Whether you prefer being seen as a delicate flower or as a strong, independent woman, you can benefit from incorporating weightlifting into your training routine during the coronavirus outbreak and after it. z

While it’s primarily seen as a men’s sport, regardless of how far we’ve come in terms of the unnecessary gendering of occupations, products, and hobbies, weightlifting is an excellent activity for men, women, and everyone in between.

Take a look at just some of the ways that this sport can help you boost your physical and mental health without making you seem like a bikini-wearing bodybuilder.

Trim Excess Fat

Most women who want to lose excess weight primarily turn to dieting and doing cardio exercises. While both are essential for keeping you fit and healthy, the best method for trimming excess fat quickly might just be weightlifting.

On paper, cardio may seem better for losing fat because it burns more calories per session than weightlifting.

Depending on your current weight and workout intensity, you could burn around 250 calories during a 30-minute jog. As opposed to this, you would only burn about 150 calories (give or take) for 30 minutes of weightlifting. The more calories you burn, the more fat you lose, so cardio is obviously a better option, right? Not quite.

Cardio only burns calories during the workout. On the other hand, weightlifting helps you build muscle, which burns more calories at rest than other tissues. So, weightlifting won’t only help you burn calories during the workout, but while you’re resting as well, resulting in more quickly decreased body fat.

Just keep in mind that fat loss isn’t the same as weight loss. As you build muscle and lose fat, the numbers on the scale could stay the same or even increase. That is because muscle is a dense tissue, much heavier than fat. So, instead of looking at the pounds when trimming extra fat, look at the inches lost.

Increase Muscle Mass Without the Bulk

All this talk about building muscles might become concerning to some women. The primary reason many women stay away from weightlifting is that they’re worried about looking like masculine female bodybuilders – all heavy with bulging veins and bulky biceps.

Don’t worry. As long as you stay away from steroids and hormone therapies, you’ll look just as feminine as you do now, if not even more so.

To bulk up, you need high levels of testosterone in your body. And as a woman, you won’t have such high levels without injections.

So, while weightlifting can help tone your muscles and bring more definition, it won’t make you increase in size much.

Fight off Depression

Depression is a serious condition that can be relatively hard to diagnose and treat. That’s why a holistic approach to depression is often the best solution.

Mind and body are much more connected than many believe. Just think about how badly you feel mentally when you catch a cold and feel sick physically. Or how much your immune system tends to suffer when you’re dealing with mental problems such as depression.

If you want a healthy mind, you need a healthy body and vice versa.

Physical activity, such as weightlifting, can work wonders for your overall wellbeing. Studies have shown that exercise can help alleviate the symptoms of depression and improve treatment outcomes for many patients. It can also improve your overall mood by stimulating the production of dopamine and serotonin, otherwise known as happy hormones.

Improve Your Cardiovascular Health

Cardio exercises aren’t the only type of training that promotes better heart health. Strength training, such as weightlifting, is vital for improving cardiovascular health and keeping your heart in good condition.

According to research, just an hour of strength training every week can lower your risk of a heart attack or stroke by 40% to 70%. Besides offering cardiovascular benefits, weightlifting can also lower the risk of developing hypercholesterolemia and metabolic syndrome.

Of course, to truly improve your cardiovascular health, you should develop a healthy lifestyle that includes regular exercise, a healthy diet, and low stress levels.

Final Thoughts

Weightlifting isn’t a sport solely designed for men. It can offer everyone many of the same benefits. When you start weightlifting as a woman, you’ll notice just what a difference it can make for your physiological and psychological wellbeing.

You’ll lose excess fat more quickly, increase your muscle mass without getting bulky, fight off symptoms of depression, improve cardiovascular health, and more.

So, don’t be afraid to give weightlifting a try. It’s easy to incorporate into your regular training routine, and it can offer you great benefits.