Many have grown up with a distorted body image of what is healthy and what is beautiful. Many women believe that lifting weights will transform them to some sort of an Amazon with gargantuan muscular physique — First of all, that is also beautiful. But most importantly, to reach that type of physique requires purpose, commitment and intention!

Why is strength important?

This is a question a number of women are confronted with when they start their fitness journey.

A study published by St. John Fisher College by Alexandra Rohloff stated that many women consider weight training or resistance training, usually the basis of strength, a masculine activity.

This is where the separation of your personal definition of strength and what the definition of strength needs reconciliation. 

Familiar questions that involve women and strength are -

Is it the benefits of physical strength to the normal course of your life?
To be more independent in everyday life?
To be able to be confident to respond to any situation or emergency when one is confronted within their path?
To have that longer life, so we can be with our loved ones longer?

Having a limited definition of strength also sets a limit to what aspects of your life strength can benefit you. So right now, we will take that limit out of the picture as we broaden what strength means. 

The answer to that is a resounding yes, but that's not where it should stop.

Strength through Media’s Eyes

So much of what prevents women from improving their health through resistance training is the negative connotation of muscular women. 

Many have grown up with a distorted body image of what is healthy and what is beautiful. Women believed that lifting weights will transform them to some sort of an Amazon with gargantuan muscular physique.

First of all, that is also beautiful. But most importantly, to reach that type of physique requires purpose, commitment and intention! No one simply gets that muscular without the proper training!

Correlatively if that is not your goal, you will not accidentally find yourself with that physique. 

Rachel Nuwer in an article published in BBC, said “Strength is one of the few ways that men, on average, exceed the abilities of women”

But that shouldn’t even be the case we’re concerned with. Let alone how others see our physique and looks, we need to firstly be stronger for ourselves.

Strength in a New Lens

Because of our own constructs of what we believe strength is and how that conflicts with our idea of beauty, we ourselves are preventing our final evolution to what a strong independent woman can be. 

Whenever you are confronted with whether you need strength or you need to fulfill the responsibilities of your life, you are looking at it too closely, strength should be a part of your responsibilities not only to yourself but also to those around you.

Being physically capable to respond to any situation only happens when you test yourself against training that calls out the very best of you, sharpening both your mental and physical strength.

Physical strength is not the end all be all of strength, it is a simple byproduct of what we truly want to attain, Strength to believe in ourselves.

Most importantly, in an article published by ISSA in ISSA online one of the undeniable benefits of weight lifting, is to quote “The best reason of all to convince your female clients to try lifting is that they will feel good. It’s a new challenge, and feeling and actually getting stronger is an empowering experience that builds confidence and self-esteem. Then there are the physical benefits as well. Lifting improves body composition, increases muscle tone, and burns fat. Your clients will like how their bodies look after consistent weight lifting, and that will only increase confidence more.

Here are 6 reasons why women need to strength train

1. More Calories Burned = Fat Loss
   
   Lean muscle mass burns calories throughout our normal day. This means you will burn calories without even trying!
   
   When you lift weights, you burn more calories than doing cardiovascular exercise.
   
   You also burn calories longer (bye bye fat!) because of the repair mode your body encounters in rebuilding muscle!

2. Physically Stronger
   
   Of course! You will develop muscle tone and definition without the bulk!
   
   Unlike men, women typically don’t gain size from strength training because compared to men, women have ten to thirty times less of the hormones (namely testosterone).
   
   Increasing your strength will also make you far less dependent upon others for assistance in daily living. Lifting kids, groceries and laundry will no longer push you to, or beyond your limit.  And let’s be honest, how many of us have been frustrated by jars that we can’t open?

3. Reduces Risk of Injury, Back Pain and Arthritis
   
   Strength training not only builds stronger muscles, but also builds stronger connective tissues and increases joint stability. This acts as reinforcement for joints and helps prevent injury.

4. Decreases Risk of Osteoporosis
   
   We lose bone and muscle mass as we age, and resistance training helps to fight that by building back some of that mass. This is an especially important benefit for post-menopausal women who tend to lose even more bone mass due to a lack of estrogen.
   
   Lifting weights will reduce the risk of developing osteoporosis and can increase spinal bone mineral density.

5. Heart Health
   
   Strength training can improve cardiovascular health in several ways including lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol, increasing HDL (good) cholesterol, and lowering blood pressure. 

6. Self Confidence
   
   Yes, strength is important for all the things that physical strength can be used for, but most importantly it gives us a confidence that permeates to every fiber of our being.
   
   That confidence gives quality to our life, that in all things that we do we have done our best, and with strength comes the emotion of giving our best to our bodies.
   
   Ladies, if you have ever been told that you’re too weak to do anything, it’s time to prove them wrong!
   
   A Harvard study found that ten weeks of strength training reduced clinical depression symptoms more successfully than standard counseling did.  Women and men who strength train commonly report feeling more confident and capable as a result of their programme.
   
   
   

Time to Welcome Strength

If you have ever picked anything up and then put it down – it really is as simple as that.

Now imagine – doing that but making it beneficial for your health – This is weight training.

And it gives your mind and body an amazing power and force - your very own strength.