You pull against your own weight, via pulleys and raising or lowering the bench. It is interesting that you believe that the home gym machine you are using is more appropriate for men. This is a common perception among women. The chief concern of women is that by doing resistance training they will become big, muscular, or highly defined. This is a nasty myth, because women normally do not have the genetic make-up to develop large muscles.
Many women also believe they are incapable of becoming very strong.
Based on these silly fears many women choose to do 'toning' to keep in shape, which usually means using light weights and lots of repetitions to 'tone' the muscles. Fact is that proper strength training at high intensities is one of the best ways to lose weight and improve your body composition. Basal metabolic rate refers to the energy used by our body to maintain normal body functions. Muscles need a lot of energy to be created and maintained. A reduction in muscle mass leads to a lower BMR, which means that your body is less able to use the food you eat as energy.