Walk around a gym and you will see very few women in the weight room. Some may be on the machines, but most will be in the cardio area and almost none will be in the free weight area. Why is that?
For one, there is the idea that women who lift weights are going to become these huge, manly she-beasts. There also is the intimidation factor - many women just aren't comfortable breaking into the men's domain.
The fear of turning into she-beasts is completely unfounded. Women do not have the testosterone levels that men do, making it that much harder to put on muscle. Women who train for competition can tell you just how hard it is - most have been training for years and still haven't put on the mass that they want. There is so much more I could say on this topic, but I won't for now. This is a topic that deserves to stand alone and one I'll tackle at another time.
Being comfortable in the weight room is tougher, and I think that most women who have picked up a free weight has felt this. I'll tackle that after discussing why women need to get over it.
There is nothing wrong with cardio. It has many health benefits and honestly, just seeing someone get up off the couch is great. But if you stick to just cardio, you are missing out on a lot. For the most part, the benefits of weight training are the same for men and women (so men who don't workout should read this, too!). However it seems that women are not as aware of the benefits as their male counterparts.
Muscle helps increase your resting metabolism. Meaning that as your lean muscle mass increases, your body will burn more calories while you are at rest. Some studies have shown that for each pound of lean muscle you add, your body will burn 35 - 50 more calories each day.
Resistance training decreases the risk of osteoporosis. Women who are taking in the required amount of caclium can actually increase the mineral density of their bones.
Weight training reduces your risk of injury, arthritis, and back pain. You not only strengthen your muscles when you lift weights, you also strengthen your connective tissue and give your joints more stability.
Working out also been shown to reduce your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer.
Hitting the weight room will also help fight depression. Women who strength train typically feel more confident, helping keeping them from feeling the blues.
Now that you know all of the benefits, how do you get up the nerve to enter the weight room?
The biggest reason that I hear from women as to why they are nervous about hitting the weights is that they feel self-conscious. That everyone is looking at them and they are embarrassed as they don't feel they know what they are doing.
Women need to remember that they are just feeling self-conscious, as most people do when entering a new situation. Will people look at you? Yes. But people look at you when you go to the grocery store, the mall, etc. Overall, though, no one is really paying attention to what you are doing. And if they are, there are a million reasons why - they may be impressed that you were brave enough to start lifting weights, they may be curious about what you are doing, they may just like your outfit. As you get more comfortable with what you are doing, you won't even notice anymore.
Women also should remember that no one walked into the weight room for the first time knowing exactly what to do. A good way to prepare yourself is to get online and watch videos of the different exercises you are looking to do. There are tons of them on YouTube. Most gyms also offer a free personal training session for new members where they walk you through and show you how to use everything. If you're not a new member and are moving from the cardio section to the weight section, it would be worthwhile to hire a trainer for one session to do this.
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