Do Women Get Big Muscles If They Lift Weights?

By Howe Russ


There are a few fitness myths which are almost as old as fitness itself. One of those topics refers to the question should women lift weights and today we will answer this for you beyond all doubt.

If you are trying to build a better body in your local gym it can be very distracting if you are always being told different things by different people. Lots of the fitness industry is based on pure opinion, which is why there are so many conflicting pieces of information. However, if you want to look at the rock hard scientific evidence on this particular subject you will find it a whole lot easier to understand.

This myth originates from the late 1970's, when the sport of bodybuilding suddenly burst into the mainstream and every guy wanted to build bigger arms as quickly as possible. Seeing huge guys such as Arnold Schwarzenegger lifting heavy dumbbells for set after set was a great inspiration for most guys to aspire to, but it had the opposite effect on ladies. The general assumption was that ladies should only do resistance training if they wanted to look like a bodybuilder. The 1980's VHS era made this situation worse, telling ladies that they needed to stick to long, drawn out cardio workouts and avoid resistance training completely.

Naturally, if building muscle was as easy as simply lifting up a dumbbell a few times per week then most guys would be completely ripped. However, common sense did not prevail at first and for many years there were countless ladies who avoided exercises which could have helped them to reach their goals faster.

There have been many scientific studies performed on male and female exercise enthusiasts over the last four decades which confirm that women should indeed be performing regular resistance training for a number of important reasons. They are listed below:

* If you only perform cardiovascular workouts you will not build the lean physique most women want to achieve. Resistance training plays a major role here.

* One of the major benefits of building more lean muscle is that your body will burn off unwanted fat more effectively. This will help you to reach your goals faster, as well as making you look even better once you reach them!

* Be prepared for a great increase in fitness.

* Resistance training has been shown to have very similar effects to HIIT in terms of it's ability to burn off body fat.

While those 4 points are all great, there is one major concern which almost every woman has. Is it going to make you look bulky? The answer is no. You cannot achieve a bodybuilder physique without living a bodybuilding lifestyle, which means learning what supplements to take and how to structure your diet to match your goal. Female bodybuilders find it even harder, because they need to supplement with testosterone boosting products as they don't have enough natural testosterone in their system to support as much muscle growth as men.

That's a lifestyle you certainly couldn't live by accident. Unless you are deliberately trying to look like a bodybuilder, you will not look like one.

At the end of the day, should women lift weights or should they stick to cardiovascular exercise? By now you know all the facts point towards getting a healthy balance of both because they will each play an integral role in your quest to build a better physique. If you had previously wondered about this subject but never knew what to believe don't worry, you are certainly not alone in this. In fact, alongside learning what supplements to take to suit your goal, this is easily one of the most common myths mentioned in any gym around the world.




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