Does Weight Training Give Women Muscles?

This topic has arisen on many occasions whilst working in the fitness industry, many women I have spoken to tend to steer away from the weights as they ‘don’t want muscles’. But is this what will happen? Heres the truth…

No! If women use weight training in their daily fitness plan it does not make them look manly or freakish! In fact, it could help you get the physique you actually want. 

For example:

source: http://www.online-fitness-coaching.com/en/interview-katrin-edda-thorsteinsdottir-women-strength-training/

On the right you can see this woman has a great ‘toned’ physique. Yet she weighs 3kg less in the first photo. Seems strange right? This is a result of weight training and where she has changed her muscle to fat ratio. Weight training will reduce your body fat and as muscle mass increases, so does your metabolism, and you burn more calories on a daily basis.

5 pounds of fat and 5 pounds of muscle look extremely different is size, hence how you can weigh more yet look thinner. It's the reduction of body fat and turning it into muscle which will make you slimmer, and also more toned. 

source: http://bamboocorefitness.com/one-pound-of-fat-versus-one-pound-of-muscle-clearing-up-the-misconception/

This is why always going on cardio machines will help you lose weight and burn calories but if thats all you do, like any fitness plan you'll soon plateau and your body won't change. On the other hand, including both weight training and cardio sessions could jump start your bodies transformation!

Any women you see who are extremely muscly is most likely either: Taking steroids to increase testosterone levels, (which in women are a lot lower than mens hence why they have to inject more into them) or, they are training for strength and size specifically. Therefore if you're not doing either of those things weight training will only start to make you look more ‘toned’ ‘slim’ and increase strength at the same time!

I hope this will banish the muscle myth for whoever reads this and will pick up some weights in their next training session! If you are interested in which exercises are good for different parts of the body, dont hesistae to contact me for more information!

Like, comment and share this most to help someone else who believes this myth!

#LeanTeam