millenium girl
03-09-2009, 05:12 PM
Women and Iron: Facts and Fallacies
These are the facts and fallacies about women and weight training.
More common than not, most women fear using free-weights and rely mostly on machines. Moreover, many women completely refrain from resistance training; instead spending countless hours on the cardio deck in a fruitless effort to attain an ideal physique. What is the ideal physique and why are women so afraid of lifting a dumbbell over 10 pounds? The answer to the first question lies in a complex paradox of social and cultural influences. In answer to the second question, many women believe lifting weights will make them explode with bulging muscles. Another reason is women believe they cannot lift anything heavier than a grocery bag. These are unfortunate idiosyncratic fallacies amongst women. Generally speaking, women fear muscles. A sociological and cultural discourse on women and self-perception is beyond the scope allowed here. Instead, I will address physical issues of why women should embrace developing muscle by discussing several fallacies and facts.
"I don't want to get 'big'!"
Women who fear resembling the Hulk should immediately put that anxiety to rest. It just won't happen. For a simple reason: hormones. Women are from the Planet Estrogen; men are from Testosterone. Although both genders produce both hormones, the relative ratios are significantly different. Men normally produce higher levels (approximately 10 times that of women) of testosterone and lower levels of estrogen. Women produce the opposite. The professional female bodybuilders that, until recently graced the pages of muscle magazines gained their extreme muscle mass with the aid of supplemental anabolic/androgenic steroids. Federally classified as Schedule II drugs their usage carries legal ramifications as well as potential physiological side effects.
Although both testosterone and estrogen are anabolic (promoting the process where smaller units build bigger units in the body), testosterone is primarily responsible for increases in muscle tissue hypertrophy. Granted, some women have higher levels of androgens than normal and therefore have a propensity to increase muscle mass beyond the average woman. This attribute is genetically determined, and many of these women are competitive athletes. But a woman does not have to be an athlete to increase muscle mass. Any woman can increase strength and gain muscle.
"I just want to 'tone'."
As a personal trainer, this is the most common statement I hear from women. Ironically, most women don't really know what they mean by 'toning'. A more accurate statement is: "I want to change how my body looks." Toning is not resistance training. Nor will it build muscle mass or induce the changes desired. The term 'toning' is erroneously applied to doing countless reps with small amounts of weight that don't incrementally challenge the muscle. That muscle adapts quickly to moving a weight for a given number of reps and is no longer stimulated. The weight must be progressively increased in small increments for muscles to grow. Instead, women should address the changes they would like to see in their body.
You may wonder what I mean by 'resistance training'. In the context of this article, 'resistance training' refers to increasing the resistance the muscle must move. Exercise physiologists call this 'progressive overload.' Muscles are amazing pieces of metabolic machinery. They adapt quickly. If you can easily curl a 10-pound dumbbell with 12 controlled repetitions (reps), it is time to increase the weight: not 'tone'.
"Why should I build muscle mass?"
Muscles burn fuel. Muscle burns more calories than body fat. Muscle cells have organelles called mitochondria, often referred to by physiologists as a cell's 'power plant'. They provide the energy for nearly all of the metabolic processes that take place within the cell. Muscle cells are very busy and the mitochondria constantly transform chemical energy into mechanical energy. Reactions within the mitochondria break the bonds of fuel molecules and release energy for cells to use. During endurance exercise most of the energy for muscle activity is provided by mitochondria. This is used as the primary argument for the performance of copious amounts of endurance exercise. While it is true that calories are burned during endurance exercise, only resistance training can increase muscle mass. More muscle = more mitochondria = more fuel burned.
Muscle increases strength. Muscle inactivity leads to muscle weakness and wasting. Muscle fibers must be physically active if they are to remain in good health. Otherwise, they will degenerate and lose mass. Less muscle mass means a decline in strength.
"What are the long-term benefits of lifting weights?"
Strengthens connective tissues. Resistance training also stresses and strengthens connective tissues, which binds bones together and attaches muscles to the skeleton. Sensible training with weights will increase the cell activity of connective tissue in the muscle and those that attach the muscles to the bones. Mechanical compression of the joints stimulates healthy metabolism of cartilage within the joints. Inactive joints have decreased macromolecule turnover in the tissue and may be more susceptible to osteoarthritis and injury.
