Benefits Of Weight Lifting For Women

Women should step off the treadmill a few times a week and head to the weight room floor to experience numerous physical and mental benefits. Using free weights, selectorized machines, body weight or resistance tubing should be a priority in your exercise routine. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends a minimum of two, full-body resistance training sessions per week for all healthy adults. Women, in particular, should heed this advice.

Build Strength

An obvious benefit of lifting weight is developing strength. According to the American Council on Exercise, a woman will increase her muscular strength by 20 to 40 percent after several months of resistance training. This does not mean you will leave the gym looking like a body builder; rather, you will be better able to function in everyday activities and stave off age-related muscle loss. This reduces your risk of injury and improves your overall stamina to face daily life. More strength also helps people with certain chronic conditions, like diabetes and arthritis, better manage their symptoms.

Bone Density

The Mayo Clinic points out that strength training stresses your bones and thus increases bone density. This effect, reports a review of studies in the journal Sports Medicine in 2009, shows that resistance exercise "should be advocated for the prevention of osteoporosis."

Weight Management

Although a strength training session does not burn as many calories as a run on the treadmill, it provides you with a lasting calorie burn that helps control your weight. Fitness expert Lou Schuler, in the book, "The New Rules of Lifting for Women," points out that strength training encourages your body to burn more fat calories after you leave the gym. Muscle is more metabolically active than fat tissue and simply burns more calories when you are at rest.

Heart Health

Lifting weights helps discourage the development of cardiovascular disease---the number one killer of women in the United States, according to the American Heart Association. Studies, such as one published in the Journal of Applied Physiology in 2003, show that whole body resistance training reduces arterial blood pressure and improves muscular strength. High blood pressure is one of the major risk factors for coronary artery disease.