So when I told my mom a few years ago I lift weights ( and by weights I mean mostly dumbbells), she was shocked. Her exact words were "careful... you might end up looking like a man." Over the years I've heard so many friends and family tell me similar things about weight training. A lot of them say they don't want to be too muscular and hence prefer just cardio. I know all of us do different kinds of workouts which we deem best for our body and which we think we can personally handle but I just wanted to take the time to spread the importance of strength training. The first and most important thing to know is you can NEVER look like a man. Men have something called testosterone, that builds their muscles in that fashion. Women do not. So those that look bulked up like body builders are taking testosterone supplements in some form.
All our lives we hear of taking care of our heart, less oil, keeping our sugar levels low, eating less salt, oh and and walk everyday. This is all fantastic. Not to take away from all of the above but for some reason, desis ( people that hail from India) never talk about building muscular strength. My grandmother who is now 83, does not have a single disease in her body - no sugar, no thyroid, no cholesterol, no gastritis, not a thing! She's fit as a fiddle but she is bound to a wheel chair for the last 10 years. She cannot walk at all, because her knees have given way. She can barely take a step and it hurts like hell.
Strength training is the only way you can prevent this from happening. People, especially women, lose muscle and bone density with age. We talk about taking calcium supplements and other supplements but if you strength train, you build muscle, this muscle will help your body carry your weight and support any activity you take on. For example, when your thigh muscles are strong, it reduces the work of your knees. Your knees don't have to try so hard to support the weight of your hips and your upper body, your thigh and glute muscles take on most of the job. So your knees are protected. This is the case with all the bones in your body, shoulder muscles protect your shoulder bone, biceps and triceps protect your elbows, etc. You may not see immediate weight loss or any miraculous immediate results with strength training but the muscles you build today will help protect your body for life. This is just one of the many many advantages of building muscle. Another one that you can may be relate to is, when you build muscle, your metabolism improves. So you burn more calories with less movement. Your muscles help you burn calories even when you don't move. Isn't that awesome!
Now strength training is not just about lifting heavy weights. Did you know you can strength train with just your body? Using just your own body weight as resistance, you can build muscle. There are numerous exercises for this. Adding extra weight is only the next step.
You may be wondering if it might be too hard or if your body can handle it but your body is amazing. You will be surprised how much it can accomplish if you can get your mind out of your comfort zone and push yourself a little bit. There are millions of videos online, just like there are videos for yoga and dance and cardio. Use them to learn correct form. Start small - 5 squats a day, 5 lunges a day moving up slowly every week - but do incorporate strength training into your life. Cardio is important, watching your diet is important, drinking water is important but so is strength training.
