Strength training by any other name is still strength training. Some other class titles are: Toning, Firming, Sculpting, Weight Training & Resistance Training. It is all strength training. Strength training is a highly effective means for reshaping & recontouring your body; it’s also a productive way to change your body composition (lean muscle to fat ratio). It will stoke your internal furnace by kicking up your metabolism, improve your coordination, and enhance your abilities to perform everyday activities. It is NOT just a “guy” thing! Women need to incorporate strength training into their fitness regimen to stave off osteoporosis. Plus it will keep you strong and capable of taking care of yourself. Ladies, if you can lift a gallon of milk you can (bicep) curl a 10 pound dumbbell. The only time you should need a man to open a jar or lift a heavy item for you is when he is really cute and you are after his phone number. Stay strong and stay in charge!
Here are some of the body’s physiological responses to strength training:
Increased muscle density = increased metabolism (your metabolism is the rate at which body burns calories for everything…working, sleeping, breathing, etc.). Strength training stimulates muscle fiber hypertrophy--increased muscle fiber size/density. Muscle tissue is far more metabolically active than fat (adipose tissue); therefore, increased musculature ups your daily calorie expenditure--all day & night, even when you’re resting! Note: Women DO NOT get bulky from strength training.
Increased Coordination--Before you SEE any changes in your body, the first changes will be neurological. The nerves that recruit & activate your muscle fibers will learn more efficient patterns for helping you perform the exercises. As your strength training program progresses, muscles actually “learn” how to perform the movement more effectively--recruiting muscle fibers in a more productive order and gradually generating more force. (so don’t feel like a misfit at the onset of your strength-training program--it’s physiologically normal to be a bit uncoordinated at first).
Increased muscular strength & muscular endurance (also referred to as pure strength & functional strength)--as muscle density increases so does your muscular strength, enhancing your ability to lift, hold, and maneuver heavier objects (including the movement of your body as in sports). Increased muscular endurance enables you to sustain an activity involving a heavier object. For example, pure strength allows you to pick up a 40 lb. bag of cat food at Wal-Mart AND muscular endurance (functional strength) allows you to carry that bag to your car instead of using a shopping cart (a convenient example inspired by the fact that I have 6 cats!)
Increased bone density (preventing osteoporosis)--Bones are living organs, constantly breaking down older cells and replacing them with newer bone. As we age, the breaking down process exceeds the renewing process and bones become thinner, weaker, and brittle; however, this process can be dramatically slowed and even reversed through weight bearing exercises. Bone mass will increase or decrease to adapt to the stresses put on it. Inactivity results in loss of bone density; the productive stress of strength training will increase bone density. Some aerobic activities (such as running and high-impact aerobics) can increase bone density somewhat in the legs and maybe the spine, but not to the extent that strength training does. And even though you are strength training, Ladies, still make sure that you take in at least 1000mg of calcium a day!
Increased capillary density--as muscle density increases, capillaries (tiny blood vessels) must increase to feed the new muscle tissue--resulting in a stronger circulation & increased delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the body.
When strength training, try to use weights that are challenging, but not totally exhausting. When doing a set of 12 reps, the weight should be heavy enough that by the 6th rep you are breathing a little harder and by 10 you should be thinking, “hang in there, I can do this” and by the 12th rep you should be very happy to put the weight down. If you can do 12 reps and keep going, the weight is too light. I know of instances where women were advised to train with a really light weight and perform 20-30 reps. In some cases, such as rehabilitation, this could be appropriate; but for the average healthy person it is bogus. Using a weight light enough to perform 30 reps of any particular strength exercise is ineffective for producing the physiological changes described above. You can get a stronger workout by slamming your car door shut several times.
If you are going to invest the time into strength training, do it right! Check the credentials of the personal trainer or the fitness instructor leading the class. Good credentials can include a degree in health, but most of the time just involve a certification from a certifying organization. Make sure that organization is nationally (or better, internationally) recognized. Ask the trainer or instructor what their certification entailed. Good “certs” can require 2-3 days of intense training and will only take people with a previous degree or background in health/fitness. Know what you are getting—there are “certs” out there that are fly-by-night and will certify most anyone with no previous fitness knowledge, $99, and a willingness to sit still for 4 hours.
You are worth investing strength training in yourself! Look again, at the changes it promotes in the body. That is quite a return on your investment for 2 to 3 sessions a week. A strong body will keep you open to lots of activities and adventures in life! 