by Anne Penny

Created on: April 05, 2009

Women of all ages can reap the many benefits of strength training. As we age, we naturally want to delay the time when we look and feel old and strength training is an accessible means of retaining or regaining self-confidence and youthfulness.

It isn't simply a matter of looks, alone. Yes, we can change the way we look through consistent strength training, and no, we won't end up bulging with muscles and looking like a female Schwarzenegger! It should be understood that most women are not able to develop big muscles, as men are genetically able, and often wish to do. Only by lifting huge weights, over a prolonged period of time, will muscles respond by growing bigger; women would also need hormone adjustment to achieve this growth.

This does not mean that women should lift only light weights. The aim is to promote a change in muscle shape and strength and this can only be achieved if challenging weights are used. The weights must produce "muscle fatigue" in order to be of value and create an advantageous muscle shape.

Are you an endomorph or an ectomorph? Or, perhaps, a mesomorph? Most women fall into the endomorph category of body type, carrying weight in the lower part of the body, around hips and thighs, muscle obscured by fat tissue. The ectomorph is often less sturdy in build, even thin and weak; a body type that cries out for strength training to build up muscle. The mesomorph is one already muscular and strong, and a woman with this build needs careful direction so as not to over-train and over-develop.

However, strength training for women is far more than improving and enhancing looks. Certainly, you can firm up your body through better-defined muscle and look good but there are other excellent reasons for increasing muscle strength. As we age, under-used muscles lose their tone and strength and we can become frail and weak. If those weakening muscles are urged into activity, they can improve and many health benefits follow naturally.
HEALTH BENEFITS
- One of the most important results of strength training for women is that bone density, especially spinal bone mineral density, can be increased. Osteoporosis is a serious disease, commonly seen in post-menopausal women, where the bones lose mass, become brittle and prone to break. Fractures of hip or spine are serious, invariably requiring surgery and often permanently debilitating. Strength training is an important and effective tool with which to combat the likelihood of osteoporosis. Even if you already

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