A word from Rowan...

Did you know that females WON'T bulk up through weight training?

One of the biggest myths in the fitness industry is that weight training exercises will make women excessively muscular.  As a result, many women have grown to live in fear that if they start weight training they will "bulk up".  This is FALSE!

This notion is terribly misguided and sees many ladies thrashing out the cardio equipment for hours and hours to achieve that desired lean physique, often NEVER REACHING THEIR GOALS.  I believe that this myth has come about from seeing female body builders on stage in body building competitions looking extremely muscular.

What many people don't realise is that female body builders only weigh 50 to 60 kilograms.  They have to diet excessively for months, often losing 10 to 15 kilos in order to get lean enough so that their muscles will stand out for the competition.  They will reach their goal competition weight looking as lean and muscular as possible for competition day...and also extremely dehydrated.  This is extreme yet common and required for body builders or body sculptors who are competing.

What people don't see is that immediately after these competitions the women will re-hydrate and eat often...and as a result regain 3 to 5 kilograms of their weight back within 48 hours.

Another point that may not be commonly known to people is that many men actually find it extremely difficult to build muscle.  Many men can lose weight quickly (at the anger of their female counterparts!) as their metabolisms are often naturally higher.  However to build muscle they need to increase their mass (eat a lot) and turn that into muscle.  This is the reason why professional body builders, both male and female, take large quantities of supplements and sometimes steroids.  Without chemical assistance, building muscle mass is very difficult.

Weight training is actually the essential key for females to look as good as they can! Resistance exercises increase muscle activity...which means that the more active muscle that one has, the more calories and body fat one can burn. In other words, the more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism works and therefore the muscle will burn more calories.

► INTERESTING FACT!  Did you know that pound for pound, muscle will burn around 25 times more calories than fat will!  In your body, 1 pound of muscle will need about 350 - 500 calories per week to survive.  BUT 1 pound of fat will only need about 14 calories per week to survive...what a difference!  Since muscle is metabolically active tissue, losing muscle will slowwwww your metabolism!  And how do you counter this slowdown?  Build up more calorie-burning muscle tissue!

The key for females in exercising is to AVOID exercises such as squats.  Squats are not by any means the "great butt exercise" that many people believe they are and in fact they can actually make people quite thick through the mid-section! Just because your glutes are sore the day after performing squats, it does not mean that they have been strenuously exercised!

The golden rule therefore for females is the stronger you get at performing exercises in the REM program, the leaner you will get. REM postural weight training exercises will make you strong and lean, not big and bulky!

And on a final realistic note, weight training does not make you big, eating and drinking more calories than you burn makes you big.  If you need help combatting this, please don't hesitate to give us a call today on 03 477 7226.

So...happy training ladies!

If you have any further general questions please don't hesistate to email us on gym@bodysynergy.co.nz

Alternatively if you would like to email me directly with a question or concern please feel free to on rowan.ellis@bodysynergy.co.nz