Women and weight-training

Weight training helps you build a stronger body for life. “You can’t enjoy [retirement] if you’re physically weak,” says Barb Cajas, a co-owner of CORE Training and Therapy who’s been in the industry for 23 years. Cajas drills in her point by mentioning all the products for people who lack muscle strength, like recliners that rise to lift people off the seat. “We need to be able to look after ourselves,” she says.

If you’re one of the people that thinks weight training will have you looking like a woman body builder, it’s time for a reality check. “It can’t happen,” says Cajas. What goes into a body building diet and workout regimen is no where near what the everyday female would be doing in a weight training workout.

Cajas recommends one weight exercise per muscle group, which equals a 20-minute workout. If you want to break up muscle groups on different days, you can get that time down to 10 minutes and it doesn’t take much to start feeling a change in your body. “Even twice a week can have benefits,” says Cajas. One to three sets of 12 to 15 reps for each body part is what Cajas recommends. Weight training will even help you with your cardio work out. “We’ve had people drop their full marathon times," she says.

Research is one way to develop your weight exercises or you can sign up for some initial personal training to get familiar with different weight lifting methods. CORE has a four-session training package for clients to get them started and educated in a full-body workout (including cardio, stability, balance and weights).

A benefit of starting with weight machines (versus free weights) is that the instructions are right on the machine. So, if the weight room intimidates you, this is a foolproof way to start your weight training. A disadvantage is that the machines may not always fit your body.

Free weights challenge more of the body, often by forcing you to stabilize during the exercise. “They tend to have more carry over,” says Cajas of free weights, mimicking everyday lifting and tasks. Free weights can also be used in a variety of ways, helping you mix up your workout down the road. Initially though, Cajas says you should be focused on progressing which means doing the same exercises and upping the amount of weight your lifting.

If one of your big roadblocks to weight training is that men often dominate that area of a gym, try to start with one or two weight exercises when you work out. Over time you’ll probably get more comfortable and confident and be willing to spend more time working out in that area. Once you start seeing results—weight training will definitely have you losing body fat—you probably won’t care who’s around because you’ll be feeling pretty darn great when you’re there.

Finding her way to fit 

Last fall Amber Lowes wasn’t feeling so great about her body. She’d walk the dog and maybe do yoga once in awhile but her fitness level was close to nil. She joined a gym hoping to lose a few pounds and tone up. A year later she’s managed to lose about 30 pounds and go from a size 14 to a size six.

While Lowes definitely had to put in some hard work, she credits having trainers on her side keeping her motivated with a convenient and challenging workout. “If it’s something you enjoy doing it’s easy to find the time,” she says about committing to the workouts.

Lowes started out going three days a week for group classes at Freak Fitness. “It’s great because you have the same goals in mind, but there’s also just a little bit of competition,” she says about the group atmosphere. Lowes says it was feasible because the cost was less than one-on-one personal training, but she got all the benefits of a personalized workout.

After going three days a week she started seeing changes in her body and in how she felt. Also seeing the progress of everyone else at the gym helped feed her desire to up her goals. She soon started going five days a week. Lowes’ workouts are generally under an hour and she often gets them in during her lunch hour. They include a 15-20 minute warm-up and about 20 minutes of weight training. Lowes says the community at the gym is great. She has fun while she’s there and loves the way she feels after a workout.

Lowes is so motivated she’s decided to enter the Manitoba Amateur Body Building figure competition in the spring. Figure competitions tend to focus on having muscle but also maintaining a feminine shape. She’ll be taking her diet and workout to the next level starting this fall.

Lowes biggest challenge this past year? “Cleaning up my diet,” she says. Her classes include help with nutrition and slowly but surely Lowes found a way to eat healthier each meal of the day and her husband joined in on the efforts. When it comes to eating out they follow a “90/10” rule. “If you eat well 90 per cent of the time, you can eat whatever you want for the other 10.”