RNT Fitness is a website specializing in exercise advice. The mission statement expresses ” we believe that a world that priorities health and fitness is better for everyone.” Many of these fitness related websites promise rapid fitness transformations, general guidelines, and some coaching. Women are now becoming a focus and target audience. RNT Fitness makes the recommendation women should build muscle. The title is misleading. Women do have muscle; just a lesser amount related to body composition. What should be articulated is that women need to build muscle. Akash Vaghela does explain this in the introduction. However, it falls into the same condescending admonishments related to women. Constantly, women are told not to worry about getting bulky. Akash Vaghela uses the term toned. The terms bulky and toned are not realities of exercise science. The words are general descriptions of degrees of muscular development. The message becomes contradictory when articulated by personal trainers. One stance is that women should not worry, because they are biological incapable of gaining significant mass and the other asserts should embrace some muscle. Women should decide how they want to develop their bodies. Women should not just embrace building muscle. They should build as much as they can.
Toning is not accurate to exercise science. What this colloquial term refers to is some muscle mass. Women asking a personal trainer about obtaining this look will have to build some muscle. To get definition fat mass has to be reduced. Akash Vaghela asserts women have a negative connotation associated with muscle, because of women bodybuilders. The policing of women’s appearance and bodies is the culprit. Women with significant muscular development should not be deemed as biological anomalies. The female bodybuilder, CrossFit athlete, and weightlifter have to be on an athletic training regimen for a number of years. Akash Vaghela makes a correct statement, but does not delineate how building a bodybuilder physique.
Akash Vaghela describes women’s “hormonal environments” as a reason they do not see similar levels of muscle size as men. The correct description is the endocrine system enables the gonads to produce sex hormones. The ovaries and the testes produce different amounts of hormones. Women produce higher amounts of estrogen and progesterone. Men higher testosterone and androgens. Women are not at a hormonal disadvantage. Estrogen can also maintain the strength of the muscular system in women. Women might be able to produce more growth hormone when on an exercise regimen. Genetics, age, diet, and exercise frequency determine how much muscle can be gained. Sex and endocrinology are only two factors. Lifting weights can help women develop the body type they desire.
Akash Vaghela needs to distinguish between toned and a ectomorphic body type. A calorie deficit based diet is a means to lose weight. This is inefficient for several reasons. A woman is starving herself. When a person does not eat enough, they reduce the energy for exercise. This could cause metabolism to be altered in an undesirable way. Women who are thin are not toned. A woman who was thin and started lifting could get some muscle mass . A woman could lose weight by such a method, but it is not sustainable.
Some women are not “too skinny” they just have an ectomorphic somatotype. If a woman was really thin, they would be underweight. Becoming underweight can be caused by various diseases or conditions. Other cases some people have higher metabolism which makes it difficult to gain weight. Sometimes it can happen by not eating enough. Getting the toned appearance requires a specific diet and weight training. Muscularity has a range of development. Certain bodybuilding divisions have a toned aesthetic. Bikini, wellness, and figure are examples of this range of muscular development.
The nutritional guidelines must be acknowledged. Akash Vaghela states a woman can eat more food. What must be known is caloric consumption must be adjusted to activity level. Otherwise weight gain will occur. The diet means certain food will have to be excluded. Pizza mentioned by Akash Vaghela cannot be part of daily subsistence. Cheat meals cannot be frequent. A person can eat more protein, vegetables, and some carbohydrates. Eating more food sounds great, but it mostly is going to be healthy foods. The sugar and saturated fat based sustenance cannot be consumed. The benefit is that muscle can burn fat. This helps women with weight management. Women who consistently train and with high intensity needs more calories. Saying in general women need less calories would be false.
A woman seeking to build and maintain muscle mass needs more calories. Women who are building the most they can are going to need more. The advantage of building muscle is that one can eat more calories. The sacrifice is that certain foods have to be excluded from the diet. Akash Vaghela almost implies you can eat anything you want as long as you exercise. This is a major error those seeing body transformation make. Both diet and exercise need to be consistent to obtain a certain result. The biggest benefit of building more muscle is increase of basal metabolic rate. This ensures this can help with the adjustment with body composition and weight management.
The most important reason to build muscle is for the sake of bone and cardiac health. Osteoporosis can disproportionately effect women. The reason is that women have lower amounts of bone mass and density. When women engage in weight training it builds bone and muscle. Doing such forms of physical activity ensure the health of the musculoskeletal system. Skeletal system health can be preserved through the consumption of calcium and getting enough vitamin D. Combined with weight training it reduces the chances of osteoporosis.
Cardiac health becomes a concern with age. Running and aerobic exercise can protect heart health. Weight training can also be included. Based on data collected from the World Health Organization the top cause of death from disease was by ischemic heart disease. This was taken from data in 2021. The disease occurs when the heart does not get enough blood or oxygen. The accumulation of plague in the arteries results in the restriction of blood transport. Many factors can cause this disease. Being overweight, physical inactivity, and poor diet can harm the circulatory system. High blood pressure and high cholesterol also are concerns. Weightlifting can be a solution to controlling these conditions.
Building muscle can contribute to injury prevention. Akash Vaghela does not explain this well. Having enough upper and lower body strength can prevent injury. Carrying or moving objects can result possible injuries. Lifting children, groceries, or doing chores that require strength could cause injury. The more musculoskeletal mass the least likely a person will suffer injuries. Akash Vaghela mentions sitting being a culprit for injury. This is a separate from injury. Sitting does not cause injury. Although sitting for extended periods of time can negatively impact health. Neck, knee, and back pain would not be injuries. Fractured bones or muscle tears are serious injuries. As one ages, falls can be fatal. Being physically active can prevent such major injuries.
Women can benefit from muscle with added physical strength. Using progressive overload overtime makes the muscle stronger. Women can also attain muscular hypertrophy through weight training. Women gaining strength adds to their confidence. Maybe it can be said it can improve women’s mental health. The connection between endorphins and exercise has been studied. Exercise can be a method to reduce stress. Akash Vaghela does omit this, but seems to limit the more useful applications of strength.
Reaching some type aesthetic goal can be fun. However, strength can be used outside a gym. Women can use it for daily tasks of living. Opening a jar will become less strenuous. Moving luggage, furniture, or other heavy objects will not be a problem. Men often take for granted the higher amount of natural strength they possess. Women have to put in extra physical effort to do a manual task. Moving a box of a certain weight would be more difficult for a woman in untrained state. Strength training can make is so women can do manual tasks easier. This provides a new dimension of independence. A woman will no longer need a man to move something heavy. The application also extends to employment. As more women enter physically demanding occupations, this requires a degree of strength. Resistance exercise should be done on a regular basis by women in the military, law enforcement, and professional sports. This helps meet the fitness requirements and fulfill responsibilities of the job. Daily tasks of living and occupational requirements are practical applications of strength for women. There are more than five reasons for women to build muscle. Akash Vaghela only provides some introduction to the benefits. Building muscle can be useful to women beyond a gym or athletic goals.