Girls, do you even lift?

Ok, so the logic behind why guys lift seems pretty obvious, right?  Lift heavy weights. Check.>>>Get big muscles. Check.>>>Make girls swoon. Check. (For the record, boys, I'm only kidding...I know that's not the only reason!)  ;) 

For generations upon generations, the stereotypes of what the perfect male and perfect female are supposed to look like have dictated what we think we should be doing to achieve these said perfect physiques. Guys go into the gym, pump some iron, down their mass gainers, and read Muscle and Fitness, all in hopes of getting, bigger, stronger and more ripped, while the ladies can usually be found on the cardio machines or in aerobics classes, trying to achieve that "perfect" Barbie waistline and shrink their butt and thighs.

Speaking as an experienced "cardio bunny", I have news for you, ladies: (while this may not apply to ANYTHING ELSE IN LIFE) when it comes to changing our physique, we have a lot to learn from the boys. The reality is that cardio will only get you so far, and yet soooo many women are reluctant to venture their way off of the elliptical and over to the weight room.

Oh, trust me, I get it. I'm not judging. I spent a year straight, killing myself doing cardio six days a week and wondering why I still didn't look like a fitness model! The truth is, you just don't know what you don't know. I was always taught that you do aerobics to get skinny and if you lift any weights at all, you do light weights and high reps, or else you'll get giant muscles like a man. I had no idea this is ABSOLUTELY NOT the case! And clearly I wasn't the only one who was misled, because look around most gyms and you'll find an overwhelming number of women doing hours of cardio and wielding around those adorable pink 5 lb. dumbbells.

Ladies, here is the truth about why you should consider jumping off the treadmill (well, make sure you turn it off first!) and picking up something with a little weight behind it!

1. No matter what anyone tells you, you WILL NOT get big and bulky like a man just because you are lifting weights. Men and women are built very differently, both in our musculoskeletal structure and hormonal balance. We are not physiologically designed to build or carry large amounts of muscle mass, nor do we produce enough testosterone on our own to do so. Simply put, women, naturally, do not have what it takes to bulk up the way men do. The one thing we do have in common, however, is that our muscles, just like men's muscles, require stimulation to grow. So ladies, don't be afraid to lift and lift heavy enough to challenge yourself and stimulate those muscles!!!   

2. Muscle burns more calories than fat. Even when you are just sitting around doing nothing, muscle requires more energy to sustain itself than bodyfat does, so the more muscle you have, the faster your body will burn calories. Need I say more?

3. Muscle takes up less room, is more shapely than fat, and...the best part? It doesn't jiggle. :) Translation? You actually look tighter and more sculpted than even the skinniest skinny-fat person!

4. Ok so this last one may not be a legitimate health or fitness-related reason to start pumping some iron, but it's still not a bad one: You feel pretty bad-ass going into a male dominated weight room and making all their jaws drop when you start lifting weights like a dude! I work out at a time of day when there are very few women in the gym, and the handful that are there are usually cardio bunnies. So I understand what it feels like to be intimidated, working out next to a bunch of jacked guys. But if you hold your head high and walk in there like you own the place, I promise you, they are more likely to be impressed than to judge you. Now I'm not saying that you NEED to impress anyone - you are doing this for yourself, after all; but my point here, is that, as women we are the underdogs. Nobody expects much from us when it comes to fitness. It's kind of nice to prove 'em all wrong, don't ya think? ;)

Don't get me wrong - if lifting weights isn't for you, it isn't for you! In my opinion, whatever type of physical fitness you are passionate about and will stick to is the best type for you - whether it's weight lifting, running, yoga, or a combination of all three! But when I look around my gym and overhear remarks like "I don't want to lift weights because I don't want to look like a guy!" it makes me cringe, because I know how misinformed this statement is! I HATE the idea of someone not reaching their goals because they didn't go about reaching them the right way due to misinformation and I think there is a TON of that going around when it comes to girls lifting weights! So, ladies, my advice is to be proactive in finding out what the optimal plan is for the results you want to achieve. If you're investing the time and effort in working out to change your body, you might as well make it worth your while, right???