Resist It!

Working Out with Weights

By Kelly Burgess

Don't even think it. You're too intelligent to buy into the old myth that working out with weights will turn you into Arnold Schwarzenegger, but with better hair (or so we would hope). That fairy tale should have hit the ropes right along with the one that women shouldn't vote because they are incapable of understanding political issues.

Every woman needs an overall fitness program that has all the elements for success: a healthy but delicious diet, some type of aerobic activity four to five times a week for at least 30 minutes each time, and two to three total body strength-building sessions.

To start that program, let's first of all toss the phrase "weight training" from our exercise lexicon. According to Liz Neporent, director of special projects for Plus One Fitness and author of Weight Training for Dummies, that's a misnomer.

"When we say weight we mean resistance," says Neporent. "Anything your muscle pushes against that requires more muscle or work than your body normally encounters will provide resistance."

So, for example, while lifting a 5-pound barbell provides a workout for the arms, standing squats provide the same benefit for the legs, using the entire body as the "weight."

Neporent is part of a growing chorus of fitness experts that have for years been urging women to incorporate resistance training into an overall fitness program. Aerobic exercise is great, and taking a walk is usually an easy fit for even the busiest women, but the benefits of strength training can't be overlooked. Muscle not only burns calories more consistently and efficiently, it also looks better under the skin than fat. Think about it: upper arms defined by muscle, or by hanging fat? No contest.