You may have heard this warning more than once, if you are a female who is fond of workouts – Avoid lifting heavy weights, unless bulking up is what you want. This common piece of advice couldn’t be more wrong. Your DC based personal trainer explains the truth about what would happen to women who lift heavy weights.

How come it is impossible for women to gain the kind of muscles that men develop just by lifting few heavy weights?

For one, women don’t have as much of the hormone testosterone as men do. With only a fraction (15 to 20 times less) of the testosterone amount men have, women simply can’t build the kind of bulky muscles men can. Which is perfectly okay, and it’s therefore also perfectly okay for women to lift heavy weights, assuming health, physical condition, etc., makes this safe to do so.

What DOES happen when women lift heavy weights?

Women do have a small amount of testosterone in their bodies, so when they lift weights, they tone, rather than develop bulky muscle. Because they don’t have a lot of testosterone, they’ll gain the muscle without the mass.

* High numbers of sets and repetitions cause muscle bulk, while most women prefer relatively few repetitions.

When guys get into weightlifting, they will often do lots of reps at high weights. Women in general do considerably less, which builds strength but not “volume.”

* Heavy weights equal strength, not size.

Women get strength and not bulk muscle by lifting weights. Women get muscle strength and neurological improvement because while lifting weights the nervous system is stressed as much as the muscles, but there is no increase in the size.

* There advantages of lifting weights are manifold for women

Now that we have dealt with the misguiding weightlifting and bulk facts concerning women, these reasons should be sufficient enough to encourage lifting heavyweights provided you are healthy enough to do so.

Lifting heavy weights has several benefits, so you are doing yourself more harm than good by keeping away from heavy weights. It improves your muscle strength and also ensures that connective tissues and bones become stronger. This helps you in dealing with health issues that occur with old age like osteoporosis.

Josef Brandenburg is a prize winning DC based personal fitness trainer. His clients depend on him to help them get the bodies they want in the time that they actually have and without starving themselves or eating nasty food. Click here to find out more about his 7-Day Free Trial.