Should women strength train? Yup

[Jarsh82]

America is two-thirds fat. 35% of Americans are obese and another 35% are overweight. I imagine most Americans "should strength train", I don't know why single out women in particular.

Of course most Americans should strength train. The issue is that by a larger percentage women concentrate on cardio while neglecting strength training because strength training is viewed as masculine which is why I mentioned them specifically.

 

[Jarsh82]

Every person on the world should exercise. It gets rid of so many issues, from obesity, to low selfesteem, to general flimsiness, to depression, the list goes on.
The problem is, I think people know this, but people just lack either the motivation (aka: are lazy ****s) or lack the discipline (aka: are spoiled brats).

I wouldn't say you should exclusively strength train, though. It makes you very inflexible (short muscles, joints which are only used to lifting in one or two directions). I've experienced this first-hand. Besides, a lot of women do not want to get bulky, in which case there are alternatives to strength training which will keep you lean and still help you train strength and stamina.

Proper mobility work is a very important part of any strength program. Olympic lifters have excellent mobility and lack of mobility can hinder strength gains. An example would be you need good hip flexor and ankle mobility to perform a good high bar squat to depth. You need good wrist flexibility to have a good rack position for the front squat and clean and you need good shoulder flexibility to snatch. Inflexibility isn't the result of strength training but poor or non existent programming. I would also like to say that the idea that women will get bulky from strength training is a personal pet peeve of mine. Most women lack the physiology to bulk up like a man. If you go to a gym what percentage of men do you see that look like bodybuilders. Not many. How many of those guys are trying to bulk up. A fair portion of them. Bulking up is hard to do and a woman who is at a physiological disadvantage for bulking up certainly isn't going to do so on accident simply from strength training. The huge women body builders that you see are on an incredibly disciplined diet and workout regiment in addition using steroids and testosterone. There is simply no other way for a woman to achieve this. I would also like to point out the different between bodybuilding (bulking) and strength training. This is a huge misconception. Getting stronger doesn't necessarily mean getting bigger and getting bigger doesn't necessarily mean getting stronger.

 

[sweetylnumb]

Speaking as a women who lifts 30kgs bags of Horse crap and rakes all day for a living, my arms wont budge a fucking inch! i have couch bound friends who are more buff than me.

 

[Requia]

Strength training has also been demonstrated to improve mobility. Guys that have no flexibility are in a weight class where nobody is flexible.

I'm a transsexual and my doctor warned that trying to lose any weight whilst on hormones is a path doomed to failure, combine that iwth the fact that I don't want to turn into some sort of disgusting she hulk; no, I don't think I will be doing any strength training.

Weightlifting shrinks you, eating more makes you bigger. Depending on your AAs it might not even be possible to get big muscles outside your legs and butt anymore.

 

[Jarsh82]

I am all for healthy weight but their are so many ways to go about it. Strength training is one venue but so is pure cardio, mixture and simple diet watching. I know people folks get off their "lazy asses" "no excuse" and get fit moments for no nonsense internet points but that is just pretentious.

Like some of the poster have mentioned strength training is out of the question or they want a healthy weight and strength training is optional.

I don't believe that pure cardio and proper nutrition on their own are just as good as strength training. Obviously proper nutrition is foundational to good health and cardio is great but cardio with out strength training to supplement it is problematic. Cardio doesn't help prevent injuries and while it can lower your current blood sugar it doesn't have the same effect on insulin sensitivity as having a healthy amount of muscle mass has. It also won't be as effective at improving and maintaining bone density which should be a huge concern for women. If you have a strength deficit, as most people do, them you simply aren't as healthy as if you had a healthy muscle mass. At any given time 80% of the running population (those who run as a part of there life style) is dealing with some sort of injury. This is in large part due to a lack of proper strength training in much of the population.

 

[Requia]

Speaking as a women who lifts 30kgs bags of Horse crap and rakes all day for a living, my arms wont budge a fucking inch! i have couch bound friends who are more buff than me.

