3 minute read
Why Women Should Build Muscle
Women have been taught that the lower number on the scale the better, sticking to "light" exercise keeps you from getting bulky, and in order to maintain that physique you have to eat a strict low-calorie diet. All of this is wildly far from the truth and damaging to women's health and body-image. Muscle is not only beneficial for sculpting one's physique, but also integral for a healthy body (source). Here are seven reasons why women should build muscle.
1. 🍱 You can eat more!
Speed up your metabolism
Your body burns calories just to hold onto muscle. This is happening even when you’re not working out. Think of it as passive calorie income! The more muscle you have, the easier it is to maintain or lose weight over time - depending on your goals.
2. ↑ strength and confidence
In order to build muscle, you have to get strong. This makes everyday tasks easier to do and makes you feel more capable and confident - both mentally and physically - enhancing your quality of life.
3. Improve longevity ♾️
Muscle keeps you strong and independent as you age by
- Maintaining bone and joint health
- Improving your mobility and balance
- Supporting brain health
- Keeping your immune system strong
Muscle also helps reduce the risk of diseases like Alzheimer’s, dementia, and certain types of cancer
4. Dense bones
Build super dense bones by strength training! This gets more important as we age as it helps protect us from injury from falling, supports our organs, and prevents osteoporosis (which is more common in women).
5. Better blood sugar levels
Muscle helps with insulin sensitivity by soaking up blood sugar to rebuild and recover. Being insulin sensitive means:
- Less fat storage
- More stable energy
- Easier fat loss
- Lower inflammation
- Reduced risk of diabetes and heart disease
6. ✧ Aesthetics ✧
Muscle takes up 20% less space than fat. This means you can weigh the same but be physically leaner! Trading muscle for fat is known as “body recomposition” or “body recomp” for short. Building muscle also enables you to have more shape or a more sculpted look even at higher body fat percentages. No, you won’t. get. bulky.
7. ⚖️ Balance hormones
Strength training helps naturally optimize hormone levels by:
- Lowering cortisol (stress)
- Reducing blood sugar spikes
- Speeding up metabolism
- Decreasing inflammation
Keeping hormones stable is also effective in helping decrease perimenopause and menopause symptoms. Do this for 50 year old you!
written by: ivy, co-founder of momo®
Continue reading here to learn how to build muscle
