Health Diet
For clients with diabetes, hypoglycemia, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease.
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Weight Training for Women One thing I hear a lot as a professional certified personal trainer is most women are afraid of weight training, because they are scared of gaining a large amount of muscle. Women should not fear this because in most cases they do not have the hormones that it takes in order to gain a huge amount of muscle like men do. There are some women however that do tend to bulk up in certain areas if they do not train properly. Of course, the major question would be "What are your primary goals?". You may want to bulk up. However, if you want to lose weight then you need to be careful. Weight training for women should consist of a program that is specifically tailored to the individual woman in question. There are many factors involved when designing a weight training program for a woman. For example, age, height, skeletal structure, body-fat percentage, prior pregnancies, hormonal function, physical condition, exercise experience, genetic disposition, primary goals, and so on. The primary reason why my weight training programs for women are so successful is that each one is personally designed for the individual woman in question. Let me go over a few basics on why weight training for women is different than for a man and you can decide if you want a professionally designed weight training program that is tailored just for you. Weight Training for Women. Is There a Difference? The answer to that
question is yes and no depending on your primary goals.
Women and men are on the same level when it comes to
developing strength and speed. In comparison to fat-free
body mass, women have nearly the same strength as men. If
one were to take the same muscle unit from a woman and a man
and put it in an identical artificial environment with the
same growth media and the same stimulation, the muscles
would grow at the same rate. However, in the body the
hormonal and metabolic environment varies between men and
women. Women have smaller muscle fibers and ordinarily have
less overall muscle mass than most men which results in less
strength. Nevertheless and surprising to many, women are
gaining in rate of competitive performance on a level with
men in both speed and strength.
Weight Training for Women & Hormones. The sex hormones largely contribute to the various gender differences in most physiological responses to training. Although both genders produce both testosterone and estrogen hormones, the relative ratios are significantly different. Men normally produce higher levels (approximately 10 times that of women) of testosterone and lower levels of estrogen. Women produce the opposite. Most of the professional female bodybuilders that grace the pages of muscle magazines, gain their extreme muscle mass with the aid of supplemental anabolic/androgenic steroids. Federally classified as Schedule II drugs, their usage carries legal ramifications as well as potential physiological side effects. Young adolescent females secrete larger amounts of estrogen which has a significant impact on body growth. The pelvis widens, breasts form, and the body begins to store body fat. Estrogen also increases the rate of bone growth, which halts within two to four years after the onset of puberty. Consequently, the female adolescent grows rapidly for a few years after puberty and then stops growing. Although testosterone secretion in men stops at birth, it resumes at puberty. Males have a longer growth period which results in greater height. The higher rate of testosterone in young men produces increased muscle mass and bone compared to women. Men also develop broader shoulders, narrower hips and a larger chest girth. Men also tend to store their body fat in the abdominal and back area while women store their body fat on the hips and thighs. Muscle and Strength The differences that exist in strength levels are primarily a function of total muscle mass. Only 24 percent of the typical female body is muscle mass, whereas the male is 40 percent muscle mass. Strength of the lower female body is similar to men’s when relative to body weight and lean body mass. Men are stronger in the upper extremities due to their greater development of muscle mass in that area. Because of this and the fact that a female typically use the muscle mass in her lower body to a much greater degree then she uses the muscle mass of her upper body, the female is seldom as strong in absolute measurements as the male. Factors that should be considered in any weight training program for women is the overall volume (number and duration of repetitions), intensity (speed and load), and difficulty (skill level and injury risk). Nutritional considerations are also considered to optimize recovery and fuel stores. Considering that testosterone peaks around ovulation, it may be beneficial to plan for peak strength training loads at this time if your primary goal is to gain strength. |
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