Strength Training for Women: 5 Myths to Leave Behind

There are many benefits to incorporating strength training—also known as resistance training—into your regular workout routine. Not only is it an incredibly effective way to improve the strength and tone of your muscles, but it can also improve other aspects of your body such as flexibility, balance, bone health and more.

Aside from that, the fact that this form of training lets you engage every muscle in your body means that it can help with weight management and loss by altering your body’s natural composition to have more muscle rather than fat, leading to a much leaner and more sculpted overall appearance. And lastly, this increased muscle mass means that you’ll burn more calories at rest.

But even with all these perks going for it, strength training is still often misunderstood and overlooked by women due to the different myths and misconceptions still surrounding it. Here are some that need to be left behind.

Myth #1: Strength Training Will Make Women Bulky

This is probably the most popular misconception out there, and it’s done a pretty good job scaring women away from anything weighted. Many believe that strength training will make women bulky or overly muscular, but the reality is that women don’t have a high enough testosterone level for this to be true. Strength training will only help women build lean muscle mass, which will help give a more toned and sculpted appearance rather than a bulky one.

Myth #2: Women Only Need Cardio

There’s that definitive belief that the weights were only for the men and that women should stick to cardio for weight loss. While cardio exercises like running are certainly beneficial for weight loss, these activities won’t give you that leaned and toned appearance that you might be looking for. While cardio only shrinks your body, strength training helps tilt the scales so that you’ll have more muscle mass rather than fat, making you look more sculpted.

And in terms of weight loss, the increase of muscle mass also means a boosted metabolism that will help you burn more calories overall. From altering body composition, preserving muscle mass, and increasing calories burned, it might be a good idea to add some weights to your workout if you’re looking for a drastic physical change.

Myth #3: Women Should Stick to Light Weights

While there might be some women that have decided to pick up a few weights, they might still be plagued by the false idea that women should only use light weights and perform high repetitions for toning. In actuality, to build strength and stimulate muscle growth, progressive overload is essential. This basically means that you need to gradually increase the resistance or weight over time to see results.

Myth #4: Strength Training Takes Too Much Time

The truth is that it doesn’t have to be and that you can achieve significant gains with just a few focused sessions each week. You can consider adopting a strength training program or plan that will help you target major muscle groups and work multiple muscles at the same time. Shorter and more intense workouts can be just as effective as longer ones.

Myth #5: Strength Training is Too Masculine

This might have come from the fact that men have been encouraged to do strength training for far longer than women have, but strength training can actually be empowering for women. Apart from the fact that strength training will help women feel more confident, strong and capable in themselves, the physical and mental benefits also don’t discriminate according to gender and can be experienced by everyone.

The belief that strength training isn’t meant for women is incredibly outdated. As you can see, there are countless reasons for women to head on over to their local gyms and venture towards the weight racks and machines.

However, you don’t need to splurge on a gym membership to begin your weightlifting journey because Temu has all the workout essentials you could ever need. From yoga mats and resistance bands to handheld weights of various sizes, Temu has over 29 categories and 250 subcategories of high quality and affordable items for you to choose from.

Check out the official website or download the mobile app today!