Women who include weight training as part of their regular fitness program find that the results are more than cosmetic.

Increased strength and overall good health are key benefits along with muscle tone that can actually change the shape of your body.

Because women naturally have more body fat and less testosterone than men, training with weights gives women graceful curves more than “ripped” muscles.

Women sometime shy away from heavier weights, but you need to lift enough weight to challenge and build your muscles. Alternating weight lifting with short intervals or bursts of cardiovascular activity helps to boost metabolism and use more of the body’s muscles, giving you a more complete overall workout.

Free weights or dumbbells generally force you to use more muscle groups than machines, which tend to isolate muscle groups. This is why many fitness experts prefer free weights over machines for faster results and better time-efficiency.

Weight training three times a week seems ideal for most women. More than that isn’t necessarily better because your muscles need time to recover in between workouts.