The Importance of Strength Training For Women
Mariah May, CSCS
For many women weight training can feel very daunting and it is often associated with ending up looking “bulky”. But that couldn’t be further than the truth! Weight training has mental and physical benefits and should be incorporated into any workout regimen. These benefits include building strength, increasing fat loss, improving mental health, and preventing osteoporosis.
Muscle Building/Strengthening
Weight training is a great way to build muscle and strengthen what muscle you already have. As mentioned previously many women fear becoming “bulky” but it’s nearly impossible to start lifting and all of a sudden look “like a man”. In order to get that big you would have to make some large life changes. First you would need a spike in testosterone, a hormone that is naturally more abundant in males, which is one of the reasons they can put on so much more muscle than females. Your training and eating regimen would have to drastically increase and become very strict. You are not going to be “big and bulky” unless you VERY deliberately do so, it takes a lot to look that way and just introducing weight training into your routine won’t get you there. But you will notice an increase in muscle size and strength, which are both such good things. Just imagine everything you do throughout the day getting easier, by building strength and muscle it can help you perform your daily tasks more effectively.
Muscle vs Fat
When going to the gym it is very common to measure success by only looking at your body weight on the scale and expecting it to go down until you're at a perfect magic number and maintain it. You could focus on this, but there is importance in the composition of your body (body fat vs muscle mass). If an individual was lifting weights constantly they may notice that their body weight isn’t going down, but there is no need to be alarmed! Pictured below is 5lbs of fat and 5lbs of muscle, the size difference is due to the fact that muscle is more dense than fat. While the two may weigh the same one takes up alot on more space than the other. So rather than focusing on the number on the scale it's important to watch how your muscle increases and your fat decreases.
When you gain more muscle it can help aid in fat loss. Muscles are like furnaces; they constantly need fuel to keep up with demands that they are being put through. Not only do they need to build themselves up from the work they go through but they also need to maintain themselves. Which means they are consuming fuel you eat even at rest! Which can increase your resting metabolic rate and the amount of calories you burn throughout the day.
Mental Health Benefits
Weight training has also been used as a tool to help improve mental health. It has been found to decrease the likelihood of depression in individuals and help those who currently suffer from it (Snell). Even better, it has been observed that there isn’t a specific number of workouts, pounds of weight lifted, or amount of gained muscle required to achieve these results. Just by showing up and putting in the work you can gain these mental health benefits (Snell). It can also boost self confidence as well as body image! One study found that women who weight trained frequently experienced a greater decrease in body-image disturbance (a distorted perception of how someone sees their own body) than women who do not lift weights. Body image disturbance is linked to disordered eating and other mental health disorders (Depcik & Williams). By weight training you can improve your overall mood, become more self confident, and in some cases prevent mental health disorders.
Preventing Osteoporosis
As we age our bones become more and more vulnerable to osteoporosis, but even more so in women. One statistic reports that “half of all women over the age of 50 will eventually develop osteoporosis and that 80 percent of Americans with osteoporosis are women'' (UC); After menopause the level of estrogen females produce lowers which can cause a decrease in bone density. Estrogen is widely known as a female sex hormone used in aiding in the development of female sex characteristics, but it also serves an important role in the skeletal system. What does that have to do with bone density? In short, estrogen helps in regulating osteocytes (mature bone cells), osteoblasts (bone builders), and osteoclasts (bone absorbers) all of which are the hard working cells that keep your bones healthy. When estrogen drops a gap can form between the rate of bone resorption and bone formation (Kholsa), which is what can cause bones to become weak and potentially lead to osteoporosis. One of the best ways to increase your bone density is through weight training. Just like how your muscles are challenged while lifting weights, so are your bones. By engaging in weight bearing exercises it causes your bones to create more bone tissue, reinforcing your skeleton, and defending against injuries caused by low bone density.
References
Depcik, E. & Williams, L. (2004). Weight training and body satisfaction of body-image-disturbed college women. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 16(3), 287-299. De Welde, K. (2003). Getting physical: Subverting gender through self-defense. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 32(3), 247-278.
Khosla, Sundeep et al. “Estrogen and the skeleton.” Trends in endocrinology and metabolism: TEM vol. 23,11 (2012): 576-81. doi:10.1016/j.tem.2012.03.008
UC San Diego Health. “Osteoporosis Risk Factors.” UC Health - UC San Diego, https://health.ucsd.edu/specialties/endocrinology/osteoporosis/pages/osteoporosis-risk-factors.aspx#:~:text=The%20National%20Osteoporosis%20Foundation%20estimates,percent%20of%20all%20hip%20fractures.
Snell, Benjamin R. “Strength Training: The Missing Piece in Fitness That Helps Fight Depression.” Lancastergeneralhealth.org, 2 May 2022, https://www.lancastergeneralhealth.org/health-hub-home/2022/may/strength-training-the-missing-piece-in-fitness-that-helps-fight-depression#:~:text=Across%20all%20studies%2C%20weight%20training,muscle%20strength%20made%20no%20difference.