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Fitness in general is the path to healthy living which includes healthy
food, day schedule, various activities like running, weight lifting and
etc. But women fitness is somewhat different from men fitness and I
would like to describe those differences and reasons of those.
Majority of people relate term fitness mostly to weight lifting and
muscle building which generally is what men fitness is about but in
case of female fitness even pure bodybuilding programs will not result
in bulky and masculine figure because women body can't naturally
produce as much testosterone as men do. This hormone is responsible for
increasing muscle size. Only those girls who are aiming for bodybuilder
muscles will use drugs such as anabolic steroids which is basically
synthetic testosterone and achieve muscle mass which is above average
for women body. Drug usage coupled with very heavy weight lifting in
gyms will transform woman into such manlike woman with large muscles
and unnatural body shape.
Another concern that most woman have regarding fitness is that after
doing constant training for some time and then suddenly stopping any
activities will in result turn your muscles into fat and in some cases
even more than before starting fitness program. This generally is not
true and only reason for such result can be returning to bad eating
habits together with stopping gym activities will make this double
effect look like muscle transformation into fat but in reality lack of
activity makes people loose muscle because it is not needed anymore and
bad eating habits will accumulate fat.
To make female body loose fat and firm it up proper diet and weight
training program is required customized to each individual because
there are many aspects that affect this. Just weight training will not
turn body fat into muscle as many assume but will only ensure more
flexibility and build some shape but to loose those body parts with
excess fat eating habits need adjustments towards more healthy food
with more natural products. That's one of main reasons why thinking
that you can eat anything that you want as long as you exercise is
incorrect for achieving fit body. Individual metabolism determines how
many calories human body burns at rest and while exercising. If more
calories are consumed than burnt on consistent basis then body will
accumulate these extra calories as fat regardless of amount of exercise
that is done. Only those who have high metabolic rates will be able to
eat what they want while doing or even not doing any exercises but keep
their body as fit as before.
Main difference from men fitness for women is that they only need to
do cardio and light weights if any. This would ensure that both muscle
and fat are used for fueling your body and none of these are increased.
Light weights will help sculpturing female body in shape that is
dreamed about which is as slim and lean as expected.
But quite a lot of affect to how people want to look like is coming
from media such as TV, press and etc. Majority of pictures used are
representing people brushed up by professionals who will look more
average in other circumstances but what matters is general population
is accumulating this image of perfect body and looks as standard for
beauty. Because of such pressure from media quite many push themselves
hard to achieve same looks and quite often go overboard with using diet
and weight training programs to their extreme limits which can bring
health issues as well. So it is much better to compare ourselves with
people we meet everyday rather than try to compete with looks
represented by media.
Bodybuilding is term mostly used in men fitness world but body
sculpturing is what women fitness experts commonly use. Main difference
here is that first one requires heavy weight lifting with extreme
programs but latter will include moderate amount of weight training and
less demanding program. In conjunction with a balanced diet that
consists of small meals throughout the day to boost the metabolic rate
and accelerate fat loss while gaining some muscle, and nutritional
supplementation, the results provided by the program can re-shape any
woman's physique in no time.
Whether you want to be involved in
fitness with the purpose of competing or just staying fit, you are
working out to better your quality of life. Choose how you want to look
rather than how someone else thinks you should look.
But quite a lot of affect to how people want to look like is coming
from media such as TV, press and etc. Majority of pictures used are
representing people brushed up by professionals who will look more
average in other circumstances but what matters is general population
is accumulating this image of perfect body and looks as standard for
beauty. Because of such pressure from media quite many push themselves
hard to achieve same looks and quite often go overboard with using diet
and weight training programs to their extreme limits which can bring
health issues as well. So it is much better to compare ourselves with
people we meet everyday rather than try to compete with looks
represented by media.
Men and woman are physiologically pretty similar but women tend to
store body fat in different places than men, mainly the hips, glutes
and triceps. Therefore, the routines for women should be designed to
target those problem areas and tone them. And of course caloric
requirements for women diet are different than for males as well.
Getting fit isn't just simple go to gym and use diet concepts. It's
a different lifestyle and learning what is optimal for you is part of
education process when starting that quest for healthy life. It's not
necessary to become supreme athlete and push yourself hard to achieve
those fitness goals as fast as humanly possible but better enjoy the
process and have fun. Quite often gym is also place to socialize and
meet new friends who share same interests. But still to make your time
spent in gym most effective it's essential to learn correct training
program application and if possible use of personal trainer who will
customize this program for every individual body shape and goals that
can be achieved.
Frequency of fitness activities should be at minimum 3 times a week
with 45-60 minutes spent in gym and coupled with 3 days of
cardiovascular activity. But this should be balanced as making too much
cardio and too little weight training by thinking that weights will
result in more muscle. Balancing both of these will ensure proper body
shape instead of just either loosing fat but body shape staying pretty
same or just building some muscle in addition to fat that didn't go
anywhere. Another mistake many are doing is not eating enough by
thinking it's part of diet to keep within calories limits but such
approach will not increase metabolism that ensures fat usage and
eventually will result in low caloric intake and instead retain body
fat and lose muscle.
And don't focus on weight values too much as women fitness in beginning isn't about pounds but more about inches.
In general good diet should include brown rice, oatmeal, sweet
potatoes and vegetables, protein food like lean sources such as turkey,
chicken breasts, lean fish and lean red meats and also good essential
fats such as extra virgin olive oil, fish oils and flax oil, is best.
Calories wise, 1200-1500 calories is enough for most though if activity
levels are higher there will be need to increase intake. It is crucial
that meals are consumed every 2-1/2 to 3 hours to keep feeding the body
so instead of three large square meals there should be 5-6 small meals
per day. The least amount of meals any woman should have would be 4.
And to achieve those fitness goals remember to be consistent, determined and prepared. |
