activeliving
Flexing Our MUSCLES
Weightlifting Makes Us Fit, Healthy and Self-Confident by Debra Melani
W
omen who shy away from the traditionally male-centric weight rooms might want to
reconsider. Standing their ground amid the deadlift bars and iron plates could lead to a host of unimagined benefits. Research has found that among other things, hoisting dumbbells can amp up the fat burn, ward off some common diseases and make women stronger, both inside and out.
Burn Calories When Resting Aerobic activity can burn more calories while doing it (e.g., 14 to 16 per minute when running), but strength training prolongs the burn, even when resting afterward, according to Wayne Westcott, Ph.D., of Quincy, Mass., who publishes widely on the topic in scientific journals, magazine articles
and books. Women will burn fewer calories while pumping iron than when running (between eight and 10 calories a minute), but because of weightlifting’s action—traumatizing muscle tissue and forcing it to rebuild—muscle recovery requires increased expenditure of energy, and thus calories, when the person is at rest. The research shows a revved-
up burn of between 5 percent and 7 percent for three full days after a workout, says Westcott, who developed the exercise science major at Quincy College and has reviewed and directed strength-training research for more than 25 years. “On average, a woman burns an extra 100 calories a day by having done 30 minutes of strength training twice a week. That’s an extra 3,000 calories a month, or nearly an extra
pound of fat she can burn.” Additional “free” calorie burning
comes from the after-burn effect. By initiating the anaerobic, rather than aerobic, system, weightlifting requires more energy just to return to the resting state. “So, after you finish a workout, you will burn approximately 30 percent of the amount of calories you burned during the workout in the first hour afterward as your body transitions back. It’s a bonus of resistance training.” “It’s like there’s a furnace inside
you,” says naturopathic doctor and CrossFit instructor Holly Lucille, of West Hollywood, Calif. The more buff a woman becomes, the more fat she burns. “It can help minimize that natural effect of slowed metabolism as you age and control body weight,” she says. To maximize the burn, eat a healthy
combined protein/carb snack within an hour of the workout, advises Jen Hoehl, a personal trainer in New York City, who says, “Adding amino acids helps the muscles rebuild more efficiently.” Westcott agrees, adding that
90 percent of studies he’s reviewed concur that about 25 extra grams of protein such as a Greek yogurt, more for heavier men, just before or after a workout, enhances fat loss, bone strength and lean muscle gain.
Don’t Fear ‘Hulk’ Bulk Experts agree that it’s impossible for women to look like the Hulk character
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