Reasons women should lift weights

November 5, 8:50 AMNew England Fitness ExaminerJo Levy

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A woman doing a dumbbell squat. Make sure your knees are not over your feet.
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There are a whole host of reasons that resistance training is so good for us. The reasons, of course, include looking great but they go beyond the visible effects. Resistance training has been shown to improve our health. Let's look more in-depth about why you should go out and buy a pair of 3-pound weights.

• We all want to be strong. Did you know that in order to sit in an exit row seat on an airplane you have to be able to lift 50 pounds (some airlines may have lower limits)? If you have young children you are probably carrying a lot of "stuff" just to go shopping. Becoming physically stronger is a good thing!

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•  Resistance training will help your lose body fat.  If you strength train a couple of times a week for two months you'll gain about two pounds of muscle and lose 2-5 pounds of fat. Muscle burns more calories than fat so you can eat a bit more! In addition studies have shown that your metabolism keeps on burning fat for a longer length of time than doing cardio work alone.

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• The chances that you will have osteoporosis is lowered through weight training. Research has shown that weight training can increase bone mineral density by 13 % in six months.

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• Runner talk about a runner's high. Well lifting weights will help improve your mood. It may be because you will feel more confident or it may because of the dopamine that your body gives off but between the two you will feel terrific and may even conquer depression.