Helps prevent osteoporosis.. Muscle wasting in the elderly contributes greatly to osteoporosis, a major debilitating disease in women after they reach menopause. Women have less muscle mass than men do and also have less bone density. Because women undergo hormonal and metabolic changes as they age, muscles start to deteriorate, fat accumulates more readily, and bones begin to lose their density. This process can be slowed with load bearing activities that enhance bone mass. Studies show that women who are active throughout their lives have greater bone density and retard bone loss in later years. Recent research has demonstrated that weight training can reduce, and possibly reverse, bone loss in pre- and postmenopausal women. However, women should start and maintain some type of weight training activity as early as in their twenty's for optimum prevention of osteoporosis. Regardless, it is never too late to start, no matter what age.
"But I do lots of aerobic activity. Isn't that enough?"
No. Resistance training can increase basal metabolic rate. Basal metabolic rate refers to the number of calories used by the body at rest, and makes up 60-75% of the body's total energy expenditure. While aerobic exercise burns calories during activity (and a small amount afterwards), it has minimal effect on basal metabolic rate. Additionally, extensive periods of aerobic activity can decrease basal metabolic rate by causing muscle loss. In contrast, a proper resistance-training program can increase muscle mass, and hence the metabolic rate. For general overall health and weight control, weight training is a necessary component of a woman's exercise program.
Changes in scale weight versus body composition...
In our society, women are obsessed with weight control. Unfortunately, that obsession normally centers on the bathroom scale and does not consider changes in body composition (ratio of body fat to lean body mass). Most fad diets result in a loss of muscle tissue as well as body fat. A person can lose half of their body fat and remain alive; but if you lose half of your muscle mass, you will most likely die. Because muscle is denser than body fat, a person who is weight training may show slower changes on the scale but faster changes in body composition. Countless studies have demonstrated that the inclusion of resistance training in an overall exercise program preserves lean body mass (which includes skeletal bone) and effectively reduces body fat.
Muscles and mass give women power over their own lives...
Most importantly, muscles are required in order for women to take charge of their own physical life. They are necessary to provide for a woman's welfare and ability to fend for herself. Women are realizing they can perform daily activities that require strength that they previously thought they could not do. Physical strength will increase a woman's independence in everyday life. As well, muscle mass contributes to weight control, especially in later life. Moreover, it makes women feel good about themselves.
These are the facts and fallacies about women and weight training.
More common than not, most women fear using free-weights and rely mostly on machines. Moreover, many women completely refrain from resistance training; instead spending countless hours on the cardio deck in a fruitless effort to attain an ideal physique. What is the ideal physique and why are women so afraid of lifting a dumbbell over 10 pounds? The answer to the first question lies in a complex paradox of social and cultural influences. In answer to the second question, many women believe lifting weights will make them explode with bulging muscles. Another reason is women believe they cannot lift anything heavier than a grocery bag. These are unfortunate idiosyncratic fallacies amongst women. Generally speaking, women fear muscles. A sociological and cultural discourse on women and self-perception is beyond the scope allowed here. Instead, I will address physical issues of why women should embrace developing muscle by discussing several fallacies and facts.
"I don't want to get 'big'!"
Women who fear resembling the Hulk should immediately put that anxiety to rest. It just won't happen. For a simple reason: hormones. Women are from the Planet Estrogen; men are from Testosterone. Although both genders produce both hormones, the relative ratios are significantly different. Men normally produce higher levels (approximately 10 times that of women) of testosterone and lower levels of estrogen. Women produce the opposite. The professional female bodybuilders that, until recently graced the pages of muscle magazines gained their extreme muscle mass with the aid of supplemental anabolic/androgenic steroids. Federally classified as Schedule II drugs their usage carries legal ramifications as well as potential physiological side effects.
Although both testosterone and estrogen are anabolic (promoting the process where smaller units build bigger units in the body), testosterone is primarily responsible for increases in muscle tissue hypertrophy. Granted, some women have higher levels of androgens than normal and therefore have a propensity to increase muscle mass beyond the average woman. This attribute is genetically determined, and many of these women are competitive athletes. But a woman does not have to be an athlete to increase muscle mass. Any woman can increase strength and gain muscle.
"I just want to 'tone'."
