50% of my client base are women and 49% of these female clients share a similar goal of stripping body fat. When they first contact me with this goal in the fore front of their mind, a lot of them seem shocked to hear that the cornerstone to their fat loss program will be strength training. Their surprised, because they assume weight training will just increase bulk and will not help decrease fat. They don’t want to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime.
The truth is, it’s not muscle mass which makes you look bulky its body fat. Further more lean muscle tissue helps to raise your resting metabolic rate and improve your lipid profile. The misconception that a few extra sets or reps will lead to a bulky physique just won’t wash. Obviously, the aim of resistance training is to build lean muscle. However a females endocrine system, will make it much harder for them to put on muscle mass than males.
It should be pointed out that if the focused, hard working guys in the gym, who have been lifting weights religiously over the past 5 years and eaten well, still don’t look anything like Arnold Schwarzenegger clarifies that females certainly won’t! This is due in part, with the hormonal profile of women; they have 20 to 40 times less androgens circulating in their system than their male counterparts. This severely limits the amount of muscle a trainee can build. Another limiting factor that women face in building muscle mass, is the number of muscle fiber nuclei they have. On average females have less than 40% nuclei then men. The importance of nucleus cells when trying to build muscle is huge.
Females should focus on Hypertrophy and increasing strength. Its not easy for them, but if they follow a progressive program and eat well, they will add some lean muscle and reduce their body fat.
In turn this lean muscle, will help burn more body fat when your resting, making it an efficient fat loss tool. Developing a toned lean physique. Females shouldn’t fear progressive programming as it can lead to developing a toned lean physique.
Tom Winterbottom, personal trainer St John’s Wood, personal trainer Baker Street.