Girls, Lifting Weights is Actually Beneficial For You!

[rockcherry86]

I`ll share my story today, because it is still a thing, that girls resist to practice lifting weights!

There is always a point, where you realize you want to change up, change for the better. As I was looking through photos of my family on Christmas `16 I was suddenly shocked! When I saw myself on this particular photo, I realized, I don't want to be that person anymore. Actually, in that December I felt good, because I had lost some weight but wasn`t consistent and I didn't do any exercise. I hated exercise and sports all my life. But, as I came to that point, I knew I had to do some exercise to get in shape! My willpower and motivation was on top.

I'd begun to read everything about the human body, how muscles can be built, how you should eat to fuel your body right. I was like a machine in learning everything. Every evening I did a bodyweight workout with tabata until I was all sweating. I focused on enough protein but didn't change my calorie intake. After 1 month of consistent training I saw the first results. I haven't lost on the scale but my clothes begun to fit better.

I kept at the every night bodyweight workouts, begun slowly to add weights with dumbbells at home, to make it harder for me. With my consistency i gained the NEED to workout, i wanted it, because it lets me feel good in my body. i still don`t know why i had this enormous motivation and discipline to do it every night. my diet changed with focusing more on macros and being in a calorie deficit. The scale begun to show the lost weight, but it wasn`t that much. Still, my clothes were getting loose and i had to buy new one.

after about 4 months, i needed a change. i wanted to challenge myself more, i wanted to gain muscles and i wanted to be stronger. I got a membership at the gym. In the beginning it was a bit uncomfortable in the weights area with all the guys starring at a woman who actually does all the heavy compound exercises. Most of the time, when i`m in the gym, i`m only in the weights area and keep focusing on heavy lifting. i lost a lot of weight, but still not on the scale. i looked like i had lost another 15kg and dropped 3 clothing sizes. i felt so strong and my body showed it. i saw results in heavy lifting, i added weight every week on all the compound exercises like deadlift, squats, bench and military press. i got a lot of respect from the guys, from the trainers there and seeing other girls doing the same like me, makes me proud!

after one year, this was my result:

Its not just the body that changes, its an overall change to your whole being. the stronger you get, the more weights you can add, the more confident you feel, the more you begin to love yourself, be proud of your body, how far you came. You, girl, will not change into a hulk lol, but you will gain strength, confidence and a strong body and strong mind!

Don`t be ever afraid of getting into weightlifting. Ditch cardio, you don`t need that.

Besides of all the things i said, for a woman`s body its very healthy to have enough muscles. A woman will get problems when she didn`t have enough muscles. As the hormons will drop in your menopause (and it will begin before too), you will loose the muscles a lot faster. But if you consistently lifting weights and eat a healthy diet, you can work against this. It`s a way of life, you better begin now than later. ;)

[doodleheads]

great post! i think it's pretty cool how our starting point shares some similarities before we took different paths in our fitness journey. i used to play sports and do kick boxing but i let myself go for a while and gained weight. i woke up one day, looked at myself in the mirror and i was like, i need to change and i have been doing it since then. i too was doing research, reading about human body and etc. but for me i started incorporating sports and martial arts ideas, logic, things they share in common into lifting weights. like one day it just clicked in my head and i thought, when motion is involved, even if it's a very limited or small motion form and stance is required, when looking at sports and martial art what are the two main things they share in common? physics, shifting the bodyweight, moving in a way that that your body is designed to move to generate power, i plant my feet into the ground and tense my whole body and most importantly form, and stance, for stance i noticed it and i realized the legs are never fully straight, the knees are always bent so i took this idea and added it into weight lifting since motion is involved. and now even when i do a simple exercise i never fully lock out my knees.

i started getting interested in other lifting styles and invested time into learning powerlifting, bodybuilding, calisthenics, and a bit of gymnastics. i learned different techniques, grip styles, breathing techniques. the way i workout now is like a mash up of many different things.

but yes, there are a lot of misconceptions many women still believes when it comes to lifting weights. all i can say is-- don't be naive, don't fall into misconceptions, don't just work your legs and ignore your upper body. fitness isn't just about one part of your body, it's about your entire body, from inside to outside, and if these are the things you do, you don't love fitness, you're half assing fitness.

