Strong and Toned

STRONG AND TONED
IS THE NEW SEXY

Nowadays, when you walk into a gym, you are starting to see more women lifting weights for all the health and fitness benefits, and it is refreshing. Previously, some women felt intimated by the thought of weights. Not only are they surrounded by guys grunting, but they also have to figure out the machines. So, it was not uncommon to see the women head to the cardio areas while the men congregated by the weights.

Having an exercise routine that combines both cardio and weight lifting is the best way to maximize your calorie and fat burning. When you rely solely on cardio for fat loss, you eventually stall your metabolism as your body adapts to your routine. However, if you combine cardio with weights, you boost your metabolic rate throughout the day. This makes you more efficient at burning fat, even when you are done exercising.

Most women want to have a toned, fit look. The best way to do this is to build strength and muscle. Some women make the mistake of expecting cardio alone to give them the tone they want, yet they lose muscle mass and wind up looking skinny-fat, meaning thin and flabby.

We all know endorphins give us that happy feeling, but gaining strength also empowers us as women. We may be the smaller of the sexes, but we can be mighty. Osteoporosis and Osteopenia are common issues we all know about, and women young and old are experiencing the loss of bone density. Besides taking calcium, adding weight-bearing exercises into your routine can provide the answer for the maintenance and improvement of bone health.

Lifting weights also can improve sex drive. Estrogen is the primary sex hormone women produce, however women also have small amounts of testosterone. It turns out that boosting testosterone levels in women improves sex drive, and weight training is one of the most effective ways to elevate testosterone.