Growth comes from eating, not lifting, lifting just tells your body to grow more muscle and less fat.

 

[Jarsh82]

Speaking as a women who lifts 30kgs bags of Horse crap and rakes all day for a living, my arms wont budge a fucking inch! i have couch bound friends who are more buff than me.

Strength and size aren't necessarily the same thing.

 

[sweetylnumb]

Speaking as a women who lifts 30kgs bags of Horse crap and rakes all day for a living, my arms wont budge a fucking inch! i have couch bound friends who are more buff than me.

Growth comes from eating, not lifting, lifting just tells your body to grow more muscle and less fat.

Well, i am also 56 kgs so i guess you might have a point there.

 

[Tyson Andrews]

I wouldn't say you should exclusively strength train, though. It makes you very inflexible (short muscles, joints which are only used to lifting in one or two directions). I've experienced this first-hand. Besides, a lot of women do not want to get bulky, in which case there are alternatives to strength training which will keep you lean and still help you train strength and stamina.

I fully agree that most people shouldn't exclusively strength train as cardiovascular health is also very important but I have almost exclusivity strength trained for almost 6 months now and am the most flexible I have ever been. If you train correctly you never only train a muscle in two directions you build stabilisers and use auxiliary exercises. Women will not get bulky strength training unless that is their particular goal it is very easy to stall muscle growth especially in women. I find it kind of annoying that people think that if a guy/girl trains with weights they will instantly start to pack on muscle this is a myth.

 

[Jarsh82]

I would argue the opposite and I always encourage people to stop using the treadmill. Its a giant waste of time and mind numbingly boring. If some one genuinely enjoyed the treadmill I wouldn't say anything but I've never met this person. Most people hate the treadmill that's why they don't stick with it. Its also a terrible return on your time investment. You can burn a lot more calories in much less time and have a lot more fun doing something else. Cardiovascular endurance is fairly easily gotten and just as easy to lose. If a girl is a cardio bunny during her early twenties but then quits she probably won't have much to show for it in her thirties. If she was on a goal oriented strength program during her twenties as quits she will still likely see benefits from that in her thirties.

 

[Blow_Pop]

Anyone intimidated to start a strength program because of cultural factors?

I need to preface this with I get read constantly as a woman regardless of me being genderfluid and not identifying as female or male most of the time. I identify mostly androgynous yet because of society I still have to be labelled a "woman" for bathrooms and changing rooms and stuff. Now that that is out of the way.....

I don't know that intimidated is the right word for me. But setting foot inside a gym around here you basically get people who, if I were as thin as them I would quite literally have to have an eating disorder to be that thin, complain that they are "like soooooo fat". Mind you, these women look like a size 2 or 4 at the largest. We are talking very thin women. I hear that I feel like a whale(also I can't tell you my size as I stopped shopping in the women's section about 10 years ago but my waist size is between a 36-40 in waist in men's jeans depends on the time of the month). Not only that but around here if you don't look like them, you get mercilessly mocked for your weight/size. Especially if your BMI says you're overweight. No matter how much actual muscle mass you have (cause y'know BMI doesn't take into account muscle so I've been overweight since I was 16 and I looked like I had an eating disorder then but it was just high metabolism). And the mocking is from the gym employees as well. Not to mention that if you are read as a woman it feels like a gorram meat market. And dear lord the sexist shit you get. I USE to lift weights. Don't anymore. Tired of men coming up and calling me a little girl and telling me that I should be doing something more productive like running in place or stairmaster and leave the weights to the "real men". Half the staff at gyms doesn't care this happens. So yeah. I am very much not impressed with gyms out here. And absolutely refuse to set foot in one again.

Also, gym memberships out here are fucking expensive. Especially when half the city is hiring just not hiring anyone who lives in the damn city (my actual city is not what is listed in my profile on here). Not to mention getting my own weights is also fucking expensive. The cheapest I've ever seen a low weight set of weights(I'm talking free weights not dumbells or anything cause I won't even get into the depressing amounts those wind up being) is about $50. And it's not worth it to me.