[rockcherry86]

yes its true what you're writing. i agree
i train the whole body, because if you leave something out you will have an imbalance. i don't like every exercise, but i'm doing them with good form and focus, because it matters to the whole body. and everybody is different, so, it can be that you have more strenght in your legs, therefore develope them faster and bigger.. or more strenght in your arms so you have a big biceps... :)

[doodleheads]

besides having an imbalance, people who only trains selectively will have problems over time. leads to anterior and posterior pelvic tilt like issues because when a muscle group is over powering the others, the body will try to compensate by relying on other muscle groups to try to help maintain balance to keep you upright. in the end it makes their body look weird too because not only is there the pelvic issue, now the lower body is a lot bigger than upper body, and you know how some girls look like they have a big ass head? like not working on upper body is just going to make it even worse.

because of the face that we no longer need wisdom teeth but we still have it since our ancestors needed it. i looked back into history, read books, articles, and etc. to try to find the original purpose of our muscles. i went on youtube to watch monkeys climbing trees, i also went to a zoo to watch it in person, too. i did pick up and learn some stuff i could use, so it was worth it.

[Buckzor]

Preach - I've been trying to get more women out of the stereotypical thoughts that they'll look "manly", "bulky", or just too muscular.

I had a friend who was quite overweight a few years back, she and her friend tried the gym a few times, never really liked it, had a break & came back with me training her a few times, taught her the basics, some routines blah blah.

Now she keeps telling me how she's obsessed with it, wants to keep making more & more progress and it makes me feel great.

Women who lift look great, they generally feel great & it's healthy - Get on it.

[Anonymous]

Yes it is. Its better for your heart too. In a previous job, one petite manager I had came over to me asking, how I got on a box lifting course, I said fine, then she said she couldn't lift a thing and these were not heavy boxes. She claims her limit is 5kilos.
Another time her and another girl went to collect files from another office. The manager asked me to feel the weight that they were heavy. I lifted them, I could carry them but she was looking anxiously at me hoping that I found them heavy, I just said they were heavy enough.
Then another female manager comes along, one she was afraid of and says you got the files. My manager goes, oh they are very heavy, it took 2 colleagues to carry them.
Now the girl, beside her goes, don't mind her, she is a weed, she didn't carry them. My boss goes i did, the other girl goes, yeah out of the shop then you gave them to me.
The manager, didn't respond and I am sure humiliated.
The point of this story is, I think physical strength can be good for your mental strength. You don't have to be a bodybuilder, but the manager I am referring too, was afraid of her own shadow in many ways and afraid to get stuff back off her sister as she was bigger than her, so yes it also helps confidence

[veronicalynn]

I absolutely love love love lifting weights... I was the first and still the only girl in my high school that leg pressed 1000lbs!! It wasn't the smartest thing to do because I paid for for several months after but a former coach told me my sophomore year that I could never come close that I was a joke... Well the joke was on him max with legs was 1000lbs, max with bench press was 220lbs, squats was 460lbs (could have done more but I didn't want to bruise my shoulders right before my senior prom my dress was strapless lol)

[Annie_Mosity]

You're one sexy motherfucker that's for sure, but no way can I be arsed to dedicate that much time to my body, ha! I enjoyed being strong and muscly when I was younger and had a very physical job but I find the idea of just lifting for the sake of it a little... dunno. Boring.

[rockcherry86]

thank u! :) yeah, it has to become a habbit too. but i like it, because it's "me" time and i'm loving to test my limits with weights 😆😁 it's the challenge that drives me. i need about 5 hours per week 😉

[D_Bone_Steak]

Sometimes I just feel like facepalming when I'm trying to give females fitness advice. If they're not the type that thinks they'll look like me if they lift, they'll be the type that starts freaking out when she actually gains weight. I wished I could steal their scale and force them to rely on the mirror alone. Oh and the diets they'll put themselves through... they still look weak (skinny fat).

