Hand a woman a 30 pd. dumbbell and she will most likely look at you like you are out of your mind.  "I don't lift weights, I don't want to get big and bulky.  I just want to lose weight and tone up."  I hear this all the time and I think it's one of those female strength training myths that will never go away.

Ladies, you will not become bulky by just lifting weights.  It's not in our genetics.  And no, I don't mean go grab those pink 5 pound dumbbells (which are just degrading sometimes!), I mean go heavy.  Strength training builds lean muscle, which increases your metabolism and decreases fat.  So the more muscle you build, the more calories you are burning on a day to day basis.  Now, pair this with a cardio routine of your choosing and you will begin to start getting the fit and 'toned' look you're after.  Can you initially lose weight with just cardio?  Absolutely.  Will you get a nicely defined physique?  Definitely not.  For example, you can have 2 people of the same height both weighing 150 pounds but one will look out of the shape while the other is fit.  This is all because of the ratio of muscle to fat in their bodies.  Building muscle is what gives our body a more defined look while helping us reduce the amount of time our arm fat continues to wave hello even after we stop (you know exactly what I'm talking about).

In the picture to the left you can see a comparison of me last year at 150 pounds and 6 weeks ago at 162 pounds.  Yes, in the first pic. I was skinnier but I had no muscle definition, lots of flabby skin and looked a little sick.  A year later, not scared of lifting heavy, I was stronger, more defined and even look healthier.

Now that I finally have some muscle definition but want to speed up the fat loss; I will continue to lift weights while adding cardio at least 4 times a week.  The take home point here is, if you want a sexy, sculpted body, DO NOT STEAR AWAY FROM THE WEIGHTS!  

Give it a try loves and I promise you won't regret it.