When it comes to women's health, strength training can have a positive impact on women of all ages, sizes, and fitness levels. In fact, strength training, also known as resistance training, can be just as much a health benefit to women's health as men's health, if not more! Now, just to make sure it is clear, I am not talking about bodybuilding for women; I am talking about strength training. There is a difference. Bodybuilding for women is geared for women who competitively lift weights, whereas strength training is simply a type of exercise in which resistance is utilized to strengthen and enlarge muscles, bones, tendons, and ligaments. However, strength training for women serves many other purposes in addition to just increasing lean muscle mass.
Strength Training and Menopause
According to Mayo Clinic, menopause is defined as the permanent end of the menstruation cycle in which the ovaries stops producing estrogen and progesterone. This is a normal occurrence in older women, particularly women around the age of 50 years old. Unfortunately, although not a medical illness, menopause can have a severe negative impact on a woman's life.
Common symptoms that a woman suffering from menopause might experience include:
- Irregular periods
- Decreased fertility
- Vaginal dryness
- Hot flashes
- Sleep disturbances
- Mood swings
- Increased abdominal fat
- Thinning hair
- Loss of breast fullness
Fortunately, weight training is a type of activity that can alleviate some of the symptoms of menopause! The first one I am going to talk about is osteoporosis. During the first couple years after menopause, women's bone density decreases at a rapid rate causing them to become more brittle. This decrease in bone mineral density greatly increases the risk of osteoporosis in women. That is why strength training for women is crucial, especially as they age! Strength training causes what is referred to as a "minimal essential strain" on the bone. Basically, the bones are stressed just enough to stimulate new bone formation. Did you know that when strength training weight-bearing exercises are performed, your bones actually slightly bend to compensate for the stress? Crazy right? I know! However, that is a completely normal and an extremely advantageous process that leads to stronger and denser bones, ultimately reducing the risk of osteoporosis in women. To achieve the greatest increase in bone mineral density, perform structural, weightbearing exercises such as squats, deadlifts, standing shoulder presses, jump rope, or any other exercise that utilizes all or most joints in the body.
Strength Training and Abdominal Fat
Strength training is and has always been an extremely effective method for reducing or eliminating abdominal fat altogether! It increases lean muscle, which causes the body to burn more calories thereby decreasing body fat. Have you ever heard the expression "muscle burns more calories than fat?" That statement is true! Muscle does burn more calories than fat (73 more calories per kilogram per day, to be exact). In fact, a recent conservation estimate showed that a person with 2.2 kg more muscle would burn calories corresponding to 1 kg of fat in one year (1). If you have ever wondered why bodybuilders can eat such a massive amount of food and still have ripped muscles that is why! The fact is your body consists of either have fat or muscle. To have a higher percentage of muscle than fat in your body, you must weight train! And since women have predominantly higher body fat percentages than men it is even more crucial for women to incorporate it into their exercise regimen! Additionally, strength training in general will help your body burn calories for a long period of time, sometimes even up to 72 hours! Cardiovascular exercise, on the other hand, raises your metabolism temporarily but does not cause the body to burn calories for several hours later.
If you really want to rev up your body's fat burning potential try circuit training. Circuit training involves conducting exercises back to back without any rest. For example, a typical circuit training routine could consist of squats, pushups, pullups, squat jumps, and crunches. To conduct a circuit workout, you would perform a set number of repetitions for each exercise without any rest between each exercise. Then, after you complete the "circuit" of exercises, you rest 30 to 60 seconds and complete the circuit over again. Repeat each circuit 5 to 10 times per workout, depending on level of fitness.
Final Note
As you can see, strength training for women not only increases lean muscle mass which increases the metabolism, but also can significantly reduce the chances of osteoporosis and decrease abdominal fat as well. When women go through menopause their bone mineral density tends to decrease at a rapid rate. However, strength training can reverse the process of weakening bones by causing an increase in bone mineral density. Structural, weight bearing exercises are most effective for strengthening and hardening bones. Although I mainly focused on this type of training for women in this article, aerobic endurance exercise is extremely important as well, along with high impact sports such as volleyball and basketball.