Strength training for women will help tone your body and improve your overall conditioning. It uses progressive techniques with exercise equipment, such as machines, free weights and the weight or your own body to achieve the desired goals. This type of strength training program is designed around sessions that are intended to increase resistance gradually whereby to stimulate muscular development and strength which is helpful for a healthy more energetic physical wellbeing.
Women of all ages can benefit from routinely using strength training for women to help tone your body and maintain the look and feel you are after. However, it is critical for women over 50 to engage in activities that will help them stay more energetic and enjoy more vitality throughout their lives.
Women Over 50 Can Benefit from Strength Training for Women
At the age of fifty, women begin to experience changes in their bodies that can be manifested by the gradual loss of muscle mass. This often occurs just after menopause. Generally speaking, a woman can expect to see a decrease of about one pound each year of muscle mass. Strength training for woman after fifty can help offset this loss of mass, and help maintain weight.
The loss of muscle mass is considered to be one of the main reasons women after fifty begin to gain weight because they are not burning calories as effectively any longer. At the same time, the loss of muscle also can lead to a decrease in balance. When you help tone your body through strength training for women, you are helping to maintain a healthier body as well as your own body image.
Strength training for women is not just something that will strengthen muscles, it will also help in the following areas:
• Improve blood pressure levels and maintain them within acceptable limits.
• Help stabilize blood glucose levels.
• Decrease cholesterol levels.
• Increase self-esteem, which leads to less depression, stress, and anxiety.
• Stabilizes balance to help reduce injury from falls or other accidents.
• Helps to better manage the pain associated with arthritis.
Strength training for women is not the same as it is for men. Even though a woman does produce testosterone, it is not in ample enough supply to cause large muscles to be produced during training so there should be no fear of that to prevent you from using it to help tone your body.
Strength Training for Women and Diet
In order to receive the maximum benefit from strength training and to help tone your body better, you should make sure that your diet will support your efforts. Here are some of the foods that you should be consuming while engaging in your exercise program.
• Egg whites
• Red meat protein from lean cuts of meat
• Whole grain breads
• Brown rice
• Fresh fruits and vegetables
Many people believe that they should not be consuming any fats at all, but that is not the truth. The right kinds of fats are required in order for your metabolism to work correctly. Unsaturated fats can be found in avocados, mackerel, salmon, olive oil, natural peanut butter and raw almonds.
Strength training for women is recommended by the American Medical Association to help improve conditions such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, diabetes, cancer, obesity, and fibromyalgia.