Hi Greenleaves,

I weightlift. I have found it to be good cross training for my long distance walking. I lift 4 times a week and currently use a pair of 15 lb dumbells for strengthening my upper and lower body. I do 2 sets of 25 reps each of about 10 different exercises (e.g. squats, calf raises, bicep curls, tricep curls, bench press, shrugs, etc, etc).

All women should weight lift because it can help ward off osteoporosis. Also from what I have read, weightlifting is good for weight control because muscle burns more calories than fat.

In addition, as a person ages, they start losing muscle. Weightlifting can reverse this process so it is a good exercise for elderly people too as it can help them maintain their independence.

Anyway... Keep up the good work!

Peppermint Patty

PS: Women CAN gain muscle mass but it's never to the extent of men (unless the woman takes anabolic steroids).

From what I have read, women gain strength because weightlifting stimulates the production of growth hormone and to a much lesser extent testosterone (women have this hormone too.. but only in very small quantities).

In men, weightlifting stimulates primarily the production of testosterone, which is why a guy who lifts tends to bulk up, as men have lots of this hormone.