Congratulations on not being the stereotypical woman and actually figuring all this out on your own. If they only knew they could spend half the time they spend on that treadmill and get better results without some kind of starvation diet... they'd enjoy the process (and results) a bit more in my opinion. Good on you for spreading the word... they won't listen to me mansplain it to them so it's up to you ;-)

[SirenDep]

I enjoy both cardio and strength training. Cardio helps on endurance, speed, looses more calories and is relaxing. Strength training makes your body look better, you can eat more, and you get stronger. Women can get lean muscles as well as men do. To get those huge muscles, one would have to take supplements , eat really well, and train a lot. It's not something that will happen by mistake, unless one has good genes.

[TayTay21]

Couldn't agree more! I was too skinny when I was younger, and weight training built my body into a shape that I never dreamed possible when I was younger. Even for cardio I mainly do Bodypump, which incorporates a lot of weights and has really hardened up my lower body.

[lilaqua]

I remember for those 3 days I went to gym after NYD, the trainers told me to always weight train, to exercise in the weight room and that cardio was bullshit. I agree with you, cardio alone isn't fitness, you primarily need weight and deeper types of training. I would weight train if I wasn't as lazy as I am.

[InformMe87]

Kudos to you for taking the right course of action. While i respect the gains that you have made and am incredibly happy for you; make sure you don't get too much stronger.

I personally don't like a lot of muscle on women (no its not a sexist thing, i just find a woman who is toned instead of muscle bound more attractive).

You are a great example for other young women who may feel this way.

[Bananaman177]

Nothing makes me laugh more than girls who think they'll turn into Arnold Schwarzenegger if they go to the gym once in a while and lift their little eight pound weights.

Like, "Yeah that's how Arnold Schwarzenegger did it, he just kept lifting those little rubber-coated eight pounders there. Must have lifted them like 30 times... Crazy bastard."

[Greek_God]

The main issue is girls see those bodybuilder chicks with more testosterone in them than an average male has, and they think thats what they will look like if they work out. But that look is impossible for a woman without hormones and steroids. However, many girls are scared off by it, which is reasonable, because who the fuck wants to look like that

[acooke-13]

I love this, well done!
I do weights & cardio, I only do cardio once a week though.. and I've seen a massive difference, not just in appearance but I have so much more strength, I'm quite slim and have what I call 'noodle arms', but they'll get there!!

[Anonymous]

I don't understand why women are so confident that they can just pack on 50lbs of muscle in like 2 months of weight lifting. Most guys who weight lift seriously will never get the results most women think they can get if they just started weight lifting.

But yeah most instagram models are weight lifters. You do not see many of those hour long jog each day women doing too well in the modeling world outside of european runways where they all look like they just came out of a concentration camp.

[FatherJack]

You are right , this increases lean tissue , therefore also increases resting metabolism too , women will NOT build bulky muscle , as they produce far less testosterone than men do. This is best combined with cardio , better still some combat sport training too , Muay Thai / Lethwei training will definitely get you lean , this works muscle and cardio !! Combine this with higher protein diet.

[Cosytoasty]

Nice... and so true.

Girls that go in there and curl 1kg because they “don’t want to get big” make me chuckle.

[AD240pCharlie]

Finally! A post about improving your body that doesn't include any false promises about how you will be percieved as more attractive. Take care of your body, make sure it's healthy, and if someone finds it attractive, then awesome. If they don't, then fuck it, you still have a healthy body!

[JayParris]

Great progress! It's a hell of a lot more fun than doing the gerbil act, too.

Its also worth mentioning that low muscle mass is an accurate predictor of early mortality.

[MysteriousDarkness]

You should workout ( lift, push, pull etc) weights and weighted objects. You should also do different types of cardio ( swim, bicycling, sprint, distant jogging etc.) one builds strength and one builds endurance.

[dolemite68]

What a transformation you should be proud. Resistance training is good for everybody. The stronger your muscles are the better your posture and the stronger your bones which prevents injury and osteoporosis.

[CubsterShura]

Yes! But cardio is needed for those who wanna lose weight. Doing weights+HIIT BEST COMBO!

[BaileyisDarcy]

I would want a job that forces me to lift and be physical, i can't just exercise for the sake of exercising.

Though i did enjoy going to the gym with my sister... That was a group class though and more than i can afford on a regular basis.