Chapter 6
Lifting Weights Also Sucks
Iactually started lifting weights before my husband did. Don’t let him tell you any differently. Not that it makes me an expert over him by any means, I just want the world to know that I was pumping up my muscles before Jack Wilder. Now, I know that some women may have weird feelings about lifting weights. Trust me, I totally understand why it’s something you’d be afraid to try. You might be worried that you’ll end up looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger, for example, but Ipromisethat won’t happen. That kind of specialized bodybuilding takes extreme dedication, endless hours in the gym, and an insane amount of work. This is not the kind of lifting I’m talking about.
Lifting, for me, is about toning my body and increasing the muscle mass around my bones so my body can be stronger. It’s also good for me to have that extra muscle mass since I have an issue with bone density because of my nutritional disorder.
SIDE NOTE: I highly recommend you keep an eye on your bone density if you’ve had bypass, or any other sort of weight-loss surgery.
Let’s talk about the benefits of picking up some weights:
Performance—you will run faster and longer.
It improves bone density.
It promotes fat-free body mass.
It increases the strength of connective tissue, muscles and tendons, which leads to improved motor performance and decreased injury risk.
It improves your quality of life as you gain body confidence.Strength training will not only make you strong, but it will also help with managing your weight: weightlifting can help you burn fat, reduces your risk of diabetes, prevent back pain, and even help you fight depression.
Increases HDL—High Density Lipoprotein (good cholesterol) and decrease LDL—Low Density Lipoprotein (bad cholesterol).
Reduces risk of diabetes and insulin needs.
Lowers risk of cardiovascular disease.
Lowers high blood pressure.
Lowers risk of breast cancer—reduces high estrogen levels linked to the disease.
Decreases/minimizes risk of osteoporosis by building bone mass.
Reduces symptoms of PMS (Premenstrual Syndrome)
Reduces stress and anxiety.
Decreases colds and illness.
Mood boost.
Better brain function.
Building relationships (see chapter 12)
Okay, let’s talk about a few of the benefits which are, I think, the most important, and are the main reasons I picked up weights in the first place. First, bone density—women have a higher chance of having issues with bone density than men at a rate of 6 to 1. More than half of all Caucasian women over 50 are estimated to have low bone mass, which means their bones are getting weaker, but they don’t yet have osteoporosis. But, as we age, degeneration of the bones makes it easier for bones to break.
Special note to my author friends: living a sedentary lifestyle also puts us at higher risk for osteoporosis—any weight-bearing exercises and activities that promote balance and good posture are beneficial for your bones. Walking, running, jumping, dancing, and weightlifting are particularly helpful in fighting these bone density issues. I’m not saying any of this to scare you, but it’s important to know, so we can be proactive with our health. If we continue to make small health changes and apply them to our lives, in ways that are doable and maintainable, we will have better long-term results. I love my author community and I want to see us all healthy and happy for a long time. We also have readers who might have similar tendencies to be sedentary. We all know how easy it is to get lost in a book and discover, eight hours later that we haven’t moved for most of the day. Let’s get off our butts and move!
I’m not one of those people who want to spend all day in the gym. I would much rather be in the kitchen, or playing with the kids or cuddled up on the couch with a good book. But, I have found that balance in all things is really important to our overall health and wellness.
As I talked about inBIG GIRLS DO IT RUNNING, I believe that our bodies are made to move. We are upright by design and when we aren’t moving we are setting ourselves for health issues. Walking, wogging and running are all a great way to help your body and overall health. Adding some weights will only add to that. When I started lifting I just wanted to add something easy on days when I couldn’t find time to do a full walk/run. To be totally honest, I was thinking I could do some toning without actually breaking a sweat. Which, looking back, is patently ridiculous.
I would have the weights next to my desk and instead of farting around on Facebook when I needed to think in between paragraphs, I would pick up the kettlebell and just lift it in various ways I watched on YouTube and a few other websites. We will talk about these sites later on, but they were incredibly valuable to me when I was learning about different programs.
Also, it’s important to note that I don’t think you even need to go to a gym to be successful with a training program and, furthermore, I think you can do this easily in almost any space and with minimal equipment. For example, my good friend Hugh only uses a few dumbbells for his program as he’s sailing around the world. My mom is using simply some light weights and resistance bands, while Jack and I really like our small assembly of kettlebells.
Strength training is something everyone can do from home. Please don’t think you can’t become strong and fit if you have limited resources or are too busy to get to a gym. Just keep reading, because Jack and I have a beginner’s guide coming that will make it easy for you to see and feel results in a relatively short amount of time.
