Why women should do strength training. Strength training for girls

Strength training is often preferred. But many still believe that exercise machines and barbells are not at all female appearance activity, all this supposedly can seriously harm women's health. But who is right? The doctor answered these troubling questions for the website in detail. sports medicine Alexander Viktorovich Titrovsky.

"I'm going to start going to Gym. But I heard that strength training can negatively affect a woman’s health. Allegedly, they make a woman masculine and build up excess muscle mass. Is it so?"

Marina Saravina, Ivanovo

This is an absolute fallacy. Women actually have less muscle tissue compared to a man. In addition, the female body simply does not produce the necessary for building overweight hormones. A girl who starts training in the gym will first have a thicker muscle corset, then the fatty tissue underneath will disappear. As a result, the figure will become graceful and toned.

Power training provide a unique opportunity to precisely shape the figure, purposefully correct problem areas. You will only achieve elasticity, strength and toned muscles, but you will never become masculine.

The most important thing is to exercise systematically and not put your body into a state of overtraining.

Another negative point is that when a woman takes on a weight that she cannot handle, there is a risk of stretching and tearing of the muscle fiber. Therefore, classes should be structured according to an individual scheme.

"I'm unhappy with my figure, especially my stomach and waist. Can strength training solve my problem and what should be the intensity of the exercise?"

Svetlana Kalinina, St. Petersburg

— You should exercise at least twice a week. You need to start training with aerobic exercise. Pedal an exercise bike or walk on a treadmill for 5-7 minutes. Then do some exercises for your abs and lower back muscles. This is the golden mean - not the top and not the bottom of the body. Then gradually work on other muscle groups.

Nowadays the method of dynamic and static loads is very popular: you make 3 movements and for the fourth time, at the point of maximum tension, linger for 4-6 seconds. The muscles may shake a little at this moment. There is nothing wrong with this; on the contrary, the neuromuscular connection is restored. This regimen stimulates the consumption of fat surrounding the internal organs. He begins to recover due to subcutaneous fat. It turns out to be a slow but systematic process of losing weight.

In between exercises, you need to stretch the working muscle for 2-3 minutes.

“I have a genetic predisposition to be overweight. I do a lot of strength training, but the muscle discomfort that arises after them is unpleasant for me. It seems to me that training will not help me personally. Is there some kind of psychological subtlety that would convince me?”

— The training itself is stress for the body, which is also expressed in the form of an unpleasant sensation in the muscles. And this stress causes a response. It will manifest itself in gradual external changes. And don't blame it on genetics. Genetically we are the same. The difference is in temperament. You need will and systematic work on yourself. Motivation is also important. You need to decide why you want to change your figure - for yourself, for your husband, for your career?

If all these conditions are met, then even if you are a very busy person, you will find 10 minutes for daily home workouts. And as soon as after some time you see the result, you begin to like yourself - that’s when the pleasure of exercising will appear.

“My trainer doesn’t advise me to drink during training? But I really want to take at least a couple sips of water. What’s right?”

Galina Pirogova, St. Petersburg

— This myth comes from big sport, from boxing. There, a lot is “tied up” to weight, and athletes try to drink less in order to get to their weight before the test. In fact, if we lose a lot of water, as happens during training, the amount of waste products in the body increases. And they need to be taken out. Water is what removes toxins. But you need to drink 2-3 sips, no more. It's best to drink when you stretch between exercises. There is one more feature here. By taking a few sips, you imitate the earliest, innate reflex - swallowing. When someone is worried, we often offer to drink a glass of water and say: “Drink some water, calm down.”

Swallowing movements at the subconscious level help nervous system cope with a stressful situation. Although training is positive, it is also stressful. So be sure to drink while exercising. The best thing is plain still water.

“My friends convince me that you can’t eat for two hours after training, otherwise you won’t lose weight. Is this true?”

Svetlana Zemskaya, Saratov

- No. It is within two hours after training that you need to eat. There is such a term as the anabolic window. After training, just about two hours later, the body absorbs protein best. Therefore, you definitely need to eat protein foods. If this is not done, there will be a lack of amino acids.