That said, I do kind of do my own version of strength training. I'm in a constant state of re-doing my room layout and wind up repeatedly picking up heavy shit and putting it down again and again. So my body will just have to deal with that. And I just came off 6 days of helping my best friend move her shit last weekend. Body still hasn't recovered from that so I'm taking it exceptionally easy right now. But that's more a personal thing that I know what's going on with my body and don't have the money to fix yet. But I do cardio and strength...well what I can do. Everything has to be heavily modified due to asthma and back and knee problems from prior injuries which isn't fun at all.

 

[Requia]

At any given time 80% of the running population (those who run as a part of there life style) is dealing with some sort of injury. This is in large part due to a lack of proper strength training in much of the population.

To be really specific, knee injuries are inversely correlated with hip strength relative to total bodyweight. Runners need to do their squats.

(Also squats will improve race times in races as long as 10k, so there's that too).

 

[DanielBrown]

Speaking as a women who lifts 30kgs bags of Horse crap and rakes all day for a living, my arms wont budge a fucking inch! i have couch bound friends who are more buff than me.

Growth comes from eating, not lifting, lifting just tells your body to grow more muscle and less fat.

Well, i am also 56 kgs so i guess you might have a point there.

If you want your muscles to grow a bit you could focus on eating more proteins. What I've been doing the past three months is trying to get at least 30 grams of protein after every work out session and my muscles are starting to pop up quite nicely. Usually I'll eat three eggs or a can of tuna along with a glass of milk. Afaik it's very important getting it into your body within 20 minutes of working out or it won't do any good. I'm not sure how you could work that into a full working day, but getting more proteins for lunch should certainly help.

 

[Libra]

The problem is, I think people know this, but people just lack either the motivation (aka: are lazy ****s) or lack the discipline (aka: are spoiled brats).

I usually don't respond to other posts, but dont you think you are being needlessly offensive here? Not everyone who doesn't go to the gym is lazy or spoiled. Some of use just really don't enjoy their time there, and a balance of healthy diet and plenty of movement can allow you to be perfectly healhy without the gym.

I personally feel that everyone should get a university degree, but I understand that it's not for everyone. I don't go around calling those who don't study lazy or stupid though..

 

[Guffe]

It shouldn't be only the women.
Guys should also train, and again, this is for both gender.
Work out, healthy lifestyles.

I can take myself as an example, as a kid I've been playing football, tennis, badminton and some other sports, and been going to the gym since 16. After I was 20, the sports dropped out due to school and work which resulted in just jogging and hitting the gym. Doing this 4-7 times a week. Also eating homemade food (which I make myself). This does not mean I don't eat at all chips, candy, ice-cream etc, or drink alcohol or the occasional cocacola/fanta/wathever. But keep a healthy balance to life.

I think everyone have their own choice when it comes to the lifestyle and how healthy you keep youself, but do I think everyone should look after themselves? Yes, absolutely, does everyone have to look like a God/Godess? No.

 

[Guffe]

you will most likely look like this.


and only if you have around 5-10% body fat.

First of:
Yes I will correct the quoted part
Second:
I don't mean to be an asshole, I just hope you learn something with very little meaning to anything

I understand with 5-10 % you mean "very little"

But based on that girls forms, I'd put her bodyfat between 15-20%
A guy who looks like that (muscles "show", big build etc) and goes to competitions, their bodyfat is ideally around 7%, a guys "normal" bodyfat is around 12-16% while for women it is 17-22%, the numbers can be a give or take 3%. The reasons are, hips and boobs, these two factors, biologically different in male and female, result in a higher bodyfat in women.

A males bodyfat gets to "critically low" when you go under 7%, and for women it is under 12%, if a woman is under 12% bodyfat there is a high healthrisk for example, when giving birth, both for the mum and the child. And achieving these levels of low in bodyfat is very hard.

