Weight- training is equally useful for both men and women. You can begin at the age of sixteen or even when you are middle-aged or older. After the age of thirty, however, you should give yourself a complete medical check?up and consult your doctor about the test- results, and then with his consent, go in for it. Again, if you are highly myopic, check with a vitreo?retinal surgeon before training with weights.
Overall, weight-training is a personality enhancer for both sexes. Men become more masculine. We need not write on this aspect as it is an established fact. What is less recognised or not understood at all is how it helps women. The fact it that weight-training fills females with a feline grace and vitality where you move around with a light, lithe step. It bestows a strength that shores up your self-confidence - where you develop an athlete's sense of powered relaxation. Which means that you enjoy a quiet victorious feeling, knowing that behind that look of languorous stillness lies an inexhaustible supply of power ready to surge when required.
Far from 'looking manly', women become more feminine. Where men sport bulging biceps, women develop sleek contours. Plus, strengthening the muscles in the chest enhances their breast-line. And hips and thighs - the woman's eternal flab spots - get streamlined and slim.
Aerobics give you the basic healthy foundation you need - by strengthening your cardiovascular system and banishing fat from your body. Abdominals flatten your tummy and prevent back - and other ?problems. Weight-training is the icing on this fitness cake. Aerobics stimulate your muscles and bones. Weight-training further strengthens and maintains them - particularly in your arms, back and shoulders.
It is also an ace up the post-menopausal sleeve. For this is the time when women could be afflicted by osteoporosis - when their bones become more brittle and fragile due to lowering hormone levels. Weight-training acts as a preventive, it makes the bone thicker and heavier and re-organises its internal structure to resist any stress. Of course, simultaneously, women with weak bones should also take calcium daily ?about 1500 mg per day.