The body will begin to take them from its own muscles, and adipose tissue will not be consumed. What we need is an effect on adipose tissue. Therefore, you need to give the body a small amount of protein. He will be slightly satiated and then get back to his work. You need to add a little to this meal

Strength training is a set of sports exercises whose purpose is to strengthen the musculoskeletal system.

What is the difference between cardio training and strength training?

Unlike cardio training (or aerobic exercise), which is mainly aimed at strengthening the cardiovascular system, strength (or anaerobic) training helps increase muscle mass. The fact is that any movement you perform, whether walking, climbing stairs, driving, or just standing, uses certain muscle groups. Muscles have the ability to contract and relax, and in doing so they produce energy. Muscles are metabolically active structures, meaning the more muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolic rate (the amount of energy needed) at rest and when moving.

What are the benefits of strength training and how will it benefit you?

With regular and properly selected strength training:

The size and strength of muscle fibers increases;

The skeletal system, ligaments and tendons are strengthened;

The risk of joint and muscle diseases is reduced;

The level of metabolism increases.

All this in a positive way affects general physical fitness, appearance and activity level.

Why is strength training so important?

It has been proven that over time, without sufficient and regular strength training, muscle strength and size decrease. If a person does not maintain a sufficient level of activity, then after 20–25 years of age, on average, he loses 200–250 g of muscle mass in one year, and after 50–60 years of age, the loss doubles. Along with a reduction in muscle mass, bone density also decreases and metabolism decreases, which can negatively affect a person’s health.

By developing a habit of strength training, you can maintain optimal levels of muscle mass throughout your life. This useful habit will help you not only stay attractive physical fitness, but will also reduce the risk of accumulation of fat mass, the excess of which is associated with ailments such as atherosclerosis, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, etc.

It is worth paying attention to the fact that excessive involvement in strength exercises can bring not only benefits, but also harm, especially if the training program is drawn up without taking into account the individual characteristics of the trainee. Strength exercises involve working using both your own body weight and extra weight(dumbbells, barbells, weights, etc.), so this type of exercise puts additional stress on bones, joints, ligaments, and large vessels.

Before going to the gym, you should consult a specialist, especially if you have diseases of the musculoskeletal system, have previously had any injuries, have diseases of the cardiovascular system, or have ever sought help from a neurologist or psychiatrist. Beginners should also undergo a minimum medical examination.

To create an individual training schedule, you should hire a competent trainer who can assess the level of your physical training and train correct execution exercises. When lifting weights, it is very important to have someone to insure you.

What types of strength training can be used?

Gymnastics that uses your own body weight to train muscles. This type strength training is perfect for beginners, as it perfectly trains the main muscle groups and is quite enough to maintain optimal muscle strength. Examples of such exercises could be: various push-ups and pull-ups on the bar, squats and lunges, abdominal pumping, etc. This type of activity is ineffective for deep muscle training, but for maintaining general tone and flat stomach regular gymnastics will be quite enough.

Working with a fixed weight.
This training method allows you to strengthen all major muscle groups and involves the use of a fixed light weight throughout the entire exercise cycle. For example, if you are doing an exercise with 2-3 kg dumbbells to work the triceps (bending your arms elbow joint), then the weight of 2–3 kg remains constant throughout the entire training cycle. A light weight load is used to perform the exercises. These can be dumbbells, expanders and some types of exercise equipment.

Variable load allows you to work the muscles deeply and promotes more rapid increase volume of muscle mass. With this training method, the load changes directly during the exercise. Some types of machines use different incline angles and gravity to create different forces when lifting and lowering the weight.

What are the basic principles of successful strength training?

For effective training The muscle load must be increased methodically, forcing the muscles to work harder and harder. The main task is to prevent the muscles from adapting to constant weight.

Variable load allows you to work the muscles deeply and contributes to a faster increase in muscle mass. With this training method, the load changes directly during the exercise. Some types of machines use different incline angles and gravity to create different forces when lifting and lowering the weight.

When strength training, you should pay attention to all major muscle groups. This is necessary for uniform increase and development of the muscle frame.

Periodicity.
For most people, there is no need to do strength training every day. Optimal frequency- 2–3 times a week. Another option is to work on different groups muscles in different days. It is advisable that strength training alternate with cardio exercises. It should be remembered, however, that by arranging too long breaks between workouts, you risk not only slowing down the rate of muscle gain, but also losing the results achieved: the muscles will begin to weaken after 7–10 days.

