Table of Contents
Getting Started
Chapter # 1: Introduction
Chapter # 2: Benefits of Strength Training
Chapter # 3: Myths
Designing Strength Training Programs
Programs for Women
Chapter # 1: Circuit Training
Chapter # 2: Freestyle Training
Chapter # 3: Non-traditional Routines
Conclusion
Author Bio
References
Publisher
Introduction
Normally, women aren’t really that turned on with the idea of weight or strength training exercises. A number of myths and misconceptions are responsible for this idea where the most profound one is the myth of getting bigger and masculine. Due to this and many other misconceptions, women lean towards aerobic programs and prefer them over strength training. But in the last few years, with the help of promising new research, women are becoming more excited about strength training programs. This book does the job of educating individuals and clearing their concerns about the strength training regimen for weight loss.
Physiologically talking, women and men are the same; they have the same muscle tissue innervation, fiber distribution and responsiveness to strength based exercises, but there is a distinct difference when it comes to the quantity and density of distribution of muscle fibers. Females have more body fat, less muscle mass, lighter bones and shorter heights when compared to men, generally. They also tend to have broader hips compared to their shoulders and waists whereas men tend to have broader shoulders compared to their hips. This tends to give men a mechanical advantage in the upper portion. Moreover, as women have more weight in their lower bodies, they tend to have a lower center of mass and even though a women’s strength is about 2/3rd that of a man, her lower part is as powerful as a man. Some studies have even stated that women have morelower body strength than their masculine counterparts. But all this put aside, there is no difference when it comes to cross-section muscle strength.
The greatest region of dissimilarity between men and women is their hormonal quantities, with women having almost 20 times less testosterone than men. They also show a lesser reaction with respect to testosterone training protocols.
Alongside testosterone, growth hormone concentrations are another point of dissimilarity;this hormone is for hypertrophy as well as protein synthesis. Women tend to have a higher concentration of this hormone during their menstrual cycle. High intensity exercises have an equal effect on both men and women when it comes to increase in growth hormones, but the amount of testosterone remains the same. This explains why women reach a bottle neck in hypertrophy.
