Ladies, Want to Look Amazing in 2023? Lifting Weights Could Be the Key

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There are a couple of harmful (and totally untrue) myths floating around out there about how women can look and feel their best by exercising. With most of us raring to go as the new year starts, there’s no better time to make a change and start getting fit… The right, healthy way!

Women’s Fitness Myths

The More Cardio, The Better!

If you’ve been under the impression that you need to spend an hour on the treadmill or the Stairmaster every day to lose weight and look great, think again!

Research indicates that while aerobic exercise can help you to lose fat, it does nothing for building muscle… Possibly even causing the muscle you do have to waste away.

What does this mean? Well, you could drop a bunch of weight and get down to your desired number on the scale… But instead of being curvy, you’re going to end up being unshapely and possibly a little flabby. Also known as being skinny fat!

While the scale might reflect something you’re happy with, the truth is, you’re still carrying more fat than you should be. Because your muscle mass is low, you’re getting a skewed view of how healthy you really are.

Secondly, studies show that the more you do cardio, the more your body adjusts… And therefore, the less fat you actually lose over time! And then there’s the risk of not allowing your body enough time to recover between sessions, which can quickly lead to overtraining—feeling exhausted, unmotivated, and sick.


Lifting Weights Makes You Bulky & Masculine

You may have heard that women should use light weights and pound away for 15 to 20 reps in order to see results. The problem with this is that it does nothing for strengthening your muscles. It’s like… Cardio in weightlifting form.

Even the CDC recommends doing at least 2 days of muscle-strengthening exercise per week. That’s for both men and women! Building muscle is normal and healthy, and you should be doing exercise that supports it.

Now “becoming bulky” is not easy! Many men struggle to bulk, and it also requires you to eat more calories than you’re burning… And a whole lot of protein. In other words, you need to make a concerted effort to actually get bulky, so unless you’re trying hard, it’s not likely at all.

Unless you’re taking steroids or you have shockingly high levels of testosterone in your body, the chances of you bulking up are virtually non-existent. So don’t worry—there’s NO way you’re going to end up looking like the female version of Arnie.


The Fewer Calories You Eat, the Better

Ladies, it’s time to embrace pasta and protein! There’s a sad misconception that eating 800 or fewer calories per day is the best way to lose weight. Now you WILL lose fat if you continue to eat this way for an extended period of time…But you’ll also lose your joy for life and any motivation to exercise.

Your calories don’t just go towards helping you exercise. The nutrients in the food you eat also go towards:

  • Breathing
  • Walking
  • Small movements
  • Digestion
  • Brain power
  • Other bodily functions

It might be counter-intuitive to eat 1,500 or more calories per day and still lose weight. But if you aren’t eating enough, all of the above functions are going to suffer! You may lose weight, but you’re also ruining your natural body chemistry.

And then there’s the fact that consistent low-calorie dieting increases the levels of stress hormones in your body… Basically putting your body on high alert and increasing your chance of multiple diseases and disorders.


Your Results-Driven 2023 Fitness Plan

So if those commonly-accepted “health and fitness” ideas are actually doing more harm than good, what can you do to get that dream body without damaging your system? Here’s an overview of how to structure your training… Once again, backed by science!

Do Cardio In Moderation

The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderate cardio per week, or 75 minutes of more intense cardio for those who are already quite fit.

The key here is to do your cardio right. You may have heard that high-intensity interval training is the holy grail of cardio, and it’s true that it has a better caloric afterburn than steady-state cardio. But the truth is, you’ll burn more calories (and recover faster) doing a couple of steady-state sessions a week and one HIIT session.

You should be doing 2 to 3 hours of cardio per week, at the most. Go for one HIIT workout of up to 30 minutes, and split the rest between two to four steady-state cardio sessions of 20 to 40 minutes.

You can do any type of cardio you want. If there’s something you particularly enjoy, stick to that! Or if you get bored easily, you can switch between different types as you wish.


Lift Heavy Weights

As you now know, it’s practically impossible for you to get bulky lifting heavy weights. What does happen, though, when you lift heavy weights, is that you will:

So what counts as “heavy weights”? Well, don’t just go ahead and try to lift what the guy next to you is lifting! You should use enough weight to do 8 to 10 reps with excellent form. If you can’t get to 8, it’s too heavy. If you can go past 10, it’s too light!

Stick to weightlifting sessions of 45 to 60 minutes at a time, 3 to 5 days per week. Make sure you’re hitting every muscle group, though, and don’t forget your core! You can find various training programs online, so whatever your schedule, there’ll be something that works for you.


Calculate Your Caloric Intake

Want to know a foolproof way to figure out how much you should be eating? Use a calculator like this one to find out how many calories you burn each day based on your own body fat percentage. Once you know that, you can work out how many you need to eat to lose fat (usually 20 to 25% less than you burn per day).

Just as an example, a 1.8-meter tall woman weighing 70 kilograms who’s doing absolutely no exercise at all needs 1,743 calories a day just to sustain everyday bodily functions! So when you’re eating less than half of that… You may be losing fat but you’re also stopping your body from doing everything else it needs to do.


Eat a Balanced Diet

It’s a great idea to use an app like MyFitnessPal to keep track of what exactly you’re eating. It’s easy to go overboard without even realising it…

For example, if you’re cooking with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, that’s adding 120 calories to your daily intake! The sugar in your coffee could add up to 200 calories… And underestimating the weight of the food you’re eating is easy and can accidentally add hundreds of calories to your daily diet.

You’ll also be able to keep track of your carbs, protein, and fats. The optimal amount of protein to eat for fat loss is 1 to 1.2 grams of protein per pound of body weight (and to get your weight in kilograms to pounds, multiply it by 2.2!).


Have at Least One Full Rest Day a Week

It’s a great idea to use an app like MyFitnessPal to keep track of what exactly you’re eating. It’s easy to go overboard without even realising it…

For example, if you’re cooking with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, that’s adding 120 calories to your daily intake! The sugar in your coffee could add up to 200 calories… And underestimating the weight of the food you’re eating is easy and can accidentally add hundreds of calories to your daily diet.

You’ll also be able to keep track of your carbs, protein, and fats. The optimal amount of protein to eat for fat loss is 1 to 1.2 grams of protein per pound of body weight (and to get your weight in kilograms to pounds, multiply it by 2.2!).


Conclusion: Some Ladies to Follow

Worried about starting to lift weights? Don’t be! If you want some real-world inspiration, here are a few motivational fitness ladies to follow on social media!

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