Women are Different from Men

"I don't work out with heavy weights because I don't want to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger."

Don't worry, Sweetie. It would take a heck of a lot of testosterone or anabolic steroids to get you to the same place as Arnie. Truth told - building massive muscle bulk is much more challenging for women because we just don't have the hormonal goods to deliver. That's good news! We weren't designed to build muscle in the same way as men, so, unless you're prepared to work harder than you've ever dreamed of working out, lifting heavier weights than your mind can wrap itself around, and supplement yourself with hormones to build massive muscle, you're probably not in any danger of becoming a muscle-bound woman.

The Value of Weight Training

Having said all of that, if you're dieting and want to burn more fat than adding more muscle through lifting weights is definitely the way to go. Lifting weights preserves existing muscle mass. When you diet you lose water, fat and muscle. Since muscle is metabolically active, when you lose it, you lose some of the power to burn fat as well. So, it's in your best interest to preserve and build muscle on your body.

Lifting weights keeps your metabolism burning fat long after you've finished your workout. There have been studies that conclude that diet alone, without weight training, reduce a person's resting metabolic rate by up to 20% per day. That means that your body has slowed its fat-burning abilities considerably, so weight loss is hampered. Weight training and muscle maintenance keeps your metabolism up causing your body to burn fat more efficiently, even if your calorie intake is much lower.

Muscle Burns Fat - Bonus!

Extra muscle helps your body to burn extra calories. By lifting weights at a higher intensity, you increase your body's ability to burn more calories after your workout - so you're burning calories during the exercise workout and after you've stopped. Bonus!

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