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For women, good health might be a heavy lift

For women, good health might be a heavy lift

Before Dr. Manisha Deka became pregnant at age 38, she knew little about the benefits of lifting weights. 

“I have always been active, but I focused on exercises like running on the treadmill, yoga and Zumba classes,” said Deka, a specialist in internal medicine in India. “Those were the exercises that women tended to do at the time.”

Then she had a complicated pregnancy, which required her to stay in bed. “Once I gave birth and tried to stand up, I noticed that the muscles in my legs had lost all their strength,” Deka said. “I had to re-learn how to move, walk and climb stairs.” 

That was when she started strength training by lifting weights to build her leg muscles. Health experts have widely accepted strength training as a crucial exercise for women. 

Lifting weights helps women increase muscle mass, which leads to more glucose being taken up from the bloodstream by muscles, helping reverse insulin resistance. 

The health benefits of weight training

Insulin resistance is the fundamental underlying biochemical abnormality for several illnesses, including diabetes and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, a common hormonal disorder that causes acne, hair loss and fertility issues. 

Building muscle particularly benefits older women in multiple ways including increasing bone mass, which combats the quick loss of bone strength in post-menopausal women. That even increases longevity and enables them to remain independent longer.

Strength training has also been shown to reduce chronic pain in conditions such as fibromyalgia and increase feelings of well-being.

The benefits Deka experienced went far beyond regaining the ability to move normally. “I could lift heavy things that I previously needed somebody’s help for,” she said. “I even felt like my injuries were healing faster, and I felt less pain in my joints than usual.”  

Now 50, Deka lifts competitively at the state level. 

Barriers to exercising in India

Strength training has been popular for women in the developed world since the 1990s, but not so much in India.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, in 2020, about 27% of adult women in the United States engaged in strength training. In India, by comparison, 2023 data from the Indian Council of Medical Research reveals that only 3% of Indian women took part in any form of exercise.

Deka says misinformation is the main barrier to strength training for Indian women. “Everyone in India associates the idea of weight lifting or strength training with becoming bulked up, like a bodybuilder,” she says. “That image comes with a lot of biases, as there are always news articles talking about people misusing steroids and hormones and controversies regarding protein powders. Even doctors end up buying into these biases.” 

Deka said that many Indian doctors actively discourage women from strength training, warning them it can cause injuries and ill health. 

A persistent myth that discourages women from lifting weights is the fear that they will “bulk up.” Women’s hormonal profiles, however, limit excessive muscle growth, and strength training leads to a leaner, more toned physique, said Dr. Mohammad Aslam Ali, a dermatologist who works with many women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. 

Where a co-ed gym is taboo

Many Indian women do not go to mixed-gender gyms because they fear ridicule as well as harassment by male gym members.

“On top of this is the issue of public spaces for working out,” Deka said. “India is not designed for people to have an active life. Roadside pavements are unsafe even for walking, and while parks offer some space for men to do exercises, women are made to feel unsafe even when they go for a walk.” 

She says she realized this during COVID lockdowns, when gyms were closed and she went to public parks for exercise. “I kept getting stared at by random men and it was very disheartening,” she said.

It’s vital to have expert guidance to learn to do strength training safely and effectively, which is possible only in a gym or a fitness centre, but high fees at many gyms keep women from joining. 

Lack of time is another barrier for many Indian women, said Dr. Radhikaa Sharma, a community medicine physician who has been strength training since she was in second-year medical school in 2015. Indian women tend to be responsible for most household duties in addition to their jobs.

“Making time for exercise always takes a backseat in those settings,” Sharma said.

Lack of time can be a barrier.

To commit to strength training a woman must set aside considerable time to get to and from a gym and time to work. They must also prioritize rest and nutrition, she said. 

“Rest is the factor that no one seems to discuss regarding strength training,” says Sharma. “Muscle building happens when one gets enough rest after exercise, and women with less time who try to carve out time for exercise end up losing precious time to rest, which diminishes the benefits of strength training.” 

Deka said that Indian women often feel guilty when it comes to self-care because they have always been conditioned to think of others before themselves. 

“I used to feel very guilty about leaving my newborn son behind to exercise,” she said. “But I had to reframe it. I told myself I was exercising for my son because he deserves a healthy and happy mother. That helped me a lot.” 

Ali said that it is difficult to persuade his patients to take up weight lifting. “Whenever I suggest it, I immediately sense massive resistance,” he said. “It’s almost as if Indian women are convinced that this exercise is not for them, and people around them are compounding this by piling on misinformation.” 

Anyone can lift weights.

Many women are reluctant to consider lifting weights because they believe one has to be very fit to start, Ali said. But that isn’t true.

“Putting on muscles could help combat many issues that arise alongside having chronic illnesses,” he said.  A doctor encouraged Ali’s own father to lift weights as a part of his treatment for a chronic lung condition. 

Even patients with long-term illnesses such as chronic health failure, chronic liver disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can safely lift weights under expert guidance, which will then positively impact their outcomes alongside medications, he said. This is because many chronic illnesses cause muscle loss, which can be combated by lifting weights. 

“I have seen therapists encourage patients on oxygen via nasal tubes to slowly build fitness by exercising,” Ali said. “They do that under careful monitoring to ensure patients do not often stress themselves out. But this shows that people with any fitness level can start lifting weights!” 

Strength training is also safe in uncomplicated pregnancies, he said. Studies have shown that having higher muscle mass improves one’s likelihood of recovering better from surgery and responding better to cancer treatment.

Changing how people think

An attitude shift is needed in India, Ali said. Doctors and other health professionals need to be educated about the benefits and importance of lifting weights so that they can provide accurate information and motivate their patients to try it. 

And gyms need to try to attract women, he said. They need to market strength training as something anyone can do for their well-being rather than something bodybuilders do to appear sculpted. 

And if women still do not want to exercise in a gym, it is possible to train at home. For instance, women can create weights using household objects such as filled water bottles to do bicep curls, shoulder presses and triceps extensions. 

“These are great ways that women can at least start working on increasing their muscle mass,” Ali said. 

Strength training is more than just a fitness trend; it is a powerful tool for transforming women’s health and well-being at every stage of life, from reversing metabolic disorders to building resilience against aging. 

Yet, cultural myths, safety concerns and accessibility barriers continue to hold Indian women back. Deka said we can help more women embrace strength training, not just as a way to build muscles but as a means of reclaiming functionality and independence, by challenging these misconceptions, creating supportive environments and offering practical alternatives. 

As Deka’s journey proves, it is never too late to start.

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