Thanks to the fitness mania, women are increasingly taking to weight training. The good news is such women may do more than build up their biceps. Bharathi Prabhakaran and her team at the Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, USA put 24 women through a test of weightlifting over a 14-week period. Half worked out with weights thrice a week, while the rest refrained from organised exercise. At the end of the training period, the researchers found a significant decrease in cholesterol levels and body fat among the bodybuilders compared to the non-exercising group ( British Journal of Sports Medicine , Vol 33, No 2).