutaneous fat that cover the abdominal muscles. Unfortunately, for many people, this is one of the last places to lose fat. Isolating the abdominals is not going to isolate where fat is going to be burned. It would actually be more beneficial to perform compound exercises that utilize more muscle groups and therefore burn more calories from fat. It can be frustrating and take time, but it is obtainable.
Kristina W. BSN, RN, CPT
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