5 Reasons to Lift Weights

We should all be lifting weights, or doing some form of strength training, at least twice a week. Yet that statistic on women strength training is well below 30 percent, and there are so many benefits to gaining some muscle. If you need some convincing, here are five reasons you should pick up some dumbbells and start lifting.

24 Hour After Burn

One of the benefits of weight training is the after burn — burning calories as your body recovers from your workout. After an hour long session of lifting weights, the average woman burns an extra 100 calories over the next 24 hours. Those extra calories add up. Think about it: if you weight train three times a week, that is an extra 300 calories per week, and an extra 1,200 calories per month. Over the course of a year that equals almost four and a half pound lost — close to that magic number of five pounds most women I know say they would like to lose.

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Muscle Mass Fights Diabetes

The rate of type 2 diabetes continues to climb in this country and one way to combat the disease is to build muscle. Muscle mass, not only burns more calories a day than most other tissues, it also dispels the blood sugar quickly. Muscles effectively contribute to preventing type 2 diabetes.

Helps You Lose Inches

We all tend to think of cardio as the calorie torcher and the necessary exercise for losing weight. Remember though, it is better to lose inches and gain muscle than to simply lose pounds. Lifting twice a week can reduce your overall body fat by three percent in just ten weeks. This is because muscle tissue requires more energy to simply exist than other tissues like fat, so muscle burns more calories.

Skip the Light Weight Many Reps Routine

There are many ladies out there who fear they will bulk up if they lift heavy weights and many trainers who perpetuate the myth. There is another reason, aside from saving time, for lifting closer to your maximum weight load instead of doing 100 reps with a super light weight: Increase calorie burn for two hours after training. Lifting a greater weight fewer times means you can burn almost twice as many calories post workout. Think of it as more bang for your buck.

Makes You Stronger

I know this one is obvious, but strength training has daily practical applications in lifting heavy things. Increasing your strength also makes you less prone to injury. Two very great things for an active gal.