This video, titled "Strength," discusses the many benefits of strength training for women's health. The speaker, Deb Ford, explains how strength training can improve various aspects of health, including the nervous system, bone density, glucose levels, metabolism, cardiovascular health, and cognitive function. She also addresses common myths about women and weightlifting, like the idea that it will make women bulky, and emphasizes the importance of proper nutrition and hydration alongside strength training.
Key Takeaways
1
Strength training offers numerous benefits for women's long-term health, including weight loss, improved mood, and a more vibrant life.
2
The six main benefits of strength training for women include a stronger nervous system, healthier bones, better glucose levels, improved metabolic health, reduced risk for cardiovascular disease, and better cognitive health.
3
Strength training fortifies the nervous system by improving the communication between your brain and muscles, enhancing coordination, and preventing falls, especially as you age.
4
Weightlifting helps maintain and build bone density, which is crucial for preventing osteoporosis, especially for women after menopause who can lose 10% of their bone mass.
5
Strength training balances glucose levels by increasing muscle mass, which helps muscles absorb and use sugar, preventing high blood sugar and related diseases.
6
Building muscle boosts your metabolism, burning more calories even at rest and increasing mitochondrial density, which improves energy in every cell of your body.
7
Strength training is good for your heart, with studies showing that higher muscle mass is linked to lower cardiovascular disease and mortality rates.
8
Weightlifting improves cognitive function and mental health by reducing inflammation and increasing brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is essential for learning and memory.
9
Common myths about women's strength training, such as getting bulky or needing to use only light weights, are debunked; women cannot build muscle like men due to lower testosterone, and heavier weights with fewer repetitions are more beneficial for overall strength and health.
10
To support muscle health and recovery, it's essential to prioritize protein intake, eat a balanced diet with whole foods, and stay well-hydrated.
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0:01
good morning and welcome to another
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edition of today's nutrition where we
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look at what's hot in the news what's
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new in research or any topic that can
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help you lose weight feel great or live
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longer better usually all three at once
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so today I'm going to shine a light on a
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topic that's been shrouded by crazy
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myths and unfounded misconceptions for
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far too long the amazing impact of
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strength training on women's longtime
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health and on social media all month I'm
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promoting products that help women get
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stronger and more fit we've even at the
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shop started carrying resistance banss
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with my own personal 10-minute workout
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to get you going so today as I explore
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the six key benefits of strength
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training for women and the common
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misconceptions that go along with it I
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want you to see and help make this a
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world where every woman really empowers
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herself with the knowledge and the
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strength that comes from lifting weights
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or resistance training that it's not
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just about building muscle it's about
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building the foundation for a healthier
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more vibrant life more life in your
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years more years in your life so you
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know if you're someone who runs or who
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hits the gym but makes a beline for the
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card machines you're in good company
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that's most of us that want to be fit
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and lifting weights has always been kind
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of intimidating for women there are so
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many myths about strength training that
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it can be difficult to know where to
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start not to mention the confusion about
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how to do it right bottom line is that
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building
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muscle is beneficial no matter what your
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goals are strength training resistance
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training training and that can include
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body weight training like yoga or
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resistance bands like we carry in
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addition to weight lifting with
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dumbbells or kettle bells boy oh boy the
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fast
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transformation not only in your muscles
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in your body but in your confidence in
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your mood and your health all for the
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better so there are six big key benefits
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for strength training for women number
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one stronger nervous system number two
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healthier bones number three better
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glucose levels number four better
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metabolic Health your metabolism burning
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calories and lastly reduce risk for
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cardiovascular disease oh yeah and I
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don't want to forget better cognitive
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Health yeah you get a better brain if
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you lift weights so no matter what phase
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of life you're in really young or what I
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like to call the mature athlete phase
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strength training comes from
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scientifically proven health benefits
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building lean bustle or building bone
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density go together and when you're
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young you know don't have to worry about
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it but as you get older Sid stepping the
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cognitive changes that can come with
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menopause and Beyond there are plenty of
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reasons to consider adding a little
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strength training to your routine so
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that you don't get frail as you get
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older okay so firstly strength training
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fortifies the nervous system you know
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just like a conductor leading an
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orchestra I love that analogy a stronger
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nervous system directly builds the
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muscle fibers to connect with greater
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coordination and efficiency so it's not
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just about lifting more it's about
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embracing your body's ability to
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communicate with itself making every
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movement more effective it really does
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strengthen the communication between
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your brain and the muscles it improves
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your you know it's called propri
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reception but it's basically the
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awareness of your body and space so that
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you are more coordinated not so apt to
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trip and fall and as we get older it's
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those Falls that can really take you
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down you know a recent study found the
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brain adaptation that's involved from
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weight training it's the circuits the
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circuits in the brain as well as a
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spinal cord that suggests that strength
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training ultimately leads to a stronger
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and more efficient nervous system okay
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secondly we almost all know this you get
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healthier bones unfortunately bone
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density decreases with age and both men
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and women combined with a stop sharp
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drop in estrogen at the onset of
