It is amazing how much bull honk is still floating around about women and lifting weights. And it sucks that some of these lies prevent women from getting into weight lifting, keeping them on the cardio equipment and doing beachbody style plyo workouts with 2lbs weights.
Just the other day I was on Facebook looking at my memories, and I announced I was starting to workout out and was going to get buff, one of the first comments on my post was along the lines of, “Oh but you won’t get too buff right?” Hell, I was starting with a Shuan T workout DVD, never in a million years would anyone gain enough muscle to be buff from one of those workouts. (Nothing against Shaun T, he’s great, but plyo aren’t made for muscle building) But alas, the first thing I heard was basically, don’t get too fit because that’s not attractive for a woman.
At the time, it didn’t bother me. Looking back? It really pisses me off. What a friggin a-hole right?
I graduated from the plyo style workouts after a while and started getting into strength training aka weight lifting.
Now I’ve been lifting for 6 or 7 years. I can bust out at least15 push ups with beautiful form, I can do a lovely handful of chin ups, and I can squat, deadlift, row, and overhead press with the best of them.
And guess what? Still not TOO buff. Whatever the hell that even means.
There are a myriad of benefits to lifting weights and ladies, it is time you reaped those benefits too.
Today we are going to bust ### myths about women and weight lifting.
1. Lifting weights makes women look bulky or manly.
This. Needs. To. Stop.
No. Just no.
I feel like when people say this they are picturing female bodybuilders.
2020 Ms. Olympia Andrea Shaw
This amount of muscle mass doesn’t just happen. I promise, you will not achieve these types of results from lifting weights.
Women simply don’t have enough testosterone to build huge ‘manly’ muscles. So that does mean if you do want to gain muscle, even just moderate amounts, you’re going to have to work for it, and you’ll have to work hard.
What lifting weights will do is create more curves. Stronger fuller glutes, strong lean legs, toned shapely shoulders and arms, a flat stomach with a tiny waist… does any of that sound bulky or manly?
And if you want to get big muscles… good for you.There is nothing wrong with that. Who says women shouldn’t have muscles anyway? Where is that written in the rule book? No where, that’s where. Just know you will have to put in a lot of hard work in the gym and in the kitchen.
2. Women Shouldn’t Lift Heavy
Women can lift heavy and women should lift heavy.
Do you need to go out right now and do 200lb deadlift? No. And what lifting heavy means is going to be different for all of us.
But lifting heavy relatively speaking is great for you. It keeps your bones strong, your muscles working how they should, help retain muscle mass as you age, and more.
Want to carry all the groceries in one trip?
Want to carry your heavy kid without wanting to die?
Want to climb a few flights of stairs without feeling like death?
Want to be able to push your car out of the snow?
Move the couch on your own?
Strength train. Lift some weights girl!
Being strong is so much more than lifting a dumbbell or barbell.
3. Women Can’t Do Pull Ups
Yea. Women can do pull ups.
That one was easy.
But for real, yes pull ups are harder for women. We don’t have the same upper body strength as men, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get stronger.
All you gotta do is work at it!
Work on grip exercises like farmer carry. Work on back strength with all variations of lat pulldowns and rows. You will get there. And it is possible!
4. You need to confuse your muscles.
Nope. To see progress you must use progressive overload. That’s a fancy way of saying you have to make your muscles work harder than last time.
More weight, more reps, larger range of motion and so on, and if you’re never doing the same workout twice you can’t really make sure that is happening.
I would recommend sticking with a set workout plan for a MINIMUM of 4 weeks. And totally okay to stick with the same workouts for up to 8 weeks.
Why?
Your muscles don’t get confused. They do the same thing over and over. Contract and lengthen. That’s it. Doing a dumbbell deadlift one day and then a kettlebell deadlift the next day doesn’t confuse your hamstrings. It just makes it pretty hard for you to track progress and make sure you’re actually progressing.
Stick with something for a while, focus on getting better, and track what you’re doing to make sure that is happening.
5. Cardio is the best and only way to get that toned look.
Cardio is great. I love cardio. Heck, I was a track and cross country runner in college.
Me running my first marathon.
Me after running a half marathon.
I’ve run 2 marathons, a handful of halves, and too many 5ks to count, but I still will NEVER tell you cardio is the best way to get a toned shapely look.
Why?
Because it isn’t. Lifting weights is. Building your muscles is. Growing your muscles is.
When you think of the long, lean, toned look… you’re thinking of muscles. Muscles give your body shape and curves.
Am I saying cardio is a waste of time or that you shouldn’t do it? No. Cardio is amazing for a strong heart, healthy lungs, strong bones, buff mitocondria, and mental health (especially when done outside) but it doesn’t give you that lean and toned look.
Lift weights. Lift heavy weights. Utilize progressive overload. Get stronger.
So to sum up…
Ladies get your booties into that weight room, or if you workout at home, invest in a nice pair of adjustable dumbbells (PowerBlocks are my fav) and sling some weight around, with good form of course!