The New Rules Of Weight Lifting For Women

The New Rules of Lifting for Women is a book published in 2007. Author Lou Schuler espouses 20 specific rules to advise women about the hows and whys of strength training. The book may help women incorporate strength training in their regular exercise routine. As reported by MayoClinic.com, regular resistance training helps women develop strong bones, manage their weight, reduce injury risk, boost stamina, sleep better and manage chronic conditions.

Myths

Many of Schuler's rules try to dispel myths about muscle shaping and toning. He notes that the purspose of lifting weights is to build muscle. You cannot change the shape of any given muscle by making it longer. A woman needs to work hard at resistance training to make significant changes in their body composition. Women are often reluctant to work hard at weight lifting, but instead focus their energy on cardio and yoga. Lifting light weights---ranging from five to eight pounds---will not give women the results of lean, tight muscles that they desire, writes Schuler. He emphasizes that you must go up in weight, not repetitions to make muscles bigger and stronger.

Bulk

Building muscle is hard to do, maintains Schuler, so women should not be concerned about becoming bulky. Gaining significant size requires years of training. A 20 to 40 percent increase in strength, rather than size, occurs after several months of resistance training notes the American Council on Exercise. The book details dozens of strength exercises with pictures and weekly workout plans to help you achieve the purported results.

Cardio Exercise

While Schuler believes cardiovascular exercise is important, he maintains that steady-state training in which you work in a moderate heart rate zone is not necessary. He emphasizes interval training that involves bouts of high-intensity, near-maximum work with periods of easy effort. Trainer Alwyn Cosgrove enumerates four different programs that range in duration from 14 to 20 minutes, to be performed two or three times per week.

Nutrition

The book also enumerates several "rules" about nutrition. These include eating several mini-meals during the day to rev the metabolism and to emphasize quality protein sources in each of these meals. Schuler recommends making about 30 percent of daily calories come from protein to support your muscle-building efforts. The book offers complete meal plans and recipes developed by co-author Cassandra E. Forsythe, M.S.