Everywhere you look nowadays, from inspirational fitness blogs to healthy living segments on breakfast TV, women are being encouraged to get strength training. It’s the lifestyle buzz topic of our time. And for good reason. YES, cardio is great for keeping your heart happy and shifting calories. BUT, it burns both fat and muscle, while weight lifting burns just fat - and gets your heart rate up too! The result is a leaner, stronger and more sculpted body. Simple. This is probably enough to get most women to consider investing in some free weights, or checking out the strength machines in the gym. Brilliant! But there are LOADS of other great reasons why strength training should be a staple for all female kind… Weight training will shape and contour As long as your diet is on point (we don’t mean 100% clean eating, but a healthy diet that’s up there on 80% clean, non-processed, non-refined foods), lifting weights regularly will build muscle while shaping and contouring your body. The less fat covering your muscle (yes, that’s the good diet part), the more sculpted you’ll look. Cardio helps with weight loss but it can’t shape you in the way weight lifting can. Not even close. You’ll get stronger mentally Weightlifting has the knack of making us feel more empowered. It does it for men, and it does it for women too. Challenging yourself to lift, and gradually building on what you can do (whether that be heavier weights, more reps or improved form) will most definitely make you feel good about yourself. A happier mind equals a stronger mind. Boosts confidence and self-esteem When you see the physical benefits of your strength training, it will undoubtedly boost your self-esteem. And just being stronger will make you feel more confident. You can smile to yourself at the gym as you squat with a loaded barbell while the men folk watch on in fascination. That’s right, ladies can pump iron too! Cuts your chance of injury It’s a proven fact that weight lifting helps to build bone density. With stronger bones – and muscles – you’ll be more stable with better agility, so your chance of injury, both while exercising and in everyday life, is reduced. You can feel smug while you lounge on the sofa The higher your muscle mass, the higher your metabolism. This means you’ll still be scorching calories long after you’ve put down the kettlebells or stepped away from the chest press. The “afterburn effect”, as it’s commonly known. So, after a good weight training session, you can relax with your favourite TV series and feel content, knowing you’re probably burning calories just sitting there. Of course, this doesn’t count if you’ve got a bucket of popcorn or a hot chocolate with whipped cream on the go! Get trimmer, not bulkier Hopefully you’re not still worried that weight lifting will get you mega big, like Arnie. STOP IT! THIS IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! The fact of the matter is, you do not have the same testosterone levels as men, so it’s genetically impossible to have the same muscle-building potential. As we touched on in earlier points, by increasing muscle, you are far more likely to get smaller, not bigger. Which means… You can ditch your scales! Getting smaller does not necessarily equate to weighing less. As muscle is denser than fat, you may find you put on a little weight when you weight train. But this isn’t something to fear. Yes, you may weigh a few extra pounds but your jeans will probably fit a whole lot better! You may even drop a clothes size. Ditch the scales and instead focus on how your body looks and measures up. So there you go, 7 great reasons to get lifting. If you’re totally new to the process, have a chat with a professional down at your gym, speak to friends or colleagues who weight train or get online and check out some inspirational step by step videos. The internet is full of fitness gurus, sharing their weight lifting ideas and results. Here are a few fitness gurus we love: Jade Joselyn, Clean Eating Alice, Sarah’s Day and Carly Rowena.