Do You Even Lift Bro?
Happy Hanukkah to all those celebrating! It’s been such a joy creating these blog posts for you the last several months, and I can’t wait to answer more of your questions in the New Year. We still have a couple topics to cover this year, and this week it’s all about strength training. It’s one of the most important things you can do for yourself and historically hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves.
“Will strength training make me look bulky?” This is the most common question I hear from women in the gym, and it’s also the biggest misconception!
Strength training is where you’ll get the MOST overall benefits for your health.
What is strength training?
Strength training is a form of exercise in which your muscles work against some form of resistance — like weights or resistance bands. (It’s often referred to as resistance training.)
What are the benefits?
Builds lean, toned muscle: bulkiness is the opposite of what will happen with strength training! You’ll be building muscle while also decreasing body fat, creating a lean appearance. Being that muscle is denser than fat, as you build muscle you may lose inches even if the weight on the scale remains the same.
Boosts metabolism: muscle expends more calories naturally than other types of tissue. The more muscle you have, the more calories you’ll burn while you’re simply sitting around!
Increases bone density: This is especially important for women trying to avoid or even reverse osteoporosis.
Increases cardiovascular efficiency.
Improves hormonal & cholesterol adaptations: dealing with high cholesterol? Strength training will help decrease your LDL (bad) cholesterol.
Increases coordination, mobility, balance, and flexibility.
Increases tendon and ligament strength: helps reduce the risk of injury in everyday life and in sports.
Increases muscular endurance, strength, and power.
Helps manage blood sugar: strength training can help prevent diabetes and help those who have diabetes manage the condition.
How often should you be implementing strength training into your routine?
2-3 times per week is an excellent goalpost for incorporating strength training into your routine! Some people lift weights up to 5 days per week depending on their competency level and the “splits” they prefer.
Remember, in order to increase your muscle mass, you’ll need to train with progressive overload in mind. Don’t know what progressive overload is? Take a look!
Feeling intimidated by the idea of strength training and don’t know where to begin? That’s understandable. Look for a class in your area or shoot me a message for assistance!
Hi, I'm Cassandra! I'm a Certified Personal Trainer, Nutritionist, and Pre/Postnatal Fitness Specialist based in New York City where I've also been performing in theatre and film since 2015. I began studying with the National Academy of Sports Medicine so that I could help battle the harmful effects of diet culture and body shaming I was seeing online by spreading evidence-based information that will help you lead a more balanced, healthy, and mobile life!