How to choose the right weight?

Definition entry level weight is a rather complicated issue. If you have just started changing your life with the help of strength training, then be prepared for the fact that it will take some time to select the initial weight and intensity of work. General principle- Focus on feeling tired. At the same time, when performing the last repetition, you should feel that the muscles are tired and loaded to such an extent that it is no longer possible to do another repetition.

The number of repetitions directly depends on what weight or load you are working with. For example, if you are doing an exercise to strengthen the triceps, then by extending your arms raised above your head at the elbow joint with dumbbells weighing 2–3 kg 10–15 times, you should not stop at exactly 10–15 repetitions, you should continue the exercise until you You will feel complete muscle fatigue and will not be able to do another repetition. Next time you execute this exercise just increase the weight of the dumbbells until you feel maximum fatigue by the 8th to 10th rep.

How many repetitions should you do?

There are two approaches, depending on what you want to achieve: build strength or increase endurance and tone. If you're looking to build strength, you should do fewer reps (8-10) with heavier weights. If you need to increase endurance and tone, then it would be better to perform more repetitions, but with less weight.

What is the optimal number of approaches?

* Activates specific and nonspecific immunity

It’s not uncommon when you come to the gym to see that most girls train on cardio machines, while guys prefer training with weights. Sometimes even the mere mention of strength training makes girls nervous. But few people know that the benefits of training with iron are much greater than those of cardio training. Don't get me wrong, cardio is healthy and important. training process. But doing cardio alone is difficult to achieve beautiful and fit figure, which most girls dream of.

Benefits of strength training for girls:

1. The combination of strength and cardio training speeds up the fat burning process

Training on a program that relies solely on doing cardio will lead to further stagnation. The metabolic rate will gradually decrease due to the body's adaptation to monotonous stress. Therefore, it would be correct to add to training program strength training, while reducing the amount of cardio.

2. Increase calorie expenditure

Strength training actually increases your metabolic rate. Which, in turn, makes the process of burning subcutaneous fat more effective. This happens by increasing the number of mitochondria in cells, through a process called mitochondrial biogenesis. As you know, mitochondria are a kind of energy station of the cell, an increase in the number of which leads to an acceleration of metabolism. Numerous studies have shown that strength training promotes these processes.

3. Gives beautiful shapes

Most women believe that the best way to achieve beautiful sports uniforms is long-term, low-intensity cardio training. In fact, an athletic figure is achieved by building muscles. If you do only cardio throughout your entire workout, your metabolism will gradually decrease (this was mentioned above), and along with it your muscle mass. As a result, weight loss will be achieved, but mostly due to muscle loss.

4. More energy throughout the day

Strength training significantly improves physical and mental well-being throughout the day. It often happens that after another cardio on the treadmill, there is no energy left for other daily worries, and the whole day we feel like a squeezed lemon. Strength training, on the contrary, increases the concentration in the blood of beta-endorphin, a hormone that has an anti-stress effect.

5. Improve Heart Health and Improve Insulin Sensitivity

The heart, just like any other muscle in our body, can be trained. As you know, cardio is efficient way increasing its functionality and endurance. However, the combination of cardio and strength training has the same positive effect, but has a number of other benefits, one of which is increasing insulin sensitivity. This means that the body will be more efficient at using the energy obtained from food to gain muscle rather than storing it as fat.

6.Improved bone health

Osteoporosis and osteopenia are becoming more common diseases and are increasingly occurring in both older and younger people. One of the causes of this type of disease is a decrease in bone density, which subsequently leads to fractures. Strength training, on the contrary, increases bone density and gives them elasticity.

7.Strength training increases sex drive

If you are at least a little familiar with female endocrinology, then you know that estrogen is the main female sex hormone. However, the female body also produces small amounts of testosterone (male sex hormone), the increase of which increases women's desire. Just don’t worry that a couple of strength training sessions a week will give you stubble or deepen your voice.

8.Improves sleep

On average, an adult's sleep should last 7-8 hours. But often girls have insomnia various reasons. Numerous studies have shown that training that includes weights can significantly increase the duration and quality of sleep. This will help many people get off their insomnia medications.

