YMCA of Greater Omaha

ALLBURN, NO BULK

Strength training boosts metabolism for women of all ages

STORY Amber Cornist /Armbrust YMCA Health &Wellness Director

Many women still believe that lifting weights will make them “bulky.”

The truth is that we lack enough testosterone to bulk up like our male counterparts. What you will gain is agreater appreciation for what your body can do, that “toned” look we all want (visible muscle lines) and ahigher metabolism.

Strength training rebuilds lost muscle tissue, repairing the metabolic damage caused by excessive dieting and cardio. The moremuscle you have, the more energy your body expends, meaning the moremuscle you build, the morefat you will burnall day.This is true for women of all ages.

Thereisnosignificant difference between gaining muscle through resistance training from age 21-80. In fact, lifestyle plays just as much of apart in menopausal weight gain as we age. We can greatly decrease pounds gained with age with strength training.

My eldest personal training client is an independent, 80-year-old woman who started strength traininginher late 60s, proving that it is never too late to start. Ilove her weekly reports of not needing acane to walk the zoo, realizing that she no longer depends on ahandrail to go up and down stairs and getting up and down from the floor withoutaid.

Added health benefits with strength training including adecrease in chronic health conditions such as: •Arthritis, by supporting and protecting joints, also easing pain, stiffness and possibly swelling. Our joints do not have to work so hardwith strong muscles wrapped around them. •Back pain, by increasing corestrength and correcting muscular imbalances. •Obesity,byincreasing metabolism (burning morecalories daily). When you cut calories and don’texercise, or just do cardio, you lose asubstantial amount of muscle in the process. •Diabetes, by increasing blood glucose regulation. •Bone health, by rebuilding and keeping our bones strong. We start losing muscle mass naturally as early as 30, and can start to seeing signs of osteoporosis as early as age 50. Our 50+ female clients report increases in bone density with every check up.

So, what do you need to do and how often? Studies report increases of up to 4pounds while simultaneously losing up to 4pounds of body fat within the first 10 weeks of adding weight training just twice per week. This also means that the scale will not reflect the amazing work happening under the surface. Measurements will be your best gauge of success, along with better fitting clothing. •Freeweights, machines, or bands can be used, on 2-3 nonconsecutive days of the week, although if you fall in love with weights, atrainer can guide you on how to weight train on consecutive days. •Perform8-10 multi-joint exercises that target major muscle groups (the big ones). It only takes six of the correct exercises to work every muscle in your body! •Perform2-3 sets of 8-12 repetitions with good form, in acontrolled manner —2seconds up and down. •The last repshould be difficult but achievable with good form— you must put sufficient stress on the muscle to stimulate muscular growth and strength. •Remember to continue to progress the amount of weight lifted to keep the results coming. It should feel like an 8out of 10 difficulty level for those 8-10 reps. •Upto15repetitions is recommended as we get alittle older,but anything beyond that is not going to get you stronger or force muscle growth.

When Ibegan my weight loss journey,mygoal was of course to see how “skinny” Icould get. Iwas able to lose 125 pounds to meet my BMI recommended weight of 150 pounds, which left me thin and weak.

With strength training, Iwas able to regain 20 pounds of muscle and can now lift 125 pounds and morewith some exercises. My favorite thing about strength training is truly the mental strength and body positivity it has given me, along with so many of my female clients.