Let's Get Serious Ladies

"Serious women should train hard just like serious men. You don't get a great body by messing around with ineffective exercises and light weights." - Mike Mahler

Ladies, you want to look lean and toned, right?  You aren't interested in bulking up.  You want to look like a woman, not a man.  I know how you feel.  I feel the same way.  Unfortunately, there is a common misconception out there. We've been deceived.   As women, we are told that to get our best body we need to cardio ourselves to death by jumping on a treadmill or an elliptical, and join an aerobics class. And if we do lift weights, they better be the pink Barbie ones at high reps or we're going to end up looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger.  This couldn't be further from the truth. While there is nothing wrong with these options, they are missing an imperative component with getting the results you want - heavy weight lifting.   

Lighter weights at higher repetitions is a common method that body builders use.  Why?  Because this approach causes sarcoplasmic hypertrophy (translation - flesh & fluid excessive overgrowth).  That is the "Fancy Nancy" way of saying big & bulky, soft & pointless muscle.  Now picture a body builder.  Isn't that what they look like, exactly the way you don't want to look?  What you do want is myofibrillar hypertrophy (translation - muscle fiber enlargement).  That is the "Fancy Nancy" way of saying dense, strong, functional muscle.  And the best way to achieve that while also sculpting a lean and toned body is heavy weights at low repetitions.

Science agrees.  In 2002 a study was done on two groups of women.  The first group performed resistance exercises with lighter weights (45% of their maximum ability) for 15 repetitions.  The second group performed the same exercises with heavier weights (85% of their maximum ability) for 8 repetitions.  They found that the second group of women burned more calories and had a greater increase in metabolism post exercise.

Another study was done by scientists and published in 2009.  This study followed 122 women for 6 years.  The results showed that the women who did resistance exercises three times per week with heavier weights (70% - 80% of their max ability) lost more body fat and weight.

Kettlebells are an amazing tool that enables you to get the amazing results you want!  I truly do not know of a more versatile and beneficial one, and I have tried a lot of things.  Kettlebell training offers resistance & cardio training in a handled ball of iron. When you combine the right amount of strength training with a touch of cardio done at intervals, you will literally turn your body into a fat burning machine.

Ladies, I challenge you to find out the physical strength you're made of.  And I guarantee it will be more than what you think.  You will maintain your femininity, while also being beautifully strong, toned and lean.  Go ahead, impress yourself!