Health Insurance Blog

I don’t want to look like Arnold

This is a thing that comes up a lot of times when we talk to people about the importance of lifting weights. Whether you’re a man or a woman, sometimes people think that if they start to lift weights, that within a matter of weeks, they will look like Arnold, and they will be showing on the next Mr. Olympia or Mrs. Olympia. Well it doesn’t really work that way.

We hear this more from women than we do from men. Women think that if they lift weights that they’re going to all of a sudden turn into a very muscular person. The fact is, that isn’t true. In order for a woman to gain a lot of muscle, it would require for their hormone balance to be quite irregular. A woman would need a lot more testosterone in her system than they currently produce. So it is actually pretty hard for a woman to be super muscular from just naturally lifting weights.

So what’s the advantage of lifting weights? Why would somebody want to do it? Why can’t they just go do cardio on an elliptical for an hour? What’s the point of lifting at all?

When you lift weights, you build muscle. And when you build muscle your metabolism will increase. So lifting weights develops muscle, and the muscle increases your metabolism. And by having an increased metabolism, then your body will actually lose weight. Your body will actually turn into a human furnace and you will burn the weight off.

How do you go about building muscle? We would suggest finding a workout plan on the internet and be disciplined in sticking to the program. When you lift weights and you put your muscle under strain you actually break down the muscle fiber. And when you break down the muscle your body will require protein to rebuild that muscle.

By having a lean protein meal plan, with some moderate weight lifting to cause the muscle to break down then your body will be able to build muscle. And when you build muscle, it will increase your metabolism. And when you increase your metabolism, then you’ll actually burn fat.

For a man to look like a body builder it would require a high calorie lean protein diet and some supplemental help for and a lot of weight lifting. For a woman it would normally require a supplement that would change their testosterone hormone balance for them to look like a bodybuilder. If those things aren’t the case, then all you would look like is a very lean and fit athletic person that has used weightlifting as a way to lose weight.

This article was written by Timothy, a contributing writer and President of The Health Insurance Specialists.

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