Everyday many of us see encouraging images of women strength training in various ways.  Be it with dumbbells or barbells, they’ve taken years to build physiques to be proud of.

What we forget to focus on is what is happening underneath the skin.  The real inner body benefits that can occur with a strength training schedule.

Benefits of strength training for women include:

• Building bone mass – 95% of a young woman’s bone mass reaches it’s peak at 20 years of age.  After that we go into a maintenance period until we hit perimenopause and start a slow downward slope.  For women with a family history of osteoporosis, this downward slope can be more pronounced than with others.  Strength training not only gives us the tools to build bone mass but also to help maintain what we’ve already got.
• Improvements in lean muscle mass – the majority of our calories burnt are outside of the gym though something called your BMR (basal metabolism rate).  Your BMR is positively correlated with your lean muscle mass which can be built and maintained through strength training practices.  Also shouldn’t gloss over the fact that lean muscle looks so sexy.
• Positive changes in mental health – the confidence to hit new PR’s in the gym can and often times will translate to your everyday life.  Imagine walking into a difficult office meeting with a win already in your court?  Those deep breathing exercises you’ve been using to lift heavy can help remind you to breath in high stress situations.  Doing hard things in the gym can help you do hard things in real life.

In short, strength training is often one of the key things that women need to implement in order to live their fullest and strongest lives.  You’ve got 15 minutes, you can fit a strength training session in your living room.  You’ll thank yourself later that you did.

LIFT – Life Inspired Fitness Training LLC