Lift Like A Man, Look Like A Woman...Coco Does!

Now that Ice T and his wife Nicole Austin have their own reality TV show, Coco has become a household name.  Whether you like her or not, you gotta admit, the girl has some curves!  But while admitting that she's naturally a little bottom heavy, Coco says she got the bangin' body she has now, once she started hitting the gym hard.

Still scared of lifting heavy weights for fear that you'll beef up like Arnold?  Many women fall victim to this misconception that bodybuilding is only for men--or women who look like men.

But what most women don't know is that it takes A LOT more than lifting some heavy weights to get to the size of competitive female bodybuilders like two very successful, award-winning women below.

Irene Andersen and Yolanda Hughes

In reality, women generally don't have "what it takes" to gain massive muscle like that.

We all know there are vast differences from men and women:

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.

Men don't have emotions, Women have too many emotions.

(These are just generalizations, of course!)

But the main difference, at least when it comes to muscle-building ability, is our hormones.  Both sexes produce the almighty hormone, testosterone.  However, men produce much higher levels than women--about 20 times more.  The estrogen in women also has a hand in growing muscles, but it also decreases the amount of testosterone that could go to your muscles.  The women you see in bodybuilding competitions usually have some extra "help" from supplements and they most certainly train much harder and more frequently than you will ever need to in order to tone those curves.

Besides being able to challenge your boyfriend to an arm wrestle, lifting weights has many benefits for women (Shape.com):

1.  You'll burn fat throughout the day.  While you may see a change on the scale from excess amounts of cardio, it may not be all fat--you could be losing muscle too.  Lifting weights increasing muscle and muscle burns fat all day long--more muscle, less fat!

2.   Lifting heavily will give you a more defined look.

3.  Studies show that women, especially post-menopausal, who lift heavy maintain bone mass and therefore fight osteoporosis.

4.  You'll continue to burn more calories (just like the fat) throughout the day.

5.  You'll build up your strength faster than with light weights.  If only I had known this in elementary school...maybe I would've made it to the top of the rope in gym class!

6.  Strengthening your muscles around your joints will help prevent injury.

7.  Girl Power!  You remember the Spice Girls' motto.  Well, heavy lifting can increase your strength and help you look better, giving you a self-esteem boost that makes you feel pretty-damn-good about yourself.

8.  YOU'LL LOSE BELLY FAT!!!  This may be the most exciting factor of lifting heavy weights.  What's better than toned arms, sleek sculpted legs and a round, lifted derriere?  All that with a small waist!  Heavy lifting takes care of it all.

Don't take it from me, take it from Coco.

“…I seriously go in the gym and I’m a bodybuilder.  Sometimes I press 400 pounds," she said, in her interview on the Wendy Williams Show on March 14, 2012.

You don’t have to be able to lift the weight of an infant elephant in order to build curves in your thighs, hips and butt, but the key is to keep steadily increasing the weight, never getting too comfortable for too long.  Although if you continue to do this for a few years, adding more and more weight, there’s no reason why eventually you couldn’t challenge Coco to a leg press competition!


Bottom line is this:  Women can, and should, lift heavy weights to get sexy, defined feminine curves.