Hitting the weights is for anyone. Thankfully, CrossFit has brought much more normality to women lifting barbells, pumping dumbbells and slanging kettlebells! The shift to getting more women in the weight room has had such a positive impact for girls, women and men alike.
Here’s a list of the benefits of strength training for women written by women who strength train:
Women who weight-train are more confident…leading to greater success and a happier life outside the gym!
More confidence and overall strength means women can be more independent!
Strength training and nutrition go hand in hand, and females who lift have learned to properly fuel their body, to not be afraid of calories and to avoid the marketing schemes of “smaller is better”.
Girls who weight train at an earlier age have better body-image and self-respect. Understanding what you’re body is capable makes you unstoppable!
As women age, they become at higher risk for osteopenia and osteoporosis. Women who begin resistance training – at any age – significantly decrease their risk of this loss of bone mass. Adding resistance training signals to your bones to build more strength and structure and increasing muscle mass continues to tell your bones and joints to stay strong!
Lifting weights helps to improve Lean Body Mass which has a positive impact on overall health by reducing chronic illness. Lean Body Mass also promotes a strong and healthy metabolism, energy levels and hormone levels.
Speaking of hormones, too much cardio-style training can result in over-training, under-recovering and lead to poor hormonal health! Strength training is much lower-intensity and can be easier to recover from between sessions. You can also be much more effective and efficient while training for a shorter amount of time, fewer days per week!
Women who lift in a group setting, like a CrossFit class, are happier and have a greater sense of involvement and community! Nothing is as encouraging as strong women supporting strong women!
Get bulky. Get strong. Get lean. Get whatever-you-want! There is no body that is “perfect” and the shape and size that women are is up to whatever standards they would like to set for themselves! Strength training helps women find their true self and accept and love the body they’re in.
Strength training for female athletes, involved in any sport, is huge for reducing the risk of injury! Unfortunately, many sport-cultures and coaches believe that strength training will result in a negative impact…like becoming “too muscular”, “too heavy” or less mobile. While these can be results of strength training, a lifting program that’s implemented properly for the athlete’s sport-specific needs can result in them being an even better competitor and more successful overall with fewer injuries!
Lifting weights helps women see their worth beyond a number on a scale or a clothing size. Instead they get to focus on their gym-numbers like how many pounds they squatted or how many reps they cranked out.