Before we get into the core of this post ... here are the main benefits a woman get's from lifting weights and gaining lean, feminine, and elegant muscle.

8 Life Changing Reasons Why Women Should Lift As Soon As Possible

What do I mean by 'muscles'?

People often think that women and muscles don't go together ... they think it makes a woman look 'bulky' or 'masculine'.

There's a big difference between women body builders who compete in the most extreme size category, and women who simply develop lean and natural muscles for optimal function in everyday life.

If a woman wants to develop huge muscles ... then I say go for it ... but most women will never achieve anything like this unless you training very hard and take anabolic steroids. If you're like me, and you train like I do which is 3-4 times a week, then you'll get strong and shapely, not huge.

Over 40 we are already losing muscle mass due to the decline in estrogen and progesterone so when we are building muscle, we are trying to replace what we are losing anyway.  It is of course possible to build more muscle on top of this, but you are never going to look huge and "manly".

It's what muscles represent...

When I see a woman who is strong ... I know certain things about her.

For one, this woman is determined.  She has stamina and persistence.  I know that she has reached what she thinks is her limit ... and has learned how to push past it.

A woman who is strong has both willpower and self-control ... and what many women don't understand is that you get willpower and self-control by getting strong ... you don't automatically start out with those things.

This is great news for women ... because most of the things you want or are not happy with can be turned around with more willpower and self-control.

Forget the outside, think about the inside ...

The most important thing about being strong is that you only get to look amazing on the outside, because of all the incredible changes that have happened on the inside.

At it's most basic, being strong means you have larger muscles cells.  It also means that your muscles are healthier ... they're more sensitive to insulin which means your blood sugar levels are more stable.

Being strong and increasing your lean muscle means your liver doesn't have to work overtime to turn glucose into fat ... and your fat cells don't have to keep adding more and more fat into storage.

The most common struggle women have during perimenopause and menopause is the immediate large gain in fat around the midsection and decrease in muscle mass as a result of declining estrogen and progesterone. The relative imbalance of these hormones compared to cortisol exacerbates insulin resistance.  Excess fat and decreased muscle mass is not inevitable.  We can change this around through powerful stimuli from dietary changes and resistance training.

Your own internal fat burning furnace ...

Because you have more muscle ... you use up more energy every single minute of every single day.

Having more muscle means you burn more fat when you're not exercising ... and that's the opposite of how most women are living!

While most women are concerned about the calories they burn on the cross trainer, or in their cardio class ... I'm relaxed knowing that I burn more calories while I spend the afternoon taking the kids for a relaxing walk along the beach.

The scientific term for all this is your 'Basal Metabolic Rate' or BMR. The more muscle you have, the higher your BMR.

This has massive importance for all of us.

Did you know that 63% ... or 2 in 3 adults in the US (and Australia) are overweight?

And also alarming is that 1 in 4, or 25% of children are overweight?

We want muscles because you will burn more fat than you could ever burn by just trying to 'lose weight' through cardio.

Thriving instead of coping ...

Have you had those thoughts ...

"Oh, if i could just drop a dress size ... if i could just lose a bit of weight and keep it off"?  

These are the thoughts of someone who is just trying to cope ... and that's because so many of the things they've tried to 'lose weight' just haven't worked.

And so they give in to this idea that they'll never really lose weight ... and they'd be happy to settle for losing 'just a little bit'.

For the vast majority of women in this situation ... the reason things haven't worked in the past is because:

1. they've been given the wrong information, or
2. they haven't properly understood the information they've been given, or
3. they haven't been taught the skills

However, with the right information, the right understanding, and the right skills ... your body will naturally become strong... muscular and lean ... and maintaining your new physique will become just as easy as maintaining the physique you had before.

I used to do a lot of cardio, mainly aerobics and pump classes.

My shape never changed, I still had cellulite and a flabby bum.  I was hesitant and unconfident about going into the weights room with all the men.  I was unsure of the equipment or how to start lifting.  

All I can say is once I decided to step up and learn how to lift I began to feel more and more confident. Now I can walk into any gym weights room because I know what I want and I know what I am doing.

So, why would a woman want muscles?

Because a strong woman is fit in mind, emotions and body.  She is powerful and she is determined.  She has developed her willpower and self-control and she faces the world with a level of internal certainty that she never knew before.

A woman wants muscles because she wants the best for herself.