Why Women NEED To Build Muscle
by Flavia
I am a huge advocate for building muscle. I love the way it looks on a female. For years I wanted people to notice that I worked out. Finally, after losing enough fat off my entire body, my muscle definition became visible.
Muscle is not just aesthetically pleasing, it is EXTREMELY important for these reasons:
Muscle will
make daily activities easier to perform,
burn more calories, making you burn WAY more calories throughout the day,
build stronger bones, preventing osteoporosis (important for females),
improve flexibility and balance,
improves strength and POSTURE,
reduces loss of muscle mass due to inactivity (this is extremely common as we age), and will
improve body composition.
Muscle can do one of two things:
Grow larger and/or stronger
Shrink and/or get weaker
The only way to create muscle tissue is by breaking down the muscle and rebuilding stronger and bigger cells. The most effective way to do this is through resistance training. With proper training, your muscles grow stronger and larger.
Importance of Muscle Balance
There is a right and wrong way to exercise. One key component when starting any exercise program is the focus on creating balance throughout the body by incorporating every muscle.By targeting a muscle group more than another, you can create weak joints and weak muscles that will cause injury.
Take for example our quadriceps. If we worked only our quadriceps and left our the hamstrings and hip dominant exercises, we would end up with a pelvic tilt that will cause a tremendous amount of strain on the back.That said, the importance of working the entire core is just as important.
POP QUIZ: How many muscles make up our core?
a) 6
b) 10
c) over 2 dozen
ANSWER: c)
There are a lot of muscles to consider when working your core. Your core includes your abdominal muscles, as well as lower back muscles, and hip muscles that stabilize your spine and keep you upright.Your core allows you to:
bend forward and back
bend from side to side
and rotate
Your program must include all three types of movements when working the core for optimal performance. Proper technique of each exercise is equally important to building muscle. If you don???t understand what a certain muscle does, how can you recruit it to tear it down and rebuild?
I will leave you with one final thought:
There is scientific evidence to show a decline in metabolism for every decade of aging after 25. There is additional research that shows a decline of muscle mass from the ages of 25-65. Since muscle uses energy, is it safe to assume the decline in muscle mass attributes to the decline in metabolism. I THINK SO!
TAKE HOME: No matter your age (as long as your bones are fully grown), start/keep resistance training!!!
by Flavia
I am a huge advocate for building muscle. I love the way it looks on a female. For years I wanted people to notice that I worked out. Finally, after losing enough fat off my entire body, my muscle definition became visible.
Muscle is not just aesthetically pleasing, it is EXTREMELY important for these reasons:
Muscle will
make daily activities easier to perform,
burn more calories, making you burn WAY more calories throughout the day,
build stronger bones, preventing osteoporosis (important for females),
improve flexibility and balance,
improves strength and POSTURE,
reduces loss of muscle mass due to inactivity (this is extremely common as we age), and will
improve body composition.
Muscle can do one of two things:
Grow larger and/or stronger
Shrink and/or get weaker
The only way to create muscle tissue is by breaking down the muscle and rebuilding stronger and bigger cells. The most effective way to do this is through resistance training. With proper training, your muscles grow stronger and larger.
Importance of Muscle Balance
There is a right and wrong way to exercise. One key component when starting any exercise program is the focus on creating balance throughout the body by incorporating every muscle.By targeting a muscle group more than another, you can create weak joints and weak muscles that will cause injury.
Take for example our quadriceps. If we worked only our quadriceps and left our the hamstrings and hip dominant exercises, we would end up with a pelvic tilt that will cause a tremendous amount of strain on the back.That said, the importance of working the entire core is just as important.
POP QUIZ: How many muscles make up our core?
a) 6
b) 10
c) over 2 dozen
ANSWER: c)
There are a lot of muscles to consider when working your core. Your core includes your abdominal muscles, as well as lower back muscles, and hip muscles that stabilize your spine and keep you upright.Your core allows you to:
bend forward and back
bend from side to side
and rotate
Your program must include all three types of movements when working the core for optimal performance. Proper technique of each exercise is equally important to building muscle. If you don???t understand what a certain muscle does, how can you recruit it to tear it down and rebuild?
I will leave you with one final thought:
There is scientific evidence to show a decline in metabolism for every decade of aging after 25. There is additional research that shows a decline of muscle mass from the ages of 25-65. Since muscle uses energy, is it safe to assume the decline in muscle mass attributes to the decline in metabolism. I THINK SO!
TAKE HOME: No matter your age (as long as your bones are fully grown), start/keep resistance training!!!
