Why Should Women Lift Weights?
March 22, 2023 | Words by Liz Francis
Leading Ladies Week
Every year, we celebrate Women’s History Month with a week of workouts named after girls and programmed by the ladies of NCFIT. To join in on the fun, you get me for this week’s blog post! My name is Liz, and I’m here to tell you why women should lift weights.
Let’s Go Girls
I want to start by giving you a disclaimer: I am not a scientist, so I will not be talking about the anatomical benefits of progressive overload and muscle hypertrophy. Sorry if that’s a letdown.
What I am going to tell you are 3 reasons I think you should be strength training, from woman to woman.
Let’s Get Bulky
Hopefully I didn’t lose too many of you there — I was kidding, kind of. You can call it toning, bulking, or getting jacked, but what you mean is you want muscle definition. Who doesn’t?
No matter if you’d like a little muscle or a lotta muscle, you need to do the same thing: Lift weights. I used to be an elliptical girl and wondered why I still didn’t look how I wanted to. Within the first 6 months of strength training, I looked and felt better than I ever had in my life. If we know that lifting weights works, why are women still afraid to gain muscle? It’s because of the b-word: Bulky. So here’s my best attempt at writing it with terminology that is compliant with societal norms:
Want toned arms? Press heavy shit.
Want bikini-ready abs? Squat heavy shit.
Want Carrie Underwood legs? Lift heavy shit.
Ain’t No Time for Injuries
If you’re a woman reading this, you probably carry a heavy load on your back, literally. From your kid’s diaper bag to carrying 30 grocery sacks in one trip to loading up your labrador retriever who’s too scared to jump into the car, you might not realize how much lifting you already do on a daily basis.
Lifting weights in the gym with proper form helps to ensure you stay uninjured outside of the gym when you’re not thinking about technique. Like Beyoncé says, girls run the world, so we really don’t have time to deal with injuries. Who else is gonna keep this thing going?
Girls, Open Your Own Peanut Butter Jars
The other day, I sold a grill on Facebook Marketplace and, when the guy came to pick it up, I had it in my driveway ready to go. He said, “YOU carried this over here? I made my friend come with me because I didn’t think I could get it on my own!” Dude, you should keep that to yourself next time.
Having strength is not only practical, but it’s the ultimate confidence boost.
Whether you want to be strong for your looks, for your health, or just to be able to open the peanut butter jar on your own (totally valid reason), do it! Don’t be afraid to head to the weight room because of preconceived notions you may have or because some dude on Facebook assumes women are weak. We’re not.
