Train like a man even if you are a woman!
One of the concerns for women when they first try kettlebell training is that they think that because it is a weight they will build muscle. Mike Mahler has a great saying for this “Worrying about building muscle is like worrying about making to much money”, it just doesn’t happen by accident, it takes months of hard work and an excess of calories daily.
Here are the two main reason’s why women don’t build muscle using kettlebells
1. Not enough of the muscle building hormone testosterone
Women are estrogen dominant and produce hardly any testosterone, this hormone plays a huge role in muscle building so trying to “get big” without it would be like trying to swim the channel with your arms tied together.
2. Not enough calories eaten to fuel muscle growth
To build new muscle you have to eat more calories than your body needs, its these extra calories that are the building blocks of new muscle tissue, if you keep your calories at maintenance or below it is impossible to build muscle.
Other reason’s such as training splits, frequency and repetitions performed are also valid and go towards building the lean “toned” physique that is desired. Studies have shown how resistance based exercise will burn more fat than cardio due to the metabolism boosting effect known as “afterburn” this means that you will continue to burn calories up to 48 hours after the workout is over, compared to around 3 hours from running on the treadmill for 60 minutes. Since kettlebells provide cardio and “toning”, strength and flexibility all in one workout, it really is beyond me why anyone would ever use a treadmill and cross trainer again!
Lifting heavy (for you), combined with eating a natural clean diet is all that you need, everything else will fall into place as a side effect.
Pete