9.Improves psychological health

Many women, when they come to the gym, begin to gain weight because of their figure. Trying to somehow fix this, they begin to spend hours doing this. However, strength training is the best remedy from depression. We briefly touched on this issue in paragraph 4. The fact is that heavy training is a lot of stress for our body. To avoid this, the body increases the release of endorphins into the blood, resulting in a feeling of joy and peace after a workout.

Here's what the article "Why Women Shouldn't Lift Weights" says:

It's all about the special structure of the female skeleton. The fair sex has much more fragile and thin bones than men. Including the spine, which bears the main load when lifting heavy objects.

With systematic (and sometimes one-time!) lifting of weights, women's spinal discs gradually become displaced, which in a few years can lead to such a serious disease as a vertebral hernia.

But the truth is that incorrect execution strength exercises leads to injuries and degenerative changes in the spine, regardless of gender. At correct technique the load on the spine is minimal.

In addition, weight training involves gradual increase loads in parallel with the growth of muscles and strength indicators. So the health risk practically disappears.

2. Strength training can result in uterine prolapse.

Uterine prolapse is a displacement of the fundus and cervix below the physiological limit due to weakening of the pelvic floor muscles and uterine ligaments. There are many reasons for this disease: from congenital defects in the development of the pelvic organs to injuries received during childbirth. Heavy lifting is almost always mentioned as a risk factor. Some doctors do not recommend lifting more than 5 kg as a preventative measure.

However, don’t confuse lifting weights with proper strength training! Carrying bags of cement without preparation, without correct technique(with a round back) and especially in old age (50% of cases of uterine prolapse are diagnosed in women over 50 years old) - truly unforgivable stupidity and a health risk. However, strength training is a completely different matter.

If strength training with reasonable weight gain and proper technique promoted uterine prolapse, many female athletes would suffer from this condition. The facts indicate the opposite.

Women who go in for sports tolerate pregnancy and childbirth much better, recover faster after it and have fewer problems with the pelvic organs.

After strength training, the oxygen debt increases, which requires a fair amount of calories to cover. According to a recent study EPOC Comparison Between Isocaloric Bouts of Steady-State Aerobic, Intermittent Aerobic, and Resistance Training, after strength training, the oxygen debt remains for 21 hours: all this time the body burns more calories even at rest.

Therefore, if a girl wants to lose weight, she needs weight training, and not long walks or low-intensity jogging in the cardio zone.

5. Strength training does not help you lose weight, but, on the contrary, increases body weight

Strength training helps replace fat with muscle. Your weight may remain the same or even increase, while your volume will decrease.

It’s not for nothing that fitness models urge you not to rely on scales, but to measure your progress using a measuring tape.

A great example is this photo from fitness blogger Kelsey Wells. In the first photo the girl weighs 65.8 kg, in the second - 55.3 kg, in the third - 63.5 kg.

Mysweat.life

Why does Kelsey look slimmer, fitter and more athletic in the third photo than in the first photo, even though she weighs only 2 kg less? Just because of the percentage of muscle mass. First, the girl lost fat, reducing her weight to 55.3 kg, and then gained 8 kg of muscle mass.

As you can see, strength training reduces body size, but increases weight due to muscle growth. So don’t be afraid of such a quality increase.

6. Women should choose low weights and high reps.

In the gym you rarely see a girl who does, for example, deadlift or heavy weight squats for 3-5 reps per set. Much more often, girls choose light dumbbells and do 20 lunges per leg, endlessly squat with an empty bar or body bar, or exercise on machines with light weights, performing many repetitions per set.

This pattern of women's training naturally follows from the myth that women should not lift weights. Since you can’t work with heavy weights, you need to do a lot of repetitions with small ones.

But working with large and small weights has different goals.

By performing 1-3 reps per set at 80% of your one-time maximum, for example, you are training absolute strength. By doing high reps with light weights, you increase strength endurance.

To understand exactly how muscles react to a particular load, you need to understand their structure. Muscle fibers are fast and slow.

Slow-twitch fibers (red, oxidative, subtype I) use aerobic metabolism (oxygen) for long-term muscle activity. They are hardy, small in size and hypertrophy poorly. That is, by training with low weights and multiple repetitions, you will not soon achieve relief body. Proof of this is marathon runners, triathletes, cyclists - hardy, wiry and thin.

