GRIPAD ® Blog

Weightlifting for Women After 40

Women over the age of 40 often wonder if weightlifting should be part of their regular exercise routine, especially if they’re new to the world of working out or just getting back into it after taking a long break. The experts are often asked, “Will weightlifting place damaging stress on my bones or ligaments?” Or, “If I decide to lift weights, how much should I lift and how often?” And, of course, “If I already do cardio, is weightlifting necessary?”

Weightlifting offers a great way to add to the benefits of an existing workout routine. Lifting weights can build muscle and bone strength which can protect overall health and prevent bone fractures later in life. And like any form of exercise, it improves heart health, facilitates weight loss, increases oxygen uptake and can provide a cascade of benefits for both physical and mental health.

As with any exercise routine, make sure you’re doing it right. Proper form is everything when it comes to weightlifting, not only to protect your bones and muscles, but also to get the most effective workout.

1. Work your way up. Don’t try to be a hero or compete with those around you. You should only compete with yourself. Start with low weights and after they start to get too easy, you know you’re ready for some more weight.
2. If you want to build muscle mass, less reps of more weight are what you need, but if you’re looking to build strength and lean muscle, more reps/sets of less weight is what is appropriate for your body.
3. As you lift, keep all arm rotation forward of your body line in order to protect your rotator cuffs, and discontinue any lift or move that causes tingling or pain in the joints or back. Keep a strong grip on heavier bars and equipment (use your GRIPADS®!) And when you’re pushing your limits or lifting to failure, use a spotter.
4. BREATHE: Your breath is extremely important in all workout routines, especially weightlifting! You should exhale and count to 2, when perform the exertion part of your lift. For example, if you’re doing a bicep curl, as you lift the weight up, exhale and when you reach two, you should have completed the first half of your rep. As you lower your weight, you will inhale for 4 counts, and when you reach 4, your rep is complete and your arm is back in the beginner position and ready for another rep!

Not sure where to start? A personal trainer can help, but in the meantime, just pick up a dumbbell and try some arms curls. Your gym may also provide access to leg and bench presses which are usually self- explanatory. Jump on whenever you’re ready!

Having a Hard Time Finding Workout Gloves For Women?

If you’re having a hard time finding weight lifting gloves that fit your hands, match your style, and stand up to your tough workouts, you’re not alone. In spite of all the varied weight lifting gloves and workout gloves on the market today, women are still at a bit of a loss in the search for appropriate hand protection. Why? We aren’t sure.

More women than ever before are engaging in hard core resistance training, and these women are ready and willing to spend money for a the right pair of workout gloves. But manufacturers haven’t been very quick to respond. Traditional workout gloves still tend to be too large, too ugly, too pink, or unable to withstand the long term wear and tear of serious workout routines.

Gripads: The Workout Glove Alternative for Women

But now there’s Gripad. Gripads are designed for both men and women, and since they don’t cover and constrict the entire hand, our women’s Gripads are designed to fit perfectly. They don’t feel clumsy and oversized, and they don’t restrict your range of motion, since they simply slide on over the fingers and form a soft, durable barrier between gym equipment and your palms.

Gripads are also tough. Their design is fun and stylish, but don’t be fooled. Gripads are made of super-durable, feather-light, moisture wicking neoprene. So they draw moisture away from your hands while providing a non-slip grip that stands up to countless demanding training sessions. Best of all, Gripads don’t collect moisture and sweat like traditional workout gloves. While you’re training, your hands can move and breathe naturally, so your palms are protected but your technique isn’t comprised.

The gear you choose can have an enormous impact on your workout results. So before you leave for the gym, make sure you have the right shoes, the right clothes, and the right hand protection. Take your Gripads!

Building Muscle for Women: Weight Training for Women at Different Stages of Life

Most practical advice about weight training applies to women and men equally, but there are a few areas, specifically pregnancy, where the training needs of women may diverge. And at different ages, the weight training process evolves for both genders, with corresponding shifts in goals, approach and technique.

With that in mind, consider the following as you shape workout plans for yourself, your children, and your teenage girls.

Childhood

Just like young boys, little girls should not be encouraged to do strenuous weight training until the developing areas of their long bones, called growth plates, have stopped changing. Usually this happens by early puberty, or about age 10. Before that time, weight training can be fun. It can also encourage a sense of competition and build self-confidence. Just focus on reps and keep weight levels low.

The Teen Years

At this point, there’s no inherent danger in heavy lifting, and in fact, young girls should be encouraged to balance their workouts between weight training and cardio. This is especially important for girls who become involved in cardio-heavy sports. Encourage your active teen to lift or do resistance training for at least 15 minutes at least three times a week.

Pregnancy

There’s no need to stop weight training during pregnancy, and in fact, exercise can help the muscles stay strong and keep the ligaments flexible, which can ease the labor process. Just make sure you consult your doctor and gain her approval for every aspect of your workout plan.

The Senior Years

Weight training can be an excellent way to build and maintain bone health throughout life. This becomes especially valuable as we age and the calcium required by our bodies is sometimes leached away from our bones. Along with a healthy diet, an exercise routine with a weight training component can help ward off osteoporosis and other bone health issues.

Weightlifting Myths for Women

We’ve all seen the muscle bound ladies – professional weightlifters – who look as if they could break you in half without too much effort.  For many women, this is not exactly the look of which they are striving. Most women want to gain a little bit of muscle mass, get stronger, and in turn, burn more calories and stay fit thanks to the addition of a weightlifting regimen.  So let’s take a look at two of the most prevalent myths that are associated with ladies weightlifting and let’s debunk them, shall we?

