I have been asked several times over the last few years by women if they should include weight training as part of their workout routine. The question is usually followed by concern regarding "getting too big" or "getting too muscular”. I usually respond to the initial question with "You’re damn right you should include weight training as part of your fitness routine". Look ladies I am going to explain a few things to you regarding the reality of what weight training can do for your health and what it can do for your self esteem.

Let me first dispel a myth or two regarding women who weight train. First, you are not going to look like a man unless you start injecting male testosterone, Growth Hormones (GH), or anabolic steroids into your body. Women’s bodies contain the hormone estrogen which makes it very difficult to add large bulging muscles without introducing pharmaceuticals into the female body. If you ask any competitive bodybuilder about estrogen they will tell you that they try to purge as much of it as possible out of their system, usually with pharmaceuticals that can be very dangerous to your health. The fact is that improvements made in muscle tone, strength and endurance and not necessarily in size. As the muscles become more toned, the body begins to burn off excess fat and becomes more firm.

Weight training is the quickest way to improve muscle strength and endurance. As your muscles become stronger you will find that you are able to accomplish everyday task with less effort and for longer periods of time. Taxing the muscles during weight training on a regular weight training program significantly improves their capacity to work. Resistance training can also improve circulation, coordination, balance, and bone and ligament strength. Recent studies have also indicated that weight training can help guard against obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Now you may be wondering what the payoff is by training with weights. What about healthy weight loss or fat loss? How about fitting into those pair of jeans that you have been wanting to wear for the last few decades. How about being able to lose weight without having to starve yourself to death. What about feeling good about working hard towards a goal to get healthy and stay healthy? Why not just do something for yourself so you can live a longer healthier life.

Years ago the media sold everyone on this idea that women were supposed to look like they were one step away from being a scarecrow suffering form anorexia. And yes you can thank the fashion industry for that one. The media has continued to drive women’s weight down through print ads, television commercials, magazines ads and the internet. And I won't even go into the self esteem issues that these type of ads cause women to have. Trust me on this one when I tell you that it makes women feel bad.

So get to the gym ladies and start hitting the iron. Keep at it and don’t be afraid you are going to look like Arnold did back in the day.  That just isn’t going to happen. Make sure you check out some or workout programs here on OSX Fitness.com.