What Makes a Woman Gain Weight?

Facts.  The majority of active adult women are walkers, joggers or group exercisers. Only a small fraction participates in regular strength training, which is the key factor to keeping your weight from climbing. Starting at the age of 30, the average woman gains 10 lbs of fat every 10 years, or 1 lb a year. As well on average a women over the age of 30, loses 5 lbs of muscle every decade. By 60 years, this represents 50 % decline in original muscle mass with an increase body fat= WEIGHT GAIN.

Genetics: If you come from a family where both parents are obese, you have an 80-90% likelihood of being obese. If you had 1 parent who was obese you have a 40%-50% chance of being obese, and if both parents were lean your chances drop to 15%-20%

Body type Influence: Endomorphs have a softer and rounder, typical pear shape with a high fat to muscle ratio. Mesomorphs have medium bone structure, shorter limbs in relation to trunk and have a higher muscle to fat ratio. Ectomorphs tend to have the highest metabolic rate and usually have longer limbs in relation to their trunk. Which one are you?

Hormones: There are two critical times when estrogen drives fat storage in women: puberty and pregnancy. Estrogen encourages fat storage in the breasts, hips, thighs and buttocks. The most important hormones for women are estrogen and progesterone. Most of the time a healthy woman will have a balance of both. When the hormones lose balance, the body responds in an unpredictable and undesirable way. An increase in estrogen can make our bodies more sensitive to insulin, which lowers blood sugar and initiates the craving for sweets, which is typical during the pre-menstrual period. This explains one of the reasons for your PMS cravings.

Solution: Aerobic versus strength training? Studies have shown that a woman with an average fitness level, will burn slightly more calories per minute strength training, than performing a moderate level of aerobic exercise. Of course the higher the strength training intensity the more calories burned, and a higher increase of fat oxidation during recovery which will lead to an increase in metabolic rate. Simplified; weight training will keep your metabolic rate higher post work out, and will help lose weight faster than a aerobic training.