Walk into most gyms, and you will see a familiar sight. Most of the men in the gym will be lifting weights in one area, and most of the women will be on cardio machines. While it is good that women are exercising, it is unfortunate that so many women do not participate in strength training such as weight lifting. Women should lift weights. Strength training combined with cardio gets better results, it makes working out more interesting, and it acts to equalize men and women in the gym. 

Cardiovascular fitness is very important, and is essential in working out and being healthy. It is impressive to be able to continuously run on a treadmill or elliptical for an hour, and it will burn a lot of calories. However, women who only do cardio deny themselves the physical benefits of weight lifting. Weight lifting helps build power in the muscles, can strengthen the joints and tendons, and improves balance. Additionally, weight training not only burns just as many calories as cardio exercise, but because it is building muscle and this muscle needs fuel, the body continues to burn calories after the workout is over. This is important for women who are working out to lose weight; weight lifting will help burn fat exponentially. 

Secondly, running on a treadmill or climbing stairs hour after hour, workout after workout, can get extremely tedious and boring. Even people who truly enjoy running feel the need to add variety to their workouts. And many women who spend an hour on the elliptical do not really enjoy it and are not pushing themselves as hard as they could. That is why often women read magazines or watch TV. Weight training and strength conditioning add variety; there are dozens of different exercises that can be done on different workout days. If one exercise gets monotonous or is no longer effective, there is another exercise that will target those muscles. This keeps workouts interesting and much more enjoyable, which in turn makes them much more effective.

Finally, physical health aside, women lifting weights will equalize men and women in the gym. When women stay cooped up in the cardio section, they send the message that cardio is all they are capable of. The weight/cardio dichotomy endorses sexist ideas that women are the weaker sex. Women are physically capable of any type of weight lifting exercise that men can do. Even if it is done with a lower weight, the exercise, the muscles it targets, and its potential to benefit the person exercising are the same.