Strong Women

A gender gap is evident when it comes to weight training, with one study reporting men engage in this activity 30% more than women. Another states that for every 1 women weight training there are 27 men. Furthermore it is reported only 20% or women meet the recommendations of 2 resistance training sessions a week; significantly less than men.

The benefits of weights for women are extensive including; increased muscle mass and strength, reduced body fat percentage, improved ability to complete activities day to day activities, as well as contributing to reducing the loss of muscle and bone as we age. BUT the benefits are not just physiological; there are several reported psychological benefits including, improved self esteem, body image, emotional wellbeing and state anxiety to name a few!

However studies suggest that simply knowing the benefits of strength training isn't always enough to get us women going! It is in fact suggested that the greatest barrier to women taking up strength training is the perceived time and effort it requires: We are too tired, it takes too much discipline or its to much work. How can we overcome these barriers?

Getting Started:

O Set Goals:

Give yourself a measurable target to aim for; Get from 10 repetitions to 12, complete 2 sessions a week or move up to the next weight dumbbell.

O Manage your time schedule:

Schedule your workouts like you schedule the rest of your life. Book a 30min meeting with yourself to get your resistance training in.

O Gain confidence:

Speak to a coach or workout with a friend. You could even start at home while you get your head around the movement patterns. The more you practice the more confident you will become.

O Challenge the norms:

If you already strength train tell you friends about it! Post on social media! Bring your girls along for a workout! Make it normal to see as many women as men lifting weights!

As discussed simply knowing the benefits of strength training isn't always enough to create equality in the weights room. We need to know HOW to strength train not just WHY we should.

Whether you're completing a full body workout a few times a week to start with or hitting your full body over the course of the week, it is important to ensure we have a balanced programme covering the fundamentals. These exercises form the basis of everything we do in the gym and also in our daily lives. We can then progress or regress these foundation to form the basis of our full body training programme.

The Foundations

O Squat: examples include squats, lunges and split squats

O Hinge: examples include deadlifts, good mornings and hip bridges

O Push: examples include bench press, shoulder press and push ups

O Pull: examples include pull ups, bent over rows and suspension rows

O Rotation/Anti-Rotation: examples include planks, side planks and `Russian twists

It is important we can nail these fundemental exercises before progressing. Go back to basics.

Let's use this to build our resistance programmes and breakdown the gender gap in weight training. We've already achieved Votes for Women in the UK so lets start getting Weights for Women trending!