Women and weights: 5 myths to debunk

Seeing women in the gym training with perseverance and dedication gives great satisfaction, both in terms of aesthetics and performance. Unfortunately, however, the stereotype of the girl who, if she trains with weights, develops huge legs and too muscular arms still invades the mind of most people. So let’s try to debunk some false myths and give a solution to women who want a toned and fit body.

Lifting weights makes you big

This is undoubtedly the most common fear among women. The fear of developing too much muscle mass goes against the desire to become “tonic”.

Often the image of the woman in the weight room is associated with the figure of the bodybuilders (old mold), who spend hours and hours training to develop that body, follow a specific diet and very often take testosterone.

The truth is that by lifting weights our muscles become stronger and more dense but not necessarily bigger. In fact, women produce only 10% of a man’s testosterone, which should already make us understand how it is physiologically more difficult for women to increase their muscle mass.

Women should therefore learn that weights will not turn them into men, but that with an appropriate diet and training plan they can sculpt their bodies as they wish.

 Eliminating localized fat is possible

Many women think they can lose fat in critical areas by performing targeted exercises for that area. In reality our body accumulates adipose tissue as it is written on our personal genes, unfortunately it will inversely lose the fat, finally getting rid of the stubborn fat. This means that most likely the areas of the body with more fat will be the last to lose it.

Targeted training in that area will not cause the body to lose fat right there, which is why, for example, making 500 crunches a day will not make the hated bacon disappear. The solution in these cases is to follow a healthy and balanced diet, supplement if necessary with a multivitamin or protein and train in the weight room. The more lean mass we have, the more the body will improve its metabolic structure.

 To lose weight you only need to do cardio

Running, cycling, zumba or aerobics are a great way to keep active but thinking that they will help us build a toned and dry body is a serious mistake.

Each activity has a different goal, if the desire is to have fun and burn a few calories the Zumba is fine, but if the goal is to lose fat it is good to know that there are much more effective methods.

Training with overloads allows you to lose weight more efficiently than cardio activity. By training with weights, the muscle fibers undergo a process of rupture, which will be followed, in the following hours, by a reconstruction of the fibers themselves.

During all these processes the body needs calories and energy, even when physical activity is complete. This explains why the more muscles we have, the faster our metabolism will be. However, cardio remains a great workout for maintaining good heart health, circulatory system and burning calories.

A training program is good for everyone

The training for women is not the same for all but varies according to the goals, genetics and preferences of each. It is therefore essential to rely on an expert who can advise the most suitable training for each person’s characteristics and preferences, creating a training plan aimed at his own personal goals.

We all lose weight with a caloric deficit but the ginoid girls have benefits in alternating one exercise for the lower part of the body, with one of the upper part. This way they train and improve circulation.

 Women need to train less than men

Men and women certainly have different genetics but have identical muscles and skeletal system, which is why they can perform the same exercises in the gym.

However, it must be considered that the two sexes also have different characteristics: in fact, women compared to men, have a lower muscle percentage and a higher fat mass, a lower production of testosterone in favor of estrogens, which influence the capacity of exploit anaerobic power and less strength, especially in the upper limbs.

Based on these differences, it is possible to formulate training programs adapted to one or the other sex. For example: women undergo muscle catabolism less can withstand work volumes, proportionally greater suffer the intensity of load suffer from sudden changes in calories or macronutrients.

I hope I did not shock you with this news, I hope instead that you are useful to find serenity in training and motivation to always give the maximum.