Fast muscle fibers(white, glycolytic, subtypes IIa and IIb) work during short-term exercise high intensity. They are larger than slow fibers, and hypertrophy well.

High-weight, low-repetition exercises train white muscle fibers, which grow quickly and provide beautiful figure powerlifters, weightlifters, sprinters.

If you want to quickly increase definition, be sure to include short-term intense work in your workout: exercises with high weights and low repetitions.

If you don’t have specific goals, you can diversify your training and increase both strength and strength endurance by alternating loads. For example, in one workout, perform exercises with a large weight and a small number of repetitions, in the second - with an average weight and an increased number of repetitions per set, and in the third - with a small weight and a large number of repetitions.

As you can see, the type of exercise depends not on gender, but on the tasks you are pursuing. IN women's training There is a place for cardio exercises, high-repetition exercises with light weights, and working with weights close to the one-time maximum.

Organize your workouts wisely, take care of the correct technique and carefully increase the working weight, and strength training will give you health, strength and a great figure.

Heaviness is not at all for the fragile female body! Unfortunately, these misconceptions encourage already heavy-lifting women to avoid strength training in the gym. This article will clearly demonstrate to you that weight work- The best way complex training, which only a woman can choose.

The main benefit from which all other benefits originate is that training with weights incredibly strengthens your muscles. And here's why it's very important for women! Be careful, our information may force you to purchase a gym membership soon.

Strength training for women

Strength training is the best way to burn fat.
Women are used to choosing treadmill, dancing, gymnastics, aerobics and swimming pool. Of course it's better than nothing!
But strength training is aimed at healthy weight loss- and this is exactly what all women strive for.

In terms of the effectiveness of reducing the percentage of body fat, no other type of physical activity can compare with training that uses weights.
Strength training increases your metabolic rate.
This means that you will burn many more calories than usual, no matter what you do!
It's tempting to waste calories while sitting in the office and brushing your teeth. Metabolism increases due to increased muscle mass. The best way add muscle to the body - exercise physical activity with weight.

Strength training builds willpower!
Women who lift weights, even not too much, are more confident. They do things in everyday life that they would never have dared to do before.
Self-confidence grows with achievement good results, even just for this reason it’s worth training! There is one more bonus: power load helps increase endorphins in the body.

This means that after training you will experience an incredible emotional uplift and your overall mood will be more positive!

Strength training improves flexibility.
If you train correctly, performing a full cycle of movements with weights, it will incredibly improve your flexibility.
The stretching of a weightlifter is not inferior to the stretching of a practicing yogi. And flexibility is very important for a woman, agree.

Strength training strengthens bones.
Denser, stronger bones are the result of strength training. Women prone to brittle bone tissue should start exercising with very little weight and gradually increase it. Strong bones even in old age are great!

Strength training helps reduce volume.
Miracles: If you do strength training, your weight may increase slightly. This happens because muscle is heavier than fat. In addition, when they are actively working, they fill with blood and weigh more.
But the volume of the hips, waist, arms decreases very quickly, the woman becomes slimmer! Since the female body produces much less testosterone than the male body, in order to become a “jock”, a woman will have to settle in gym in the literal sense of the word! Reducing volume and femininity are the companions of strength training.

Strength training improves joint health.
Weighting has a beneficial effect on joints and promotes the release of special lubricant, which makes them mobile.
Joints become able to withstand heavy load without injury or fatigue, the unpleasant crunching sensation disappears.

Strength training strengthens the entire body.
You will become real! Run fast, jump high, lift a child in your arms without effort, injury or pain.
It is very useful to engage in strength training for women who are planning to become pregnant: this will make the process of bearing a baby easier and will help give birth without complications!

For infertility, strength training is considered effective method Treatments: Weight training, which engages the muscles of the lower body, cures gynecological problems by improving blood circulation. Strength training helps normalize hormonal levels.

Strength training is good for your heart.
Working with weights strengthens cardiovascular system, regulates blood pressure. The heart becomes trained and works without failures.
The risk of stroke and heart attack in women who exercise with weights is much lower than in others. For hypertension, this is an excellent treatment method, but you need to train moderately, under the supervision of a trainer.