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#1 mistake women make in the gym

Written by Dr. Lee Mancini on Tuesday, 18 October 2011. Posted in Fitness Training, Toning & Shaping, Weight Training, Fitness for Women, Strength & Conditioning, Fitness

Tip Number One For Women: Not including weight training in their fitness routine. Most women have the incorrect notion that lifting weights will cause then to bulk up like a Patriot’s offensive lineman. This is one of the biggest fallacies that I hear over and over when training women. First of all, to add a significant amount of muscle mass to one’s body requires an increase in calories consumed. This is why training and nutrition are so interconnected. Secondly, women have 1/20 the testosterone level of men. Testosterone is an anabolic hormone, meaning that one of its effects is to create tissue growth, and in the case of strength training, this means muscle tissue. Lastly, most women have the pictures of androgenous female bodybuilders etched in their minds from the covers of popular fitness magazines, and fear turning into those pictures and losing their femininity. Rest assured that most of these professional bodybuilders are taking a tremendous amount of anabolic steroids and male hormones. Most amateur or natural female bodybuilders have healthy athlete physiques. So please do not fear strength training.

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About the Author

Dr. Lee Mancini

Lee A. Mancini graduated from Harvard as a two-sport athlete with honors in biology. Board certified in sports medicine and family practice, he works at the Family Health Center and UMass Sports Medicine Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. He trains select clients as a certified strength and conditioning specialist and sports nutritionist.