Summer Bodies: Your Guide to Strength Training

At Beyond Fitness in Tauranga we have helped countless females look and feel amazing through following some simple exercise training principles. Here’s a handful of our favourite tips to help you too…

We love and encourage STRENGTH TRAINING for women! If you have doubts about incorporating a quality strength training programme into your weekly routine because you “don’t want to become bulky” PLEASE READ ON! We understand that there are certain stereotypes that fit with the idea of lifting weights. The purpose of this blog is to assist females in busting the myths and understanding the benefits of strength training!

We recommend doing strength training at least 2 x per week, and here’s why…..

1. Strength training helps burn calories – resulting in fat loss!

• You burn more calories during a quality strength workout, as opposed to steady state cardio exercise!
• Why? Your body recruits more muscles and therefore needs more energy to perform the exercises.

2. Strength training can boost your metabolism by 15%

• Following a strength workout your body will also continue to burn calories, a process commonly known as the “after burn” – your body must work to re-build muscle which requires extra calories.
• This may mean that you needn’t stray too far from your current diet in order to achieve your desired results ─ as long as you eat good healthy foods in moderation

3. Strength training will add definition to your muscles

• When you push yourself to lift weights, your muscles will get stronger and denser (not necessarily bigger!) – you will burn the fat on top of your muscle, and you will get that “toned” look that many people are after

4. Strength training to boost energy levels and improve your mood!

• Strength training elevates your level of endorphins (natural opiates produced by the brain), leaving you feeling energised and alive.
• Strength training has also been shown to be a great antidepressant and tool for stress relief. It will give you a better night’s sleep!

How to do it…

The great thing about strength training is that you can do it anywhere! External weight is useful but it is still possible to use your body as the resistance. Squats, lunges, press ups, sit ups and pull ups are all great examples of strength based body weight exercises that can be performed at home, or in a local park! There is no lack of content on the web for these types of workouts. What usually prevents us from actually doing it is self-motivation! If that is something you struggle with then we would encourage you to find a fitness provider that can help you find that motivation and create a sustainable exercise routine! There are plenty around (we are one of them!)

Hopefully you can take something away from this blog, ladies. If you have any questions, please get in touch with the Beyond Fitness team.

Jason