As a personal trainer, this is the most common statement I hear from women. Ironically, most women don't really know what they mean by 'toning'. A more accurate statement is: "I want to change how my body looks." Toning is not resistance training. Nor will it build muscle mass or induce the changes desired. The term 'toning' is erroneously applied to doing countless reps with small amounts of weight that don't incrementally challenge the muscle. That muscle adapts quickly to moving a weight for a given number of reps and is no longer stimulated. The weight must be progressively increased in small increments for muscles to grow. Instead, women should address the changes they would like to see in their body.
You may wonder what I mean by 'resistance training'. In the context of this article, 'resistance training' refers to increasing the resistance the muscle must move. Exercise physiologists call this 'progressive overload.' Muscles are amazing pieces of metabolic machinery. They adapt quickly. If you can easily curl a 10-pound dumbbell with 12 controlled repetitions (reps), it is time to increase the weight: not 'tone'.
"Why should I build muscle mass?"
Muscles burn fuel. Muscle burns more calories than body fat. Muscle cells have organelles called mitochondria, often referred to by physiologists as a cell's 'power plant'. They provide the energy for nearly all of the metabolic processes that take place within the cell. Muscle cells are very busy and the mitochondria constantly transform chemical energy into mechanical energy. Reactions within the mitochondria break the bonds of fuel molecules and release energy for cells to use. During endurance exercise most of the energy for muscle activity is provided by mitochondria. This is used as the primary argument for the performance of copious amounts of endurance exercise. While it is true that calories are burned during endurance exercise, only resistance training can increase muscle mass. More muscle = more mitochondria = more fuel burned.
Muscle increases strength. Muscle inactivity leads to muscle weakness and wasting. Muscle fibers must be physically active if they are to remain in good health. Otherwise, they will degenerate and lose mass. Less muscle mass means a decline in strength.
"What are the long-term benefits of lifting weights?"
Strengthens connective tissues. Resistance training also stresses and strengthens connective tissues, which binds bones together and attaches muscles to the skeleton. Sensible training with weights will increase the cell activity of connective tissue in the muscle and those that attach the muscles to the bones. Mechanical compression of the joints stimulates healthy metabolism of cartilage within the joints. Inactive joints have decreased macromolecule turnover in the tissue and may be more susceptible to osteoarthritis and injury.
Helps prevent osteoporosis.. Muscle wasting in the elderly contributes greatly to osteoporosis, a major debilitating disease in women after they reach menopause. Women have less muscle mass than men do and also have less bone density. Because women undergo hormonal and metabolic changes as they age, muscles start to deteriorate, fat accumulates more readily, and bones begin to lose their density. This process can be slowed with load bearing activities that enhance bone mass. Studies show that women who are active throughout their lives have greater bone density and retard bone loss in later years. Recent research has demonstrated that weight training can reduce, and possibly reverse, bone loss in pre- and postmenopausal women. However, women should start and maintain some type of weight training activity as early as in their twenty's for optimum prevention of osteoporosis. Regardless, it is never too late to start, no matter what age.
"But I do lots of aerobic activity. Isn't that enough?"
No. Resistance training can increase basal metabolic rate. Basal metabolic rate refers to the number of calories used by the body at rest, and makes up 60-75% of the body's total energy expenditure. While aerobic exercise burns calories during activity (and a small amount afterwards), it has minimal effect on basal metabolic rate. Additionally, extensive periods of aerobic activity can decrease basal metabolic rate by causing muscle loss. In contrast, a proper resistance-training program can increase muscle mass, and hence the metabolic rate. For general overall health and weight control, weight training is a necessary component of a woman's exercise program.
Changes in scale weight versus body composition...
In our society, women are obsessed with weight control. Unfortunately, that obsession normally centers on the bathroom scale and does not consider changes in body composition (ratio of body fat to lean body mass). Most fad diets result in a loss of muscle tissue as well as body fat. A person can lose half of their body fat and remain alive; but if you lose half of your muscle mass, you will most likely die. Because muscle is denser than body fat, a person who is weight training may show slower changes on the scale but faster changes in body composition. Countless studies have demonstrated that the inclusion of resistance training in an overall exercise program preserves lean body mass (which includes skeletal bone) and effectively reduces body fat.
Muscles and mass give women power over their own lives...
Most importantly, muscles are required in order for women to take charge of their own physical life. They are necessary to provide for a woman's welfare and ability to fend for herself. Women are realizing they can perform daily activities that require strength that they previously thought they could not do. Physical strength will increase a woman's independence in everyday life. As well, muscle mass contributes to weight control, especially in later life. Moreover, it makes women feel good about themselves.