Posts Tagged ‘Strength training’

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.)

If you enjoyed this article, please sign up for my weekly newsletter and you’ll receive a free copy of “7 Secrets of Permanent Fat Loss and Fitness”.

Today I’d like to share with you a great article by fitness expert, Carolyn Hansen.

Want to Hear the Truth About Why You Are Really Overweight?

By Carolyn Hansen

Anyone who wants to lose weight surely would like to lose it permanently and be able to maintain that loss for the long haul. Yet restrictive food diets and the wrong type of exercise program do not achieve this for the majority of overweight people. It seems strange that most of the weight loss programs available today only offer temporary results as they do not address the real cause of becoming overweight in the first place.

The cause at the bottom of the problem is that the fat burning machinery of the body has become unhealthy and is not burning fuel (calories) at the rate it should or could be if it were if good condition. Muscle tissue is where fat is burned for energy but if it not kept strong and fit with proper strength maintaining exercise it cannot burn fuel at its optimal rate. Thus calories that should be burnt up are now being stored as body fat accumulating all over the body spoiling your looks and placing your health at risk.

We have been lead to believe that ‘cardio’ type activity like walking, jogging or cycling or other aerobic type recreational type activity is necessary to lose weight. But we now know that this is not sufficient for long term weight loss. Why? Because it does not address the root of the problem – lack of toned muscle tissue to boost the metabolism.

Part of the problem is for years we have been told to just find something you enjoy and that is your exercise program. Walking, gardening, sports and bird watching – you name it they have said it is fine to just do something that is ‘fun’ and this is where the problem lies. Proper exercise that involves keep your metabolism cranking is not always ‘fun’.

Recreational activities do not work the muscular system of the human body through the ranges of movement necessary under a load to achieve a permanent boost to the metabolic rate. You have to be doing higher intensity activity than that.

This is something you may not want to hear as many people get addicted to long, slow time consuming activity and cannot see that any other way could be better. But take a look in the mirror – “Is it actually working for you?” How many hours each week do you spend doing it and what results are you getting?”

With a proper program you could be getting great results in just a couple of months. You would be saving so much time as you only need 2-3 sessions each week of 30-40 minutes to do the job properly. The more intensity (effort) you can put into it the less you need to do as this will kick your metabolism into high gear very quickly chewing into those fat stores even when you are sleeping. Something that ‘cardio’ activity can never ever do.

So, the hardest part will be the changing of your beliefs and attitude. Only when this is achieved will you experience a truly strong, lean, healthy body and until then you will likely have to live in a flabby overweight one. We have been misled for so long it will take just as long to accept the truth about what proper exercise actually is. The quicker you make the change the quicker you will get the results you really desire.

Do you want to discover the secret to rejuvenating your body, regaining lost vitality and improving the quality of your life? Download my free ebook “I’ve Found the Fountain of Youth – Let Me Show You Too!” Fountain of Youth.

If you are looking to lose weight permanently go to Fitness Weight Loss for a free ebook and check out the new Hot Metabolism Fitness System.

Carolyn Hansen is a certified fitness expert and fitness center owner who coaches clients to look and feel younger. In her nearly 30 years of fitness and bodybuilding competition experience she has helped thousands of people start their journey towards being strong, fit and youthful at any age.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carolyn_Hansen
http://EzineArticles.com/?Want-to-Hear-the-Truth-About-Why-You-Are-Really-Overweight?&id=4120813

In addition to Carolyn’s resources, I recommend that you check out The Fat Burning Furnace.

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!

** When you sign up for my newsletter and you’ll receive a free copy of the ebook, “7 Secrets of Permanent Fat Loss & Fitness”.

If you need more motivation to get fit and healthy, how about your bank account?  Here are 5 things you can do to save money while improving your fitness!

1. Decrease your alcohol intake. I love wine with dinner but if I have 2 glasses every evening, you can practically watch my waistline inflate!   Cut back to 1 glass per evening and you’ll not only cut your calorie intake but you’ll only need to buy half as many bottles of wine!
2. Cook meals at home. Home-cooked meals are generally healthier, allow you to control your portion size, and cost less than eating out.
3. Exercise (part 1) Exercise releases endorphins (feel-good chemicals) into your body.  This could lower the possibility that you’ll need to spend money on antidepressants.
4. Exercise (part 2) Women over a certain age (you know who you are!)  tend to gain pounds and inches annually.  Keep up your regular regimen of aerobics and strength training and you won’t have to continually be buying new, larger clothing every year!
5. Stop smoking. In this day and age when everyone knows the dangers of smoking I shouldn’t even have to mention it!  But if endangering yourself and those around you is not enough motivation, just think about how much money you’ll save by quitting.

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!

Are you a work at home mom?  Do you have a room in your house that serves as your home office, or even just a dedicated corner of another room?  Then no more excuses – you have plenty of room to exercise!

If you hate the “E” word, you’re not alone.  Everyone knows that exercise keeps your body and mind healthy but the majority of people would rather not be bothered by actually DOING it.  However, it is essential that you keep moving throughout your lifetime.  Remember the old saying, “use it or lose it!”

You probably chose to be a work at home mom because you could be your own boss while being available to your family.  But working at home requires hours spent sitting in a chair.  Do you fault others for being couch potatoes?  Well you could be on your way to becoming a chair spud! Have you checked out your bootie in the “rear view” mirror lately?!

Does the following scenes sound familiar?  You’ve been working at your computer for a couple of hours and you realize you’ve read the same paragraph 3 times but still don’t know what it says.  Or you’ve been trying to compose an email but can’t think of a thing to write.  Those are not signs that you need a nap.  Nope, it’s time for the “E” word!  Get up and move!

You don’t need to go to a gym or even to another room in your house.  You don’t need lots of equipment.  Actually, you carry some of the best equipment with you all the time: your own body weight.  And any excess body weight you’re tired of carrying around serves as motivation to get moving!

I have found an online site that is a great fitness resource for work at home moms – and dads!  It is called Fat Loss Quickie. (I love that name!)  The man who developed this program, Scott Tousignant, is a certified personal trainer who runs an online business from the home he shares with his wife and two children.  He knows first hand what the work at home parent lifestyle is all about.

Scott understands that working at home doesn’t mean working every single minute.  Sometimes you just need a break but you can’t afford to be away from your desk for hours at a time.  Fat Loss Quickie. provides cardio activities to keep your heart and lungs healthy, and strength training workouts to build muscle and burn fat.  But the best thing is each routine only takes 10 minutes!  The man is a genius!

When you feel sluggish or foggy, rather than reaching for a snack or your pillow, try a 10 or 20-minute exercise break.  You’ll return to your work and your family feeling energized!