Why Women Should Lift Weights

Adding weights to your routine is an easy and quick way to up the intensity of a regular bodyweight workout, a fact that is significant for women, particularly women in middle age. Whatever weight you begin with, slow and steady progression of what you lift is vital if you want to see changes. As a rule, think about choosing a weight that you can lift ten times; you should be able to comfortably lift it for around eight reps with the final two becoming increasingly harder. Once you’re in a good routine, the aim should be to change up the weight every month.

Weights are important for strong bones

As women age and go through the menopause, oestrogen, the key hormone responsible for maintaining and protecting bone health, rapidly diminishes. Weight training is beneficial for all women but especially women of menopausal age, as it promotes bone health at a vital time. adding extra weight and resistance to any exercise by using weights encourages muscle groups to pull on the attached bones, helping to strengthen both the muscles and the bone in the process. Doing regular and progressive weight training can help stave off muscle and bone loss and reduce women’s risk of osteoporosis, a condition which women are four times more prone to than men in old age.

Weights reduce the risk of injury

Adding weight training to your regime is a great way to keeping your muscles and joints in good condition, thus reducing the likelihood of injury. As well as building stronger muscles, weightlifting also improves joint stability and helps build stronger connective tissues. If you’re carrying more weight than you’d like, adding weights to your aerobic routine is a good idea as aerobic activities can put extra strain on your joints like knees and ankles.

Weights help you sleep better

According to one study, adding weight training alongside aerobic training produced larger quantities of a molecule adenosine in participants, compared with just aerobic exercise alone. When adenosine builds up in the bloodstream, it interacts with specific cell receptors and causes drowsiness, helping to encourage deeper, more restorative sleep. That might be good news for women, who are significantly more likely to report trouble falling and staying asleep than men, according to a report by the National Sleep Foundation.