Ladies Who Lift

What women think vs. what actually happens

"women can't lift weights, it's dangerous", "if women lift weights they'll look like bodybuilders", "I just want to 'tone up' with cardio"... These statements are nonsense!

I'm quite pleased to say that I'm hearing more and more people ignoring the "ladies can't lift"myth, I even had a lady call out "strong is the new skinny" during one of my circuits classes. Quite a proud moment.

Becki bodyweight deadlift

I've been training a couple of ladies at Mi-gym.com recently and it's been great to see former traditional gym goers (studio class and 30mins on a cross trainer) having a go at Olympic Lifting as well as some large compound lifts. Not only are the ladies seeing gains and progress towards their goals, they're also quite enjoying themselves (having fun while training hard, surely not?!)

Rachel smiling with a barbell

For anyone that's still not convinced; please remember that the people who compete in bodybuilding contests train really really hard every day, they eat thousands more calories than any of us on a daily basis, and generally speaking they have genetic advantages. There is also a large recorded use of drugs to help achieve the correct aesthetic.
If it was as easy as lifting something heavy a couple of times per week at the gym, we'd ALL look like Mr or Mrs Universe.

Rachel squatting 80kg

I'm not sure who first started the myth that heavy weights will bulk you up, but it has stuck over the years and wrongly makes many people—both men and women—afraid of lifting heavy weights. While there is some truth to the idea that lifting lighter weights for more reps does a better job of increasing the muscular endurance, lighter weights will not help you "tone" better than heavy weights. In fact, because heavier weights build the strength of your muscles (and the size to a small degree—but not to the Hulk effect), thereby helping to increase your metabolism and burn fat, lifting heavier weights with lower reps (8 to 12 on average) and working until you're fatigued is more effective at helping you reach your toning goals than lifting lighter weights. Not to mention that it's more time efficient, too!

So ladies, get yourself to the gym and pick up something heavy.
Don't be intimidated by barbells and dumbells, firstly think of the least intelligent man you know at the gym, does he lift weights? How hard can it be then?
Get yourself booked in with a trainer to show you how to safely and correctly perform a few major lifts; deadlift, squat, bench press & bent over row would be a good start.
Anyone local to myself, drop me an email: brad@bradwendes.com and we'll get you down to mi-gym.com for some serious results-based training!

DO YOU EVEN LIFT?! Hopefully the answer will be 'yes'.

Lift like a man, look like a Goddess

On the left is 'diet skinny' on the right is a trained posterior 

Using more muscle will burn more calories. Simples...

For some further reading, here's a couple of great articles that explain in more depth about the 'Toning Myth':

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/goulet5.htm

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_articles.asp?id=1662