Archive for the ‘Strength training’ Category

People are always asking about ways to burn fat and, in fact, I have written quite a few posts about that topic.  However, there are lots of tools and tricks you can use so here are 4 more ways to burn fat.

1. Lower your calorie intake gradually.  If you decide to reduce the number of calories you eat in a day, don’t suddenly cut your intake in half.  If you drastically decrease your eating from one day to the next, your body will believe it’s starving and, rather than burning fat, it will hang on to it.  Lower your calorie intake little by little over the course of a couple of weeks.
2. Use interval training. Interval training involves alternating short bursts of very intense activity with periods of less intense recovery activity.  For example, you might ride your bike (or stationary bike in the gym) as fast as you can for 20 to 30 seconds, then slow to a moderate pace for a minute.  You could also alternate running and walking.  Not only is interval training good aerobic exercise, but you can exercise for a shorter amount of time while getting up to 3 times the fat burning benefit.
3. Eat 5 or 6 small meals a day. This keeps your metabolism constantly fueled so it is continuously burning fat. It also keeps your blood sugar on an even keel so you don’t experience energy level crashes.
4. Do strength training. Strength training is the number one most efficient way to burn fat.  Of course you are burning fat during your strength training workout but muscle tissue continues to burn calories even when you’re at rest.  This means that the more muscle you can build, the easier it will be to burn calories, thus burning fat.  If you’re looking for a good explanation of using strength training to burn fat, I recommend the Fat Burning Furnace.

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There seems to be a common misconception that, if you have knee pain, you should stay away from any type of strength training such as weight lifting or resistance exercise. But actually, the opposite may be true.

According to Fitness Alert, researchers reviewed the findings of 18 studies involving 3,000 patients who had knee pain due to arthritis.   They discovered that resistance training “reduced pain and improved physical function, walking speed, and balance.”

When the muscles surrounding the knee are weak, it causes instability which stresses the joint. This stress leads to deterioration of the cartilage which cushions the joint.  With the protective cushion damaged, the joint surfaces develop irregularities and the membranes that secrete lubricating fluid don’t work as efficiently.

Strengthening the muscles around the joint helps treat the knee pain by improving the stability of the knee.  Of course, you absolutely must check with your doctor before using strength training or any other type of therapy for knee pain.

What methods have you used to deal with knee pain? Please tell us about it in the comments section below.

Many women believe that building muscle will work against their weight loss efforts.

We’ve all heard that muscle weighs more than fat so we tend to be afraid that strength training will make us gain weight.  However, when done correctly, building muscle actually helps increase fat loss.

When you are following a weight loss diet, you want to lose fat, not muscle.  The best way to ensure that you build and keep the muscle you already have is to do sets of 5 – 8 repetitions of your weight lifting or resistance training.

Performing more repetitions may increase your endurance but can actually cause you to lose as much muscle as fat.  Remember that muscle burns calories even while you’re at rest so the more muscle you can build, the more quickly you can melt off the fat, and the easier it will be to keep it off!

Don’t be concerned about becoming too muscular; testosterone or steroids are required to build massive, bulky muscles.  The average, non-supplementing woman will develop strong, lean, feminine muscle mass.  If you don’t like the look you are getting, you can always cut back on your strength training routine.

Studies have shown that dieting combined with aerobic exercise and strength training produces more weight loss than either just dieting or dieting plus aerobics.  The Fit Chic is a good, easy to follow, balanced weight loss plan which includes daily meals and workouts.

Don’t neglect protein in your weight loss diet.  Protein is not only necessary for building muscle tissue, which burns calories at a higher rate than other tissue, it also requires more calories to digest than fats or carbs.  (See my post on  Fat Burning Foods.)

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Often times we hear people talking about having a slow metabolism or how everyone’s metabolism slows down as they get older.

Your metabolism is not a physical part of your body, such as your heart or liver, but is the collection of chemical processes your body uses to convert fuel into energy.

Most of this fuel to energy conversion takes place in your muscle tissue.  Beginning around age 30, your body slowly but surely, year by year, begins to lose muscle mass.  So your metabolism, or your body’s furnace, actually gets smaller rather than slower.

Unfortunately, there’s still plenty of stored fuel – fat – that needs to be burned!  But since the furnace is smaller, less fat is being used so more is being stored.

What can you do to prevent or reverse the effects of this “slowing” metabolism?

The answer is strength training.  Building and maintaining muscle tissue is the only way to ensure that the fuel (fat) continues to be burned rather than stored.  And the more muscle you build, the more fat will be burned. Even when your muscles are at rest, the fat burning process continues.  .

You need to do some type of resistance exercise 3 times per week.  To provide the resistance you can choose resistance machines, weights, resistance bands, or even your own body weight.

The earlier you begin a strength training program, the better.  But it’s never too late to start. If you are reasonably able bodied, there’s no excuse for letting your body turn old, weak, and  squishy.  If you will spend 90 minutes per week, your body will reward you by staying strong, healthy, and lean for decades!

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Best Butt Firming Exercise

The best butt firming exercise of all is squats. They are not usually on anyone’s list of favorite exercises but, unless you walk up a lot of hills, your glutes are not doing much work!

If you have a job where you tend to sit in a chair most of the day, your tush can begin to spread before you know it.  To counter this trend, you need to start doing your squats immediately!

Proper Squat Technique

To get the biggest benefit from squats, follow these directions.

• Stand in front of your chair with your feet shoulder width apart.
• Lower your body until your bootie is just hovering above the chair.
• Stand back up.
• Repeat as many times as you can.

Rather than bounce up and down like a jack-in-the-box, try to take 2 or 3 seconds to lower your body, hold for a couple of seconds while squeezing your glutes, then stand back up slowly.  This will give you even more bang for your buck!

Can strength training actually reverse the aging  process?  Aging is related to the loss of muscular strength as well as muscle mass.

Research has shown that this muscle loss is due to a combination of factors including inactivity and lower levels of antioxidants.  The good news is that research also shows that strength training can increase antioxidant enzyme activity thus helping to reverse the aging process at a deeper level than merely cosmetic.

Aerobic activity is great for conditioning your heart and lungs but it does not build muscle.  No matter how much time you spend on aerobics, after the age of 40 your body begins to lose more and more muscle mass, which leads to aging.

To reverse this aging process you must not only keep your muscles strong but build more muscle to make up for what you are losing each year.

Strength training is not a synonym for body building.  You can build muscle without bulking up by selecting the type of workout you do.  Using more repetitions of lighter weights will build toned but not bulky muscles.

There are even some strength training exercises you can do using just your own body weight.  Try these:

• Standing push-ups: Put your hands on the edge of the kitchen counter shoulder width apart.  Lower your chest slowly to the counter, then push back up.
• Squats: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart.  Bend your knees and lower your body as though you were going to sit on a chair, then raise back up.  You can hold on to a bar height counter for stability if needed.

Ask your doctor or a fitness trainer for advice on designing your workout.  But do it today – it’s never too late to start strength training but you can’t reap the benefits until you start!