Women and Weights

Women and Weight Lifting

Weight Room in the Estes (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So…I don’t know how many of you ladies out there throw some weights around in the weight room but I will tell you it’s an amazing feeling.

Now I am not some athlete or superwomen…I used to play sports in high school and after that I dabbled in working out at the gym, some running here and there and some work out DVDs but nothing serious and at that time I didn’t need to…But I was what people are now labeling as skinny fat which means ya your skinny but that’s about it, there was no muscle tone. After having my first daughter at age 24 everything went back the way it was pretty easily and I also decided to train for my first ever 5k. I completed it and have never done one again, running is fine but racing is just not my thing. I am so happy I completed my goal.

After baby number 2 at age 28 and several weeks of bed rest things…well they didn’t go back to where they were. I still had the extra 15 pounds and mommy tummy that wouldn’t budge. So I started lifting some weights at home…here and there and doing some workout videos but I wasn’t sticking with anything long-term. I would get distracted by everything going on at home.

So at 30 I decided to join a gym again….I have…for several years now wanted to try my hand at a Figure competition so I figure I would join the gym and compete a few months later. HAHA…I had quite a bit of muscle-building to do.

I joined a women’s only gym in August 2012. I started out with a trainer because it had been a while. She gave me a plan and I was just starting out with two days a week to fit it into my schedule, then around December 2012 I added in a third day and I was training on my own creating my own programs.

In May 2013 I switched gyms….to a coed gym and I was nervous. I walked into the weight room and wanted to run right out looking at all the big men lifting ridiculous amounts of weights and there was little 5 ft 2 me. But I didn’t run I pulled up my big girl panties and picked up some dumbbells and after my first day that was it I was hooked. Now I can’t stop…I have made sure I can get in my three days every week! It is part of my life. I started out in August 2012 lifting 5 pound dumbbells for bicep curls and am now up to 15 lbs. Do I look like a man, no!

That’s just it…you will not look like a man unless you are using steroids or other growth stimulating products that effect your hormones. And while the weight room can be intimidating at first it is such an awesome place! You can start with a trainer who will show you the equipment and help you with form, when your ready you can go off on your own! I need some more ladies in the weight room.

You will put on muscle, lose fat and just look  better in your clothes. Trust me, people have asked me are you loosing weight and I honestly don’t know…because I don’t weight myself. I don’t own a scale!! I go by how I feel, how my clothes fit and now by the complements I get. Putting on muscle weights more than fat so I don’t stress over the scale right now, I just feel healthy and that’s what matters. If you are going to weigh yourself do it no more than once a week and at the same time of day. Don’t panic if it fluctuates from time to time and don’t stress over a pound or two its the overall trend you want to look at. Even better take pictures each month of front back and side. This will really show you the difference even if the scale isn’t budging much.

Yes the women’s gyms are great, but I think I lift harder and heavier when I lift with the men, I leave feeling like I got something done and I look forward to going back and trying to do better than I did the day before.

I want all you ladies out there to pick up some weights, at home, at the gym in your yard…anywhere! Just get out there and give it a try…Get off all the machines and switch it up a bit. Hours of cardio does not build the muscle.

Let me know how you do and how it made you feel! Enjoy