{"id":9725,"date":"2009-07-01T08:49:53","date_gmt":"2009-07-01T13:49:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/?p=9725"},"modified":"2009-07-01T08:50:37","modified_gmt":"2009-07-01T13:50:37","slug":"five-reasons-women-should-lift-weights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/07\/five-reasons-women-should-lift-weights\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Reasons Women Should Lift Weights"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a title=\"woman lifting weights\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/07\/five-reasons-women-should-lift-weights\/\" target=\"_self\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-9778\" title=\"woman weight training\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/woman-weight-training.jpg\" alt=\"woman weight training\" width=\"210\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>When I first started to <a title=\"weight loss\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/04\/carmen-staicers-weight-loss-success-story\/\" target=\"_self\">lose weight<\/a>, my number one goal was a smaller number on the scale. That was my sole focus. (Well, that and I REALLY wanted to wear a smaller pants size, if I&#8217;m being totally honest.) I never wanted to lift weights, never wanted to grow any muscle &#8211; I just wanted to avoid embarrassment if the tag on my shirt was sticking out.<\/p>\n<p>Once I had been successful with the weight loss, though, I was still unhappy with the look of my body. Reading online one day, I was struck by the idea of lifting weights, but I didn&#8217;t want to bulk up. I gave it a try, though, and now I&#8217;m addicted. Lifting weights is terrific for women and the benefits are endless. Here are my top five.<!--more--><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Lifting weights will make you physically stronger.<\/strong> This has benefits that go beyond the obvious, such as carrying in the groceries or wrestling with a tight jar lid &#8211; and means that you will be less dependent upon others in your daily living. (It also makes it easier to wrestle with that recalcitrant toddler &#8211; but don&#8217;t tell them that!)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Lifting weights will help you lose body fat<\/strong>. The average woman who <a title=\"core exercises\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/07\/top-5-isometric-core-exercises\/\" target=\"_self\">strength trains<\/a> two to  three times a week for two months will gain nearly two pounds of muscle and will lose 3-5 pounds of fat.  As your lean muscle increases so does your resting metabolism, and you burn more  calories all day long. That&#8217;s a win for me!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Lifting weights won&#8217;t cause you to bulk up.<\/strong> Women have less of the hormones that cause muscle bulk, so lifting will help the muscles to define and this helps your clothes both fit and look better.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Lifting will decrease your risk of osteoporosis.<\/strong> Research has found that weight training can increase <a title=\"bone health\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/12\/youth-exercise-strengthens-bones-for-women\/\" target=\"_self\">bone mineral density<\/a> by 13 percent in six months. This, coupled with taking your daily calcium, means less bone fractures later in life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Lifting weights helps improve your attitude and mood.<\/strong> Women who strength  train feel more confident and capable, both of which are important factors in fighting depression.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When I first started to lose weight, my number one goal was a smaller number on the scale. That was my sole focus. (Well, that and I REALLY wanted to wear a smaller pants size, if I&#8217;m being totally honest.) &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/07\/five-reasons-women-should-lift-weights\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,58],"tags":[427,621,1943,74,608],"class_list":["post-9725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fitness","category-womens-health","tag-depression","tag-osteoporosis","tag-strength-training","tag-weight-loss","tag-weight-training"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9725"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9780,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9725\/revisions\/9780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}