It is beneficial for female athletes to lift weights to get in shape. Girls that lift have better heart health, bone health, increased energy and more muscle. Most people think that weightlifting will make females bulkier, but that’s not the case.

When working out, females burn the most calories after weightlifting. An intense weight lifting session can help you burn up to 500 calories an hour. It has also been proven to boost one’s BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) for up to a day after working out.

The Glen Rock High School  varsity softball coach, Kelly Dowell, said, “There are a lot of reasons why females should lift weights regarding injury prevention.”

Sports Medicine Expert, Elizabeth Quinn has found that weight training can enhance bone modeling by 13 percent in six months.

“Three to five high intensity exercises is about right. Don’t think you can do 15 strength exercises in one session and still get a high intensity workout. With too many exercises, you tend to fatigue before you finish or lower your overall output and get a lesser quality workout,” Quinn said.

Some people think female weight lifting is a bad idea because of the loss of energy. Potentially, that can be a good thing because it will help you get the necessary amount of sleep.

One of the myths about weight lifting is that it will make someone become bulky. It is also thought that strength training will make female athletes throw up.

Weightlifting is also proven to increase EPOC (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption). This causes your body to increase its fuel, which then makes free fatty acids enter the bloodstream to be burned off.

It is thought that if a female were to stop lifting, their muscle would turn to fat. This is false.

Many people think that strength training causes high blood pressure, is bad for joints and decreases flexibility. However, none of this is true. It is very beneficial to lift weights.

“It is good to enhance performance on and off the field,” Dowell said.

Researches from the University of South Carolina have determined that weightlifting is linked to lower risks of death from diseases and cancer.

Wayne Westcott, PhD from the South Shore YMCA in Quincy Massachusetts performed several studies and has discovered that if the average female lifted two or three times a week for two months will lose around three pounds of fat and gain two pounds of muscle.

“Women who do not strength train lose about five pounds of muscle every decade of adult life,” Westcott said.