RP Mini Guide to Weight Training RESISTANCE TRAINING If you’ve ever talked to anyone about weight training for women, you’ve probably heard one of the following reasons that women think they shouldn’t lift. • “It’s going to make me look bulky!” • “It doesn’t burn enough calories for me to lose weight.” • “I don’t want to deal with grunting guys at the gym always trying to ‘help’ me.” While these are all understandable concerns, we’d like to dispell some myths and give you some even stronger reasons to start lifting weights. Here are some of the main benefits of weight training: • Larger changes in body fat percentage if you lift during a fat loss diet • Increased metabolism • A firmer appearance • Maintained or increased bone density • Decreased chances of injury • Increased chances of independence in old age • More strength and better posture 2 RP Mini Guide to Weight Training Lower body fat percentage When you’re on a fat loss diet, you’re feeding your body less energy (calories) than it needs. This means that it has to get that energy elsewhere—from your fat tissue and or your muscle tissue. By weight training and eating enough protein, most or all of your weight loss can come in the form of fat loss! And since fat takes up more space than your muscle per pound, that means you’ll look slimmer when you lose fat compared to losing muscle. Increase metabolism Muscle takes up very little space per pound compared to fat and it also burns more calories (even at rest) than fat does. That means if you build a little bit of muscle tissue, it won’t noticeably change your size or appearance, but it will allow you to eat more calories (YAY!) while losing or maintaining your weight. 3 RP Mini Guide to Weight Training If you’re worried about looking bulky, dont! Women don’t gain muscle easily and need to run several weight gain diets while lifting consistently across many years to get anywhere close to looking “bulky”. So as long as you’re not actively trying to gain weight (again, over a span of several years), lifting weights will just help increase your metabolism and make it easier for you to get and stay lean year-round. A firmer appearance Many women run fat loss diets to achieve a firmer appearance—for example, a perkier booty and less jiggly upper arms. While dieting, most women opt out of lifting weights and choose to focus more (or completely) on cardio to burn as many calories as possible. Unfortunately, this typically leads to a softer appearance, otherwise known as the “skinny fat” look. If this sounds familiar, you may want to consider adding some weight training during your maintenance and fat loss diets to achieve that fit, lean look! Maintain or increase bone density It’s not all about your appearance—at the end of the day, your health should always come first. Weight training not only gives all the benefits listed thus far, but it can also help you maintain or even increase bone density which will help fend off osteoporosis and decrease your risk of injury. Trust us, future (older) you will thank you for this! Decrease injury risk Along the same lines as above, strong muscles, bones, and connective tissue do not break, tear, or pull as easily! Weight training strengthens all of these and, in doing so, decreases your chance of injury in and out of the gym. 4 RP Mini Guide to Weight Training Increase chances of independence in old age Having strong muscles, bones, and other connective tissues also means it’ll take longer for Father Time to break you down! After all, failure to recover from injury and chances of being bedridden in old age are both predicted by muscle loss. So if you can build and maintain strong muscles and bones, you’ll find it easier to take care of yourself and avoid injury as you get older. Increase strength and improve posture To top it all off, strength training helps you maintain a solid posture while feeling stronger and more capable as you’re walking through life. The summary here is: Weight training can make you look and feel better and stay that way for longer in life! Do it for your health, for your family, for the food, for your life (oh, and for that perky booty too)! BODY WEIGHT TRACKING Tracking your weight can be stressful and it doesn’t give you the best idea of how well you’re actually doing, because the scale just measures weight and not fat or muscle tissue. Also keep in mind that depending on when you weigh yourself, that number on the scale includes the food in your belly, the clothing you’re wearing, and any water weight on top of your actual body weight. 