Does weightlifting make women look less feminine?

So this is something I hear very frequently when in the gym. A lot of ladies' fitness routines included long bouts of cardio, with light resistance training with high reps. When I ask "Why is that? Most of the time they will say to me they are attempting to shed some body fat and tone their body.

Some elaborate and tell me that they want more defined legs, or have a flat midsection and six-pack abs. What they are really saying is they are trying to accomplish spot reduction which simply does not exist in terms of body fat. Or at least that's not how it works. That is a whole different conversation in itself.

I always ask if they include weight training into their routine. Most say they don't while others say yes with lightweight in the high rep range. Why is this the case? More times than not many women avoid training with heavy weights because they are afraid it'll result in significant muscle gain and simply just want to tone. It's very difficult to determine where the term "toning" came from because realistically you're either building muscle or not.

The toned look that many women strive for is established through weight training which places metabolic stress on the body which has been scientifically proven to burn calories for 48-72 hours after working out as opposed to cardio where calories are no longer being burned since your heart rate steadily decreases. The opposition to this is also fear-based because women are afraid to get "bulky" like men. While I'm sure we have all seen images of female bodybuilders, and I have massive respect for the hard work and dedication they put into their passion, it is impossible for women to look that way from a short period of weight training. If it was that easy then why doesn't every guy who lifts look like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Phil Heath?

While it is workable for a person to pack on muscle rapidly and effectively, this isn't the situation for ladies. Why? Well it comes down to hormones Testosterone is the fundamental hormone that is responsible for building muscle, and keeping in mind that ladies do have some testosterone, just nowhere close to the degree men do. It would make sense that they can build some muscle, yet not so much or as brisk as men.

You are probably asking yourself "So what does happen when women lift weights"? They build muscle at a much slower rate which will help to improve their physique. More muscle tissue in the legs makes the thighs and glutes more defined, and more development of the arms can help the fight against bingo wings. Building muscle tissue in the shoulders and back will create the illusion of a smaller waist and help create the hourglass figure

But what about body fat? While lifting weight will burn calories, the only way to lose body fat is to be in a caloric deficit, through a well-structured nutrition program. To put this simply there are 3,500 calories in a pound. So being in a 500 calorie deficit every day for a week would mean you lose around one pound of weight. That is considered healthy weight loss because you won't be sacrificing any muscle. If you decide you want to look more toned and therefore diet really hard to lose fat, with little muscle underneath, ultimately you end up with a skeleton. However, with some well-defined muscle, you will create that toned and "wonder woman" physique you are after.

So to conclude, women should lift weights as it will lead to the physique many women are after by building "toned" muscle and helping lose fat to get them in the best shape.

Thanks for reading, stay tuned for more content coming soon.

Edward