The common misconception of many women out there is that weight training makes you huge and bulky.
My name's Haley, I'm I coach at TFS and have been lifting weights for some time now. (And no I'm not huge or bulky)
I'll just start off by saying physiologically it is impossible. Unless you are following an extremely strict diet of high calories, are training with the specific load, intensity volume and movements specifically aimed at hypertrophy (increasing size of muscles) and on top of this, willing to take illegal drugs such as steroids, you are not going to get huge, period! Women are not genetically made to become massive body builders with muscles upon muscles; it’s not in our genes. Women where not created to look like men, our bodies are completely different and there is no possible way that we will achieve the same muscle growth as men naturally, our bodies hormonal makeup will not allow it. Lifting heavy weights increases fat loss as it increases your metabolic rate. This means that you burn more Calories at rest or in your sleep! How awesome is that!?
This is due both from the recovery process and also because of the fact that the more lean Muscle you have, the more calories needed to maintain it. So in short, Lean muscle helps you lose body fat whilst helping you achieve a lean toned body in the process, it will NEVER naturally allow you to become a massive body builder.
So if you're not already, be sure to add this into your routine. Here's my tips: 1. Switch from long distance cardio to sprint/interval training, this will boost fat loss and reduce the possibility of loosing lean muscle through endurance style cardio. 2. 2 x pw you should aim to do strength work, targeting all muscle groups throughout the week. It should be balanced between upper and lower body, push, pull and multi plane movements to ensure you're bio mechanically balanced and reduce the risk of injury. 3. Progressively overload.E very week you should aim to increase your weights, do more sets, reps or do things in better time. Doing this consistently will avoid any plateaus and insure you're improving. Which will ensure you're continually increasing lean Muscle and metabolic rate. I hope this has helped you get kick started with your strength training routine! Be sure to get in touch should you need any support or advice.
