Have you ever wanted to venture into the weight-training area of a gym, but been put off by the one or two oversize bodybuilders making all the grunting noise? Many people I know used to stay away from lifting weights, not because they are intimidated in any way by these big guys or girls, but because they don't want to become like them!
The truth is, it takes an extraordinary amount of work to get the freaky size of these body builders...
However, and here is the beauty of weight-lifting, it takes only a small amount of work to get all the benefits of having toned and strong muscles. And you won't be bulging out of your workout clothes or have your neck disappear. Lifting weights will have subtle but very powerful influence on your posture, strength, energy and fitness.
I know many women especially who used to fear that if they started training with weights they would get big muscles and start looking odd. It's just not possible. Women have to do 8 times as much work on their muscles to get muscular growth like men. Eight times! You'd have to be lifting weights about 24 hours per week to start getting big!
In fact, when women lift weights, the muscle fibers actually compact and the muscle contracts, giving not only firmer muscles but also a slight reduction in overall muscle size. So weight training will actually help you look leaner, as well as providing the aesthetically pleasing shape that comes from curvy bits on your arms, shoulders, legs, actually all over your body.
Just keep the grunting down or we'll think you're one of the big guys.