Women will gain too much muscle mass – A popular conception is that women lifters will gain more muscle mass – they will bulk up – and look less feminine then, let’s say, their cardiovascular counterparts.  This just isn’t the case, though, ladies.  Women, unlike men, don’t have large reserves of testosterone, which is the important component produced in the body that allows for men to bulk up and get ripped.  In women, the stores of testosterone are naturally low and thus – even with an intensive training program that pushes you past the light weights you’ve been working with – you won’t see marked increases in muscle mass.  This will allow you to further tone the body and allow you to burn more calories, even when at rest and not working out.

Women can’t gain any muscle mass – Now, let’s look at the other side of the equation.  Have you seen the ladies Gripad uses to promote their workout gloves?  If you have, you know this quite simply is not the case.  They are toned, muscular while still retaining the feminine form, and truly, truly fit.  It is this image that can be both attainable and something to help measure yourself off of.  It takes hard work, but that’s half the fun – Pushing yourself to that limit, be it through cardio, weight training, or day to day activities.  And the great part about the Gripad weightlifting gloves are that they can be used in a variety of activities:  Dumbbell training, spinning, bench press exercises, rowing, back exercises, kettlebell exercises, biceps, triceps, CrossFit training, and so much more.

Try a pair today – It will allow you to get fit, save your hands, and participate in a true variety of activities meant to carve your body out of stone!

Why Weightlifting Matters for Women..?

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, approximately 21 percent of women engage in weight training during their workouts.   This is a low total for women, and it is surprising, because of the real health benefits that come from an added strength training regimen.  Here are three reasons a strength training course of exercise may be just what the doctor ordered…

Fights osteoporosis – One in five women in the U.S. suffers from osteoporosis, which is a thinning of bone tissue and loss of bone density over the years.  Weightlifting can effectively help to strengthen and maintain strong bone structure in women, thus lowering the risk of the disease or helping to ameliorate the symptoms if osteoporosis is already present.   Younger women – in their teens or early to late 20’s – can lift weights and participate in strength training in order to slow or prevent the disease.  And older women can work through a strength training program in order to halt the losses in bone density that will  occur naturally with age.

Fat loss – As is the same with men, muscle burns more energy than fat does…  A strength training program added on top of a cardiovascular one will allow the user to burn more calories throughout the day – Not just during the workout.  This, along with proper diet, will slim down the figure and tone the body to create a new you.  This can help to reshape your body, boost your confidence, and make you feel better about yourself.

Increases strength and decreases risk of injury – Weightlifting confers a whole heap of benefits to the female user…  It increases stamina, improves energy levels, helps with balance and flexibility, and helps to improve the joints.  In older women, strength training can even help to reduce pain in those suffering from arthritis and can even help to control blood glucose levels in diabetes patients.

For those 21 percent of women using a strength training regimen, keep doing what you’re doing.  And for those who aren’t, take a look at the health benefits above… It might just be time for you to start.

Why Women Need to Use Workout Gloves

GRIPAD offers both men and women’s workout gloves for the casual gym attendee to the fitness guru looking to add a few more pounds of muscle to their already stacked frame.  And just like men, women need to protect their hands and body while working out.  So here are three reasons women need GRIPAD gym grips just as much as men do…

Allow you to lift heavier weights and do more reps – GRIPAD women’s weight lifting gloves allow the user a firmer grip and a lessening of pressure on the wrists due to the padded nature of the glove.  Women who use gloves can work out longer, do more reps without feeling tired, and can generally lift more weight by comparison.  When the workout is done and the results are showing, it will be nice to still have the feminine, untouched hands from before you ever picked up a dumbbell.  With GRIPAD lifting grips, this is not only a possibility – It’s a reality.

The GRIPAD gloves can be used in activities other than weightlifting – Weightlifting gloves aren’t necessarily just for weightlifting.  They can be used for elliptical work, Pilates, rowing, yoga, spinning, and much, much more.  And with other gloves – such as those made of leather – you can’t wash them due to shrinkage, leaving a smell and odor that doesn’t come off after your workout.   With the GRIPAD gloves, they effectively wick away sweat and keep moisture away from your hand.  They are much better than leather – Not only for weightlifting exercises, but for cardiovascular work as well.

Protect your hands from forming calluses – The weights at the gym can be taxing on anyone’s hands.  With the chrome and iron dumbbells available at many gyms – as well as the ridged weight bars for the bench press and any number of other exercises – the same thing that helps you get a grip will also cut into your hands and cause irritation to the skin.  Women’s hands are usually more susceptible to sore hands, blisters, and calluses than their male counterparts.  With one million nerve bundles in your hand – and after one round with the GRIPAD gym grips shielding you from pain and discomfort – you might never go back to bare-handed weight lifting again.

PINK Gripads to support The Breast Cancer Foudation research!

Gripad USA in collaboration with CharityUSA.com, LLC and The Breast Cancer Site is donating 10% of the Pink Gripads’ revenues to support the cause!!

To to find an online retailer /  to find a store in your area please click on “where to buy?”

Attention Ladies!! -- If you would like to support the continuous research of The Breast Cancer Foundation, make sure to purchase your PINK Gripads today! -- Gripad USA Ltd is donating 10% of the PINK Gripads' revenues to support the cause! --- The PINK Gripads is our latest version of the unique pads, made especially for women who typically have smaller hands. So there you go - now you can train towards a better health knowing you are supporting a fantastic cause!