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Home > Weight Loss News > New Website Eases Women's Journey from Aerobics to Weight Training
New Website Eases Women's Journey from Aerobics to Weight Training
TheFitWoman.com seeks to encourage otherwise reluctant women to take part in the benefits of weight training, helping to make frailty in old age a thing of the past.
Clifton, NJ (PRWEB via PR Web Direct) September 7, 2005 -- Statistics show women still rely on aerobics to be slim, healthy and young. Thousands of joint injuries later, with cellulite-ridden bodies still intact, they are turning to the other alternative -- strength training. A women's weight training Web site, TheFitWomanOnline.com, is available to ease the transition.
Due to longevity and physical constitution, women are particularly vulnerable to osteoporosis, muscle loss, joint disease, decreased coordination, hunched-over posture and all the other problems associated with frailty in old age. Imagine a world free of these ailments -- a world with no chronics illnesses or nursing homes where individuals remain active until the end of their life span, at which point they calmly close their eyes and pass on to the next level of being. Unless more women adopt a sensible strength training program, the promise of such happy endings remains tenuous.
Some may remember the Tufts University research that found unexpected results from a study performed with women in their 50s and 60s. The women lifted weights for two, 30 minute sessions per week. After one year, they dropped two dress sizes without dieting, and their lean muscle mass, cardiovascular fitness, coordination and bone density measurements were comparable to younger women in their 30s and early 40s. Prior to this research, frailty was thought to be an inevitable part of getting old. Comparable results were not found with aerobic training or walking. Nonetheless, it appears that women still prefer treadmills and spinning classes to strength training.
The reason for such reluctance may be that women are unwilling to enter the same weight training rooms that are dominated by hulking body builders. They still fear that they will "bulk up" even though it has been demonstrated over and over again that weight training does not have this effect on the female body. The fitness industry has placed further obstacles by manufacturing equipment engineered solely for male bodies, often making it difficult for women to safely begin or advance in a strength training program.
Women's reluctance to lift weights have been met with a proliferation of circuit training facilities for them, which have been successful in motivating sedentary women to exercise – but the actual physical benefits of the hydraulic machines used in circuit training centers are a subject of hot debate. Although providing an easy workout in a cordial atmosphere, these circuit training facilities may be short-changing women of the muscle development, coordination and bone density that are better achieved with free weights and other forms of resistance training.
TheFitWoman.com encourages women to use free weights and other equipment that has worked for many decades in developing strength, posture and coordination. Neither a bodybuilding portal nor an infomercial-mart, TheFitWoman.com offers fitness apparel for pregnant women, weight lifting gloves and other items geared to female bodies. For instance, the site sells adjustable dumbbells that increase in small increments, rather than the standard 5 pound increments, making it easier for women to advance in their training. The site also offers equipment to increase forearm strength and other vulnerable areas that help to better grab and lift weights. Many products are for home use, enabling women who do not want to workout in a body building atmosphere to train in private or with partners of their choice.
A blog is underway to encourage discussion and debate among fitness professionals and health-conscious women. The site already features a number of original articles about strength training by fitness professionals.
Ironically, it may be women who will bring weight training to a whole new world of fitness rather than sport. The intensity involved in body building and powerlifting competitions is often not conducive to healthy aging. By contrast, weight training performed to enhance natural movement and muscle development, has been shown to turn back the clock.
"The world of fitness-oriented strength training is where women want to go," says Janet Ford, President and General Counsel of PowerFit LLC, owner of TheFitWoman.com Web site. "We intend to assist women with their journey to the other side of pumping iron."
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