5 RP Mini Guide to Weight Training This means you could lose a pound of fat, but if your body is holding onto 2 lb of water weight, it’ll look like you’ve actually gained a pound! Womanhood also adds another level of “fun” (eye roll) with monthly hormonal changes that can mess with your water weight even more. Here are some things to remember when weighing yourself: • Actual body weight changes can’t be accurately measured day-to-day due to water weight. To better map out your diet progress, take an average of multiple weigh-ins per week and compare your week-toweek averages. • Different women will notice different amounts of bloating and at different times during their menstrual cycle. This can make your weight jump up anywhere from one to several pounds at any given time for seemingly no reason. - Tracking your period bloat changes each month can help you know what to expect and worry less about those weight jumps. • Across any period of time your weight will fluctuate up and down by 2-4%. That means if you weigh 150 lb, your weight could go up and down by 6 lb in a week even if you haven’t lost or gained any actual weight. • Weight doesn’t always tell the whole story. Muscle gain and fat loss over time can mean you look leaner at 150 lb than you used to at 140 lb! 6 RP Mini Guide to Weight Training NUTRITION Whether you’re male or female, the basics of nutrition are pretty similar for everyone—get your bodyweight (lb) in grams of protein per day, eat a variety of fruits and veggies, and keep most of your fats monounsaturated (from sources like nuts, vegetable oil, and avocados). If you remember all that, you’re pretty much good to go! There’s no need to eliminate any particular foods from your diet (unless you have an allergy or preference), just remember to eat the less healthpromoting stuff (saturated fats, processed meats, etc.) in moderation. Minimize 7 RP Mini Guide to Weight Training Changing your body composition can be done either through a fat loss or muscle gain diet—depending on what your goal is, and where you are in your transformation journey. However, it’s important to remember that the calories and macros you’ve budgeted for either of these diets should only be temporary measures and should not be seen as a long term strategy for healthy eating. Of course, regardless of what type of diet you’re running, you should always consider resistance training to maximize your results! Make sure you check out Renaissance Woman for more information on dieting and training for women. 8 RP Mini Guide to Weight Training Want to take the guesswork out of dieting and just focus on reaching your fitness goal? Let the RP Diet Coach app put your diet on autopilot. It’ll build you a custom diet based on your goals and keep you on track throughout the whole process. All you need to do is let the app know what foods you’d like to eat and it’ll tell you how much and when to eat it. Changing your body composition can be done either through a fat loss or muscle gain diet—depending on what your goal is, and where you are in your transformation journey. However, it’s important to remember that the calories and macros you’ve budgeted for either of these diets should only be temporary measures and should not be seen as a long term strategy for healthy eating. Of course, regardless of what type of diet you’re running, you should always consider resistance training to maximize your results! Make sure you check out Renaissance Woman for more information on dieting and training for women. SPECIAL CASES There are some female-specific situations where different diet recommendations are warranted. If you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, your nutritional needs will differ. Consulting with your doctor about your nutrition when pregnant is your best bet. 9 RP Mini Guide to Weight Training When breastfeeding, some basic recommendations include: • Increase protein intake by around 20g per day. • Keep in mind that when you calculate your caloric needs, breastfeeding requires 500+ extra calories per day from your usual (woohoo!). • Carb and fat requirements remain the same (but additional needed calories can be added in these macro categories after you increase protein). • If you want to lose fat AND are cleared by your doctor for a weight loss diet and resistance training, make sure you limit your deficit to 500 calories per day or less (a loss of 1 lb per week or less) no matter your starting weight. You can learn more about nutrition during pregnancy and breastfeeding by checking out our eBook on this subject. *Please remember to always consult your doctor before starting any nutrition plan when pregnant or breastfeeding PCOS or Hypothyroidism Some people with PCOS or hypothyroidism may have lower than normal metabolic rates, but this does not mean that they can’t maintain or lose weight! Calorie intake must be adjusted to individual needs. For more information on PCOS and weight loss, make sure you check out this video by our very own Dr. Spencer Nadolsky. 10 RP Mini Guide to Weight Training NUTRITION Forget social comparison. Following tons of fitness models online and comparing ourselves to them has been shown to make us feel worse about our present fitness but do less to change it! Instead lean on social support! Get a fitness buddy or someone who can help you with accountability. Compare yourself to “yesterday’s you” and celebrate each little step of progress towards your goals. Keep in mind that weight loss diets are temporary and that cutting is not a lifestyle—your lifestyle is what happens during maintenance when you are more relaxed and balanced with eating. It is also good to remember that the ability to diet and exercise is a luxury and a privilege! You are much more than the number on the scale or how you look. Improving your fitness and getting the body you want can be empowering and exciting, but don’t let it become a source of excessive stress. Try to enjoy the process without losing sight of all of the other things in life! 11
