Strength Training Benefits to Women's Health & Well Being By Ant White

My own personal journey towards better well-being started with my trainer Ant White of @levelupwithantwhite.

This training is done in Dubai @24fitness in a group setting of mainly women, most who are mums. See one of my inspirations transformation below.  When I saw this image of Kylie it gave me the motivation to keep going!!!

A friend recommended for me to go after I was made redundant and feeling unfocused.  Before I started my stomach was always bloated and I had continuous lower back pain after my 3rd C-section at 40 years old.  Within 8 weeks my back pain was gone and remains gone and I finally started to get stomach muscles back in order.

I have this man and these wonderful supportive ladies to thank for giving me the confidence to found my business and reshape my health.

Ant White

The Benefits of Strength Training for Women from @levelupwithantwhite

Hallelujah! We’re finally entering an era where it is now being recognised and understood that resistance training is equally important for women in order to truly sculpt a healthy, lean, strong and happy figure.

The importance of strength training cannot be underestimated.

A distinct lack of muscle is just as dangerous to your health as an over-abundance of body fat (and can oftentimes be the cause of this over abundance of body fat) and so conversely, building muscle and strength has a huge array of benefits for your health.


Here are just FOUR of the reasons you NEED to 'embrace the weights’ ladies!
 
1. You will burn more calories, even after the gym

Muscle mass is an extremely active tissue. It requires a great deal of calories to remain present on your frame. Not only that, but any general activity or exercise will obviously work these muscles, demanding an even greater volume of calories, and as we all know, a negative calorie balance is key to burning fat ie. burning more calories than we’re consuming.

Therefore, time spent building this ‘engine’ will be time well spent, as you will be creating a huge furnace that will always be burning ferociously…..forever making it easier and more efficient to burn body fat.

Weight training has such a profound, lasting effect on your physique that will continue to burn calories and body fat long, long after you've left the dumbbells at the gym.

2. Achieving that desired and defined physique

Male or female, the majority of new clients I see for consultations explain that their aesthetic goals are not to be just skinny, but to be toned.

Which is good to hear because they are correct - there is a distinct difference.

Becoming toned isn't accomplished by simply reducing overall weight. A muscular frame must be in place - allowing the reduction of body fat to emphasise the definition of your new athletic physique.

A toned appearance is the presence of muscle with an absence of body fat.

And ladies - you will not, nor will you ever become, a 'grotesque' or 'manly' bodybuilder just because you lifted a few dumbbells. You simply lack the required levels of testosterone to become bigger than you'd ever want to become. So put that idea out of your heads now - it is not going to happen. Those athletes are professionals in their sport and go above and beyond in terms of training, nutrition and supplementation to just come close to those pictures and images you might have in your mind.

3. Lift heavy to reap the full benefit

Don’t be afraid to push yourself!

All these positive effects of weight training are magnified when the load is increased, as explained in a study in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. A test showed that those who lifted more weight for fewer reps (85 per cent of their max load for 8 reps) burned nearly twice as many calories during the two hours after their workout than when they did more reps with a lighter weight (45 per cent of their max load for 15 reps).

Now, there is a caveat here.

When you first start any weight training program it is important to work within your body's own limitations. Strength is definitely one of those limitations but so is stability, co-ordination and technique. When you are relatively new to this style of training I would foremost encourage safety. Spend the first few weeks working with a lighter load; learning the technique, teaching all those stabilising muscles surrounding the shoulders, the ankles, etc. how to handle the resistance. Allow all of your ligaments and tendons to feel the weight and get used to it…then increase the load and reduce the reps.

After a few more weeks increase the load and reduce the reps again. Remember that this style of training, along with diet and a healthy lifestyle in general, is a marathon not a sprint.

4. Building a bullet-proof body

Previously I mentioned how many clients I see explain their aesthetic goal is to be more defined or toned. The second largest demographic of those starting a new exercise program are those suffering injury or illness.

Once again, those can be treated with the inclusion of weight-training in their program.

To protect the knee from injury we must strengthen the muscles that surround and support the knee, e.g. quadriceps femoris, hamstrings and sartorius. With strength in these muscles you have created a safer environment for your knees to act. The knees will become more robust, more durable and be able to take more impact due to more muscle, not bone, absorbing that impact.

Imagine how invulnerable you would feel doing this protection-training with all the joints in the body?

Strength training of course makes your muscles stronger but makes your frame so much more resilient and injury-proof.

Weight training also has a positive effect on the bone itself and so conditions like osteoporosis can be treated with resistance programming.

Lifting heavy weights over time not only maintains bone mass but can even build new bone!

To find out more about strength training with Ant you can contact him at:

Email: HeadCoach@LevelUpWithAntWhite.Com

IG: @levelupwithantwhite