"Ladies - Do Weights!"

Ladies, ladies, ladies – please do some strength training, with weights.

One of the most neglected issues in women's health is strength training.

But why is it so important?

For one, females suffer more orthopaedic injury than males in almost every sport in which both sexes compete.

Also, a chronic lack of strength in the lower abdominals & pelvic floor muscles is evident in 47.5% of females that, at an average age of only 38.5 years, suffer from incontinence.

Both these problems can often be helped with the correct strength training exercise program.

Interestingly enough, Nygaard et al found that only 4% of women who lifted weights suffered incontinence, compared with 38% of runners (See Table below).

% OF FEMALES SUFFERING INCONTINCE ACCORDING TO ACTIVITY

Running 38%
High-impact Aerobics 34%
Tennis 27%
Low-impact Aerobics 22%
Walking 21%
Golf 18%
Bicycling 16%
Racquetball 13%
Swimming 12%
Weight lifting 4%

And don’t worry about ‘getting big and muscly’. It won’t happen. “Competitive female body builders train approximately three hours a day, performing 5-12 sets per exercise. Any competitive female body builder will tell you, getting big is no easy task for a female. It requires a significant time commitment and serious commitment to nutritional modifications and supplementation. Any woman can enhance her beauty and function with as little as 45 minutes three times per week in the gym!” (Paul Chek) Taken from “Training Jane, Not Tarzan”.

So please ladies, do some weight training, for your sake

Steve