A CL Intern Reviews: The New Rules of Lifting for Women

After getting barred from running with an injury in late August, I scoured the internet looking for the next big thing to keep up my fitness level but still allow my injury to heal. I had been reading about The New Rules of Lifting for Women for several weeks as it began popping up all over the Healthy Living blog world and I decided to give it a go. With a tagline like “Lift like a man, look like a goddess” I couldn’t resist.

The New Rules of Lifting for Women is written by Lou Schuler who was a fitness editor at Men’s Fitness and Men’s Health magazines as well as writing several popular books on diet and strength training with input from Cassandra Forsythe, M.S. on diet and nutrition and workouts designed by Alwyn Cosgrove.

Schuler refutes several misconceptions that many women today have about lifting weights that keeps them glued to the cardio machines and “Barbie weights”:

- You will not “bulk up” if you lift heavy weights. Men have a hard enough time building muscle and they have much more of the essential ingredient:  testosterone. So, unless you are injecting yourself with testosterone you will not look like a female version of The Hulk.

- No workout will give you “long, lean” muscles. Muscles have a genetically predetermined shape just as your height is largely determined by genetics. Those women doing the exercises promising “long, lean” muscles in the women’s magazines are already tall and so of course have longer muscles than the average-height woman.

- The muscles in men and women are essentially identical. We do not need to do “special” exercises designed especially for women. Men and women have all of the same major muscles and both of our muscles are made of the same basic materials. A muscle fiber in a woman is structurally the same as a muscle fiber in a man, we are still of the same species after all. However, women do seem to have an advantage over men:  our muscles recover faster than male muscles. We may feel sore faster, but men will feel sore longer. The provided workouts are actually harder than those recommended for men since our muscles will be able to handle the work better.

- Calorie restriction is the worst idea ever. Eating too little leads to depression, loss of strength and muscle mass, deteriorating bone mass, hormonal disruption, and diminished energy and sex drive. By cutting calories you will lose muscle mass and actually slow down your metabolism. In fact, Schuler advocates eating more in order to reach your goals and eating five or six times a day. Also, don’t fear fats and don’t fear carbohydrates. These are not your enemies.

A little over halfway through the book you finally enter in to the workout plan. This book provides 7 stages of progressionwhich should take about 6 months if followed as recommended. One of my favorite things about the book is that it includes real photographs of a woman performing the exercises in the back with full text explanation.

Also, I am thrilled that the workouts do not depend heavily on the use of machines. Many of the moves use free weights which causes you to use more muscles for stabilization. These are truly “total body” workouts. Because you use all of your major muscles each day, it is recommended that you only lift three days a week. Many other programs suggest 5-6 days a week since they focus on only one set of muscles each day. This is perfect for the busy co-ed who struggles to balance health, school, and a social life.

The take-home message? Strong is the new skinny.

Ask for this book at your local Barnes & Noble bookstore or order it online from Amazon.com.

As a special treat for all of you classy co-eds that are looking for a new workout and want to gain strength and confidence, here is a video straight from the College Lifestyles YouTube channel that I created illustrating some of the exercises you can look forward to performing:

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Ellen Ratliff is a Health Writer at College Lifestyles ™. She is a junior at Michigan State University, majoring in Dietetics with a specialization in Health Promotions. She has been weightlifting since September 2011 and isn’t afraid to lift heavy. Muscles are beautiful.