In this article we will try to contribute to good information, demolishing as much as possible potentially wrong and even counterproductive convictions and beliefs.
and / or to take care of your body, is that resistance training with the use of weights (overloads) causes an excessive muscle increase and can therefore lead to androgyny (masculine features). This is a big error due to the "ignorance - understood as limited knowledge - of less experienced people.Assuming that growing at the muscle level is not so simple, even if it is the case, it would be sufficient to decrease the amount of the specific stimulus - for example, in the case of overly muscled arms, reduce the exercises for biceps, triceps and deltoids. L " weight training (resistance training) is actually capable of producing substantial benefits in both men and women without any unsightly effect; let's see them in more detail.
The other unfounded but rooted belief in women is that aerobic training is indispensable or more recommended to lose weight and tone up. This is not quite the case. Let's say that aerobic training offers numerous advantages, one of which is the possibility of a high final calorie consumption. In fact, 60 "uninterrupted aerobic exercise at medium intensity allows to consume several hundred calories (even almost a thousand); the same cannot be said of training with overloads which, despite the high intensity, given the recoveries between sets, often has a density of less than 30% (less than 20 "effective out of 60"). C "it should be noted that the functional adaptations of the cardio-circulatory, pulmonary and metabolic systems are not the same between the two types of training. The high-volume aerobic one has superior effects on the heart, vessels, bronchi and blood parameters (cholesterol, triglycerides, glycaemia, etc.), especially if characterized by peaks above the anaerobic threshold. Weight training also offers certain advantages, but not comparable to the ones previously described.
Let's move on to the third false myth, actually closely related to the previous one, namely that aerobic activity allows you to consume mainly fats. The energy substrates are certainly mixed, but the amount of lipids is much lower than one might expect, especially in poorly trained subjects. This obviously does not mean that there are more than those oxidized in weight training; moreover, the remainder of the calories consumed, coming from muscle carbohydrates (glycogen), improves muscle sensitivity to glucose and insulin, promoting weight loss. Ultimately, it improves the metabolism of carbohydrates.
To be honest, it must be admitted that high intensity weight training creates - in most cases - a post-exercise oxygen debt higher than aerobic activity, with high metabolism even in the hours following the session. It is not always said; this actually also depends on the volume of training and the density of the stimuli. A "ten-milimeter" (athlete) trains by creating an EPOC that most bodybuilders can only dream of.
, which increases the basal metabolism and is useful in weight loss.In short, resistance training is one of the fundamental pillars of a conditioning program intended for health and well-being, but also for aesthetic culture.
it is an improvement in body composition. It means associating effective weight loss with an increase in muscle mass.
A properly set weight training program, in both men and women, induces a percentage increase in lean body mass and, consequently, a percentage decrease in overall body fat. If the diet is controlled, in addition to the secondary percentage reduction of fat, there is also an effective weight loss (absolute decrease).
What many do not realize is that the increase on one side and the decrease on the other tend to balance each other, so it is possible that there is no - or only slight - change in overall body weight. The weight that can be recorded on the scale is therefore highly deceptive, since - for example - by losing 2 kg but hypertrophying as much, the weight would remain constant. The fact remains that the weight loss would still be effective.
- perhaps precisely because of the increase in basal metabolism. On the other hand, unlike what happens in males, there is a proportionately lower increase in muscle mass. Strength, on the other hand, increases anyway.
Let me be clear, for both the use of overloads is generally accompanied by an increase in muscle transverse sections (of each of the fibers) and in strength. However, strength is a characteristic influenced not only by the "muscular mechanical structure", but also by components Due to the different hormonal structure and nervous characteristics, in women the hypertrophic phenomenon is less pronounced, while they have a proportionately greater capacity for strength. "Muscle hypertrophy is largely influenced by testosterone which, being the main sex hormone" male ", is present in quantities 10 times higher in men than in women. This represents the substantial gap between the two sexes.
The above may not have convinced the fair sex yet; we therefore reiterate the main advantage of musculation aimed at the aesthetics of women. Developing the muscles, even if it requires more time, is an investment that pays in the long term; if aerobic activity allows you to consume calories immediately, increasing muscle mass determines an "acceleration of the basal metabolism, which continues even" at rest ". Muscle represents one of the most metabolically active and wasteful tissues in our body, therefore the main destination of carbohydrates, fats and dietary proteins. Therefore, the calories that our body will use during physical exercise, in recovery from it and during complete inactivity, will be greater. This is a factor to keep in mind if you want to lose weight, as a greater calorie consumption associated with the increase of lean mass will favor a correct reduction of adipose mass even without following strictly low-calorie diets - deleterious in the long term, because they are debilitating.
Many women fear that gaining muscle mass means gaining a swollen, massive physique, therefore like a "weightlifter". This is not the reality. Having a greater density for the same weight, the muscle takes up five times less space than it does. fat; therefore, with a greater percentage of muscle mass, you will have a leaner, more athletic and better defined body.
