Tuesday Thoughts - Fact or Fiction: Lifting Weights Will Make Me Look Like...

Fact or Fiction: Lifting weights will make me look like a gross body builder?

You may have seen the image above before floating around Facebook.  You've seen the women at the gym with big muscles lifting with the big buff guys, grunting and dropping weights on the floor before yelling out a "HELL YEAH BITCH" because they just got their PR (personal record).

But you... You want to TRIM and get smaller.....So why would you want to lift heavy weights? 

Here's why....

First, let’s understand the myth that if women lift weights, they will get big bulky muscles. It doesn't happen like that – seriously. Women don’t have the testosterone that men do, so it’s pretty much impossible to gain the same kind of muscle growth that men do. The women you may see in the gym who DO have huge man-like muscles are probably on some kind of supplement (synthetic testosterone of some sort) along with other drugs to gain that kind of muscle growth. And keep in mind – they WANT to get big and bulky for a very specific reason – probably to compete in a body builder event.

But the average female isn't looking to bulk up – you want to trim, right? So can you do that and still lift weights? The answer is a big fat YES!

Many clients come to me and say they spend 40-60 minutes a day on the elliptical, or running… or that KILLER spin class, but they have plateaued with their weight loss and are not sure why. Well there’s a few reasons for this (nutrition being one of them, but I’ll address that at a later time), but one of the biggest reasons is that when you do massive amounts of cardio, you can eventually end up burning muscle.

Here’s a fact: increased muscle = increased metabolism. If you burn your muscle away doing more than necessary cardio because face it we all think that cardio is supposed to make us skinny, in reality to increase your metabolism and be the trim fit goddesses we all want to be, you need to lift weights.

I am not going to bore you with all the scientific evidence and details about how and why this is fact (but if you want to know the details, message me and I can explain more), but here’s what you do need to learn and apply:

Don’t be afraid of the weights! 

Take a weight training class at the gym, or come to me to learn some basic weight training so you can do some at home. You don’t need heavy weights (5-15 lb. dumbbells are sufficient for women getting started) and you don’t need to understand all those big scary machines. But you DO need to actually lift a weight or two in order to maximize your results.

Lastly, and this is important, your weight loss on the scale may not move as quickly as you would like when you start with a weight training program. But, as I've said in past blogs – STOP FOCUSING ON THE SCALE. You want to judge by your pant and dress size and how you feel. 

Here’s proof to that point – and I will throw it out there for all to know:

Me, I’m 5’5” 138 lbs, approximately 20% body fat and a size 6 pants (I was a size 14/16 and 185 pounds at my heaviest).

A fellow gym-goer I know who is 5’6” is 157 lbs, 15% body fat and a size 2!!  She lifts weights AND does cardio daily. But she’s trim, fit and a sexy goddess that many of us would like to look like. But yeah – she’s 157 lbs and a size 2! 

So, don’t be afraid of the weights and don’t focus on the number on the scale. Because what matters is how your clothes fit, how you feel on the inside and how awesome you look naked.

Have a great week!

PS. If you would like to take advantage of some introductory weight training sessions with me, please shoot me an email at info@devontaylor.net  and NO, you do not need to be in CT! I train via Skype or Google Hangout!