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menopause we're going to lose 10% of
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bone when you hit menopause it's
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guaranteed and in women that can lead to
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osteoporosis if you don't work at it at
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building more bone density you know when
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you you've got to have the minerals and
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then you've got to stress the bones a
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little bit so you you're just going to
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prevent fractures you know moving is the
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very core of our being you got to have
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strong bones strength training promotes
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healthier bones you know it's a
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natural combatant against osteoporosis
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you're going to get stronger denser
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bones and that is really important young
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women need to build a strong skeletal
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Bank CU you are going to lose 10% of it
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when you hit menopause so you got to
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build more and then we want to delay any
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kind of reabsorption of bone as we get
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older and lifting weights is the most
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effective way to build and improve bone
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structure strength mineral density and
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you got to start in the 20s to maintain
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or improve bone tensity through life you
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know the the real just the stress of
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tugging and pushing on bone with the
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muscle that stimulates the bone forming
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cells to really go to work that's going
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to keep you intact in case you fall you
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know that's really important because if
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you get as you get older those Falls can
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take you down faster than anything I
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think there is like by the time you hit
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65 if you fall there is a great chance
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you will never walk again okay so third
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and this is probably one of my favorites
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it helps balance glucose levels you know
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I've told you about my continuous
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glucose monitor my CGM and I wear it
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sometime
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and I was at a health conference
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everybody was you know like me and I was
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wearing it we had all gone out to eat
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and after a corn muffin gluten-free but
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a corn muffin and a salad that you know
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it did have a just delightfully sweet
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salad dressing on it I looked down at my
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CGM and I saw my glucose was higher than
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I could imagine Dr Beverly Yates who is
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soon writing a book that I'm going to be
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promoting it's called the Yates protocol
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she said to me Deb do some slow squats
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right now 10 of them and Bam I did
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brought it down beautifully you know you
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engage those muscles they soak up that
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sugar and put it to work so we're
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talking about better glucose levels and
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that is a key player in the prevention
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of so many diseases Beyond just diabetes
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strength training increases your muscle
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mass that improves your body's ability
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to just regulate that sugar so that
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keeps all sorts of Insidious diseases at
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Bay muscles just soak it up and use that
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glucose so naturally the more muscles
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you have the more glucose is going to be
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stored and used there rather than
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hanging out in the bloodstream where it
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causes trouble so some studies suggest
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that you include both cardio or aerobic
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or walking or running or whatever with
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strength training and you're going to
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see amazing results in your blood
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sugar okay that's a biggie but number
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four it improves what we call metabolic
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health and body composition so basically
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it's going to stoke the fires of your
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metabolism not just while you're
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exercising you know aerobic is going to
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build boost it while you're exercising
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and maybe bit a little bit longer but
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when you've got more muscle you're
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burning more calories
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24/7 not just then but in the days
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afterwards so that means more calories
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burn you got a leaner stronger body and
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it's running like a well oiled machine
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so it's burning calories even when
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you're at rest even better it increases
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your mitochondrial density
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okay so what is that that is your energy
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Storehouse so that's going to do so many
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things improving every single cell's
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energy component in the whole body so
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that is going to show you just your
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body's just going to be burning
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everything more efficiently it's going
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to help your pancreas going to help your
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heart going to help your brain going to
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help your kidney is going to help
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everything every cell in your body so as
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a result when you're exercising in
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strengthening these muscles your body is
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becoming more metabolically flexible so
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no longer relies on glucose as its only
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only fuel source so that's pretty darn
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good that's you know you're when you
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improve body composition by building
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more muscle you're just supporting that
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fat burning that metabolic flexibility
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24/7
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365 and of course we always are told
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it's good for your heart a strong body
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Fosters a strong heart one that is less
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prone to the ailments that strike down
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so many cardiovascular disease you know
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it's it gets the highlight and your
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cardiovascular exercises they're
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important it's you know walking is
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really good but strength training can
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protect against a lot of those
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conditions too a uh study from the
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Journal of the American Medical
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Association found that higher muscle
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mass is associated with lower
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cardiovascular disease and mortality
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death rates in men and women so another
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reason to train to build
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muscles lastly maybe most importantly as
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we age it improves cognitive function
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and mental health and that is a
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Priceless benefit but I tell you it is a
