Its time for a new series and this time I want to talk about the importance of different training styles and aspects of a healthy lifestyle. So we are starting with the biggie – weight training. Even though more and more women are starting to venture into the weights area or work with weights there is still some wariness around the subject.
First things first – lifting weights won’t turn you into some she Hulk I promise, I’ve been doing it for 3 years now and I don’t think I look particularly bulky. You don’t pick up a weight and suddenly gain muscle it takes time so just bear that in mind.
The great thing about this style of fitness is that there are a load of health benefits before we even need to look at the aesthetic side of things. If performed correctly lifting weights will enhance your body and your lifestyle.
Health
The health benefits alone should make you want to do it because they are awesome. It can help to decrease the risk of osteoporosis because it helps to strengthen the bones as well as the muscles. By loading weight it can increase the bone density reducing the risk of injury and fractures. Along this theme you will also reduce the risk of other injures as you build stronger muscles, increase your balance and proprioception and become more in tune with your body. With weight training you have to be aware of how your body moves in order to perform the exercises correctly, therefore you are more likely to be in tune with it. Better posture and alignment comes from regular strengthening of the muscles in the back and core. Just be aware of your imbalances and work on having a balance of strength and stretch in the muscles.
Lifestyle You will feel better due to the endorphins that are released during exercise. It can also make you feel pretty bad ass when you hit some personal bests and get those numbers up. You are going to get stronger which will make you able to go about your day to day life a lot easier. As well as having functionality to move better. In terms of fat loss lifting weight helps massively because it helps increase your resting metabolism (meaning the rate at which your body burns calories when you’re just going about your day, not exercising). It can create shape and give you that ‘tone’ you are looking for, but only if you are performing the correct exercises with intention, progressively overloading the weights and fuelling properly. So please make sure you do your research. It also burns more calories in the long term due to the fact your body uses more energy during so whilst in a recovering state it continues to burn more.
It is probably my favourite way to train so I am a little biased but as you can see there are a load of benefits. And when I say weight training I don’t mean you have to do a bodybuilder style workout in a gym. You just need to be adding a decent amount of resistance to your exercises so find a way to make that fun for you whether its more bootcamp style sessions or cross fit or full body workouts, kettlebells etc the possibilities are endless.
Just think about it 🙂 and ask for help if you need to be shown the basics
Love Vicki xxx
