It doesn’t matter what age you are. Strength training is extremely beneficial for your physical health now and down the line. If you are over 40, strength training is even more critical to ensure that you can live a long and healthy life without relying on others for support.
In the YouTube video linked above, Risa squashes five popular myths about strength training that discourages people from picking up weights. One popular myth that Risa, too, used to believe is that lifting weights will cause you to bulk up and look huge. Many women believe this because we see professional weight lifters who are big and bulky which is probably where the myth comes from. However, these professional weight lifters purposely get themselves bulky — usually with the help of steroids. For those of us who lift weights to improve our health, we will naturally become leaner. Muscles become tighter as they get leaner, so don’t worry about getting bulky — especially if you are a woman. Ninety percent of women are physiologically unable to get bulky because we lack the amount of testosterone that men have. If anything, women will get stronger and leaner as they continue to strength train.
There are also an enormous amount of health benefits to getting stronger and doing strength training weights workouts. One of the most outstanding health benefits of strength training is reduced symptoms of chronic diseases such as arthritis, diabetes and osteoporosis. How does lifting weights prevent these chronic diseases? When you strength train, you are also strengthening your bones and connective tissue, thus reducing the risk of arthritis, diabetes and osteoporosis.
There are many more practical benefits to maintaining and building strong muscles when we naturally start to lose muscle mass as we get older. If you haven’t seen the YouTube video with Risa’s friend and fitness trainer, Tina Tang, you have to check it out! She is incredibly inspiring. She started strength training at 42 and is now 50 – stronger and healthier than she was when she was in her 30s.
If you are excited about getting started, be sure to download Tina’s Build A Beginner Strength Workout Cheat Sheet! You can create a ton of at home workouts based on the exercises on the cheat sheet. Download it for free here.
Also sign up for Risa and Tina’s 7 Day Beginner’s Strength Training Challenge! It’s completely free and a great way to get you off to a great start. It starts on February 1st. Registration ends January 31, 2021 – 3pm EST. Sign up here!
