Lifting weights is often a challenging prospect for someone who has never done it before. Most women have never ventured into the ‘man cave’ that is the weights room in their local gym. Admittedly, it can be daunting to walk into a generally male-dominated environment and start lifting. If you can get over that first hurdle, your body will thank you later.

So many women are hesitant to start strength training because they’re afraid to get ‘bulky’. Fortunately, this is a misconception ladies, and one that needs to be shattered ASAP. Sure, if your ambition is to get bulky, lifting weights can achieve this with the right programme and a strict diet. However, your everyday woman at the gym doing her barbell squats isn’t suddenly going to turn into the incredible hulk.

The truth about weight training is that it’s the door to a more lean, toned and defined body. I’ve listed some of the key benefits below.

Calorie Burn: In comparison to cardiovascular exercise, resistance training burns more calories. Also, after a heavy lifting session, your body’s oxygen demand remains high for an extended period of time. This is referred to as ‘excess post-exercise oxygen consumption’, or EPOC. Whilst your body requires more oxygen, your calorific expenditure is also increased, so you continue to burn calories once you’ve finished training.

Metabolism: For me this is the absolute best thing about strength training. Building lean muscle contributes hugely to fat loss. The higher your muscle percentage, the more calories the body is able to burn whilst at rest. Yes, you understood me correctly: the more muscle you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate. Pretty amazing, hey?

Bone Health: Lifting weights on a regular basis aids in increasing bone density, which helps keep problems such as osteoporosis at bay in later life.

Heart Health: Studies have shown that those who lift weights are significantly less at risk of heart disease due to a reduction of triglycerides, blood pressure and blood glucose levels.

That Body: Unlike cardio, which helps you lose weight through reduction of both fat and muscle tissue, strength training helps you to burn fat and build muscle. This means you start to sculpt those curves you’ve always wanted; hello new booty.

Confidence: Resistance training will help your confidence endlessly. You’ll feel stronger and able to accomplish so much more. It’s pretty hard not to be happy with a new, lean and toned body!

Stress Relief: Personally, I can’t think of a better way to combat stress than a heavy lifting session. Rather than letting the little things get to you, head to the gym and smash out a resistance workout – afterwards, you’ll feel revitalized and ready to combat anything.

BodyBuilding.com is a great website to visit for some inspiration. This website gives a muscle-by-muscle breakdown of exercises to try:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/workout-muscle-groups.html