 

[Pieturli]

I'd be interested in finding out when people stopped caring about strength. As far as I can tell, it was sometime in the late eighties when suddenly, everything was about cardio and getting skinny. Strength is so basic and so foundational that it seems crazy to me how neglected it is. Strength carries over into EVERYTHING. Squat goes up? You run faster, jump higher and further. Physical labor becomes easier.


As for women doing strength training? Absolutely. The idea that women get bulky and manly because of strength training has been debunked so many times and so thoroughly I'm honestly surprised anyone still thinks that will happen. The amount of muscle mass you build is dependent on testosterone production (for the most part). Women produce around a tenth of the amount of testosterone that men do. Have you seen how hard guys have to work in order to get big? They have to eat like starving polar bears and train hard for years to get big.


Even more to the point, what fairly little hypertrophy women do actually get will do nothing but good things. Muscle and bone mass, particularly as you age, are GOOD THINGS.



Lastly, if you are in need of losing bodyfat and getting into condition, long slow distance is not the way to go. I mean it works, but it is criminally inefficient and the best way there is for losing useful bodyweight. High intensity interval training is the way to go. Hill sprints, for example.

 

[Charli]

I am ladyfolk and I approve this message. Not excessive muscle gain like some are imagining, but certainly more than is done.

Women are actively discouraged from doing any kind of heavier lifting or muscle training to avoid looking bulky. And therefore not attractive.

But the truth is a little of it keeps you (me) lean and very healthy, not to mention increased in stamina and have good metabolism. I was at my happiest when I kept up that regime and I'd like to reach a point in my life where I'm less busy and exhausted all the time and get back to it.

Please take what I say with a pinch of salt, everyone has different diets and work-outs that work best for them but for me, this really did help. Aerobics and Strength training were how I was healthiest, while some women favor Yoga and food diets of all kinds of wacky stuff. That just ain't me.

 

[Combustion Kevin]

I'm really scratching my head here as to who exactly, wether it be a group or a cultural left-over, is discouraging women from excercising, most guys I talk to like a girl who can handle herself and stays in shape, going to the gym together can be a bonding experience.
I'm thinking it's the "she-hulk" paranoia a lot of women suffer from is the culprit, but that is speculation on my part, it seems like people are their own worst enemy most of the time.

CAPTCHA: it hurts
Or that, you gotta feel those calories BURN to reap the benefits!

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

I really hope they don't. The gym gets packed enough right after new year, I'd really rather not have it like that all year long.

Yes, that makes me sound like a selfish asshole, but god damn it my gym only has one power rack!

Freaking. This.

I only do arms on saturday evenings when I have no plans. Quiet, relaxed gym with about 2 machines free for each person. Its exercise as its meant to be in my opinion. A little time for me to work on me in some relative quiet. I can just zone out and do something simple and good for myself. Fuck me the rest of the week its a nightmare... theres only 3 goddam benches and at least 30 people all lining up to use them.

Im of the opinion its schools fault women are generally less strong than men (more than biological reasons anyway). We train our women to be weaker. We dont push teenage girls to work hard and train their bodies. Girls at my school never had to do a real pushup even ONCE. Guys had to do sets of push ups and sit ups every endurance day. Why would they ruin their perception of health for ever?! Its not the poor girls fault, they get shepherded and babied into thinking a light jog is what you need to hone your body. That a knees on the floor press up is the best they never should want to do. Sure the more athletic girls break out of that fairly quickly once they realise to compete in any sport they need to drop the weird mini exercises the school sets for them but for the majority they stay weaker than the dudes because the school makes us work harder than them. Sure at the time stupid teenage me said "lucky girls do such easy sets of push ups" but now i realise it primed me to be healthier into later life than they were. I was fortunate to be forced to learn to do real press ups properly and consistently.

I think its totally unfair to gimp them like that. Make young girls realise the importance of exercise, work them as hard as they work the guys. They can handle it and we will have a generation of fitter, healthier and stronger daughters to show for it. Theres no valid reason to prevent the girls becoming strong.