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habit you've got to start young because
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if you wait till you start showing
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decline it's really hard to start new
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habits then so I say you know you might
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want to really push to get those habits
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going now so as we lift weights we're
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not just elevating our physical body but
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lifting the fog that can Cloud our mind
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studies show time after time that the
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discipline and the focus required for
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strength training has so many positive
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repercussions for our cognitive function
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you know one thing it does it reduces
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inflammation and increases expression of
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my alsoo favorite bdnf brain deriv
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neurotrophic factor which is kind of
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like Miracle Grow fertilizer you know
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it's it's kind of like that for the
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brain essential for learning and memory
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you know so if you're boosting the
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brain's ability to learn and remember
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reducing inflammation in the brain that
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that goes so far in staying strong your
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whole lifelong you know you don't want
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to spend those last 10 years in a fog
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and it's also been shown to
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significantly reduce anxiety and
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depression
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exercise so from the top of your head to
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the bottom of your feet strength
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training is absolutely fantastic and now
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I'm going to go into debunking the myths
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about women and strength training that
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you know those things that might have
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kept you from the fabulous benefits
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first one that you hear about a lot oh
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weight training is going to make me
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bulky and masculine like you know not
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true that concern a lot of women have
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prior to strength training maybe that
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they think they're going to think
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weightlifting is going to make them you
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know strong you know it you can't build
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muscles like a man you don't have that
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kind of testosterone and you know it
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just cannot happen you may have heard
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that W resistance and weight training is
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dangerous you know you can just start
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with weights or resistance bands that's
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challenging but not too challenging and
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gradually work up as you get stronger
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you know it's important to rest between
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workouts so that your body has time to
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to rebuild it's not just the time when
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you're exercising it's actually the time
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when your body is recovering and
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building up after the exercise that is
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the most important so you know it's not
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like you're going to work out every day
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like every other day maybe every two
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days so that is a really good thing so
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next thing you might have heard that
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women can't lose weight when
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weightlifting don't do anything till you
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get all the weight off and then you can
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start weightlifting oh that's so wrong
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so not true muscles boost your
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metabolism and increase your body's
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ability to burn fat so it's easier to
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lose fat when you're building lean
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muscle mess and that supports weight
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loss okay then and this myth women
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should use light weight weights and do
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lots of repetition you know they just
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want to be
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toned boy doing a lot of lot of reps you
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know that's going to do something that
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is going to tone your muscles but you
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don't get all the positive benefits
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benefits of a good strength training
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program when you're just using
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lightweights and doing a lot of reps
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besides it takes a long time you want to
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challenge your muscles you want to lift
15:13
heavier weights or use increased
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resistance a few times a week to have
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the most benefits you know if I have
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convinced you of the benefits of weight
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training when you're ready pick up a
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pair of dumbbell s maybe get some good
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resistance bands or heck just pick up a
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couple full water bottles and just start
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lifting them keep in mind these are just
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general recommendations of course get
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your doctor's approval if you've had
15:44
some health challenges but at the shop
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I've got a great beginner workout for
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women uh a sheet at The Good Earth along
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with the resistance bands to help get
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you started but in close in closing I
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really want to help touch on the role of
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nutrition for optimal muscle Health
16:03
number one you got to prioritize protein
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protein is essential for any strength
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training routine protein accelerates
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recovery so you've got to have that to
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grow stronger and help them repair that
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translates into being less sore between
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workouts and be able to properly recover
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so then you've got to eat lots of
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vegetables Whole Foods a balanced diet
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diet good fats good proteins good carbs
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really important and then water
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hydration is going to help you feel
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strong to your workout and recover well
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8 to 10 glasses good start so you know I
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urge every woman to grab some resistance
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bands get some weights whatever let's
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redefine strength not just as a physical
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attribute but as an
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all-encompassing trait that is going to
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build our bones our hearts our minds
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keep our mood lifted you know everything
17:05
that has to do with health so thanks for
17:08
listening to another edition of today's
17:10
nutrition I hope it helps you or someone
17:13
you love as always you can listen to
17:15
other shows and it's going to be on my
17:18
website de.com or any place you listen
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to podcasts even YouTube so if you need
17:24
support guidance accountability or any
17:28
help on your journey to health or a
17:31
weight loss I have a new group starting
17:34
every Monday today is the best day to
17:38
get started you can contact me through
17:40
my website Deb for.com we're going to
17:43
make it happen have a great day
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Strength
Deb Ford DCN RDN
4 views
May 8, 2024
17:46
I'm here to shine a light on a topic that has been shrouded by crazy myths and unfounded misconceptions for far too long — the amazing impact of strength training on women's health.