Wednesday Workout Tip

There are a lot of misconceptions about weight training and women weight training. Liesa (my Turbo Kick/Muscle Buster instructor) shared this article with me. And here I am sharing it with you. Enjoy.

Strength Training by Kathy Smith
If you're convinced dieting is the only answer to your weight-control problems, think again. Ditto for running, cycling, kickboxing or any other type of fat-burning cardio exercise. No, you haven't been completely crazy all these years--watching your diet and breaking a sweat get you part of the way to your ideal weight. But to push you across the finish line you need one thing: strength training.

How, exactly, do muscles help you to lose weight? They burn excess calories in two ways: First, during the actual exertion of exercise, but second, and more important, muscle tissue burns calories all day long--even while you're sleeping. And each new pound of lean muscle may raise your metabolism as much as 50 calories a day. That's how greater muscles mass helps you lose weight without severe dietary restrictions. It also means that you can eat more without fear of gaining weight. Muscle gives your body firmness and shape too. Here's my sales pitch on why cardio along won't do the trick--plus the nitty-gritty on how to make it happen in just four weeks.

First, let's get one thing straight: Aerobic exercise burns calories, and it may elevate your metabolism for a short time afterward. But to see its limits, take the example of Madeline Lewis, 40, my video choreographer, who has taught aerobics for most of her life. She could probably dance rings around most of us, thank to her high level of aerobic fitness. But in recent years, she says, she's lost some of her upper-body muscle tone and put on a few pounds--because she hasn't been pumping iron. Maybe you've had the same experience: You sweat through cardio classes, but don't get the results you used to. You need more muscle than more aerobic activities generate to help you lose weight: The greater your percentage of muscle, the faster your body burns fat.

This is especially true as you age. At best, as a cardio-only veteran, you can expect to keep you lower body toned. You also control weight gain, but your body will store more fat as the inevitable loss of muscles that comes with age slows your metabolism, making calorie burning an uphill battle. You'll wind up with great cardio endurance (and invaluable heart health) as well as some tone in your legs, but with smaller muscles, poor upper-body tone and--here's the tough part--more fat.

Have you found yourself going up a dress size or two, while the number on the scale stays the same? I can explain. The problem is that we get older, compact muscle tissue is replaced by lighter, bulkier fat tissue--a poor trade that your weight alone won't reflect. For example, a lean 25-year -old woman might weight 125 pounds, with 18 percent body fat. Just 10 or 15 years later, the same woman may still weight roughly 125, but now she'll have 25-26 percent body fat. Because fat tissue is bulkier than lean muscle, her dress size has stretched from a 6 to a 10.

If you want living proof that you can turn your body around, just look at Tonya-Sue Willis, 30, from Warren, Connecticut. "I have always battled with my weight and a feeling of being fat," she told me in a letter. "I exercised and watched my diet, but my weight still fluctuated. About three years ago, I added weights to my routine. I've gone from a size 8 to a size 4. I sleep better at night, I have more energy, I feel strong and my body burns calories more efficiently. When talking to friends about my success, I always mention the benefits of using weights."

You say you want to strength-train, but you don't want to look like a buff bodybuilder? Ha--just try! Do you know how hard bodybuilders work, and what they put themselves through to get those results? It's kind of funny that women are afraid of looking like that from one or two strength workouts a week.

When I hear trainers recommending that women build muscle by lifting one-pound soup cans, I cringe. One pound is a fine place to begin, but how much sense does it make, long-term, to lift one-pound soup cans when the grocery bag you're bringing them home in probably weighs eight pounds? let's face it: No one would ever tell a man to lift canned goods! The idea of strength is still waiting for women to claim it. Until now, we've embraced terms like "toned" or "defined". Why not "strong"? It's time to discover that we can be strong without sacrificing feminine traits--softness and strength can coexist.

"My impression was that people who lifted weights got big and bulky, and that was the last thing I wanted," says Susie Anderson, 25, from Bumpass, Virginia, who wrote in to share her success with my Lift Weights to Lose Weight video. "But instead, lifting weights boosted my energy and metabolism. So far I've lost 13 pounds and one dress size after trying unsuccessfully for 10 years to lose an extra 50 pounds. My self-confidence has gotten a tremendous boost."

Anderson has discovered weight-lifting's built-in safety mechanism: Most women can't develop large muscles without trying very hard. Truth is, the only way you build enormous muscles is if you lift weights--20, 40, even 60 pounds--every day, and maybe even take steroids.

Thankfully, there's a flip side. A recent study showed that women experienced a 10 percent drop in body fat in 12 weeks simply by lifting weights just twice a week. Women of all ages should be devoting at least 20-30 minutes two to three times a week to strength training. Remember: The more muscle you have in your twenties and thirties, the easier it will be to retain it as you get older.

5 STRONG REASONS TO START LIFTING

1 - It firms your flab zones. Strength training lets you zero in on problem areas, whether it's hamstring and glute exercises to firm your butt, or triceps moves to tone your "chicken arms." You can also use weights to add symmetry to your whole body.

2 - It keeps bone disease at bay. Weight-bearing exercise stimulates bone-cell development, helping to prevent osteoporosis. It also strengthens muscle and connective tissues that protect bone, thus staving off injury.

3 - It battles life's little hazards. Can your body roll with the punches? It can if you have muscle. Strengthening muscle makes you more sturdy by fortifying three key body parts: the tendons that connect your muscles to your bones, the ligaments that hold your joints together and the bones themselves.

4 - It makes you look leaner. Good posture depends on the strength, endurance and flexibility of the various muscles in your back, shoulders and abs. Simply changing the way you carry yourself can make you look a lot trimmer, too. Concerned about a little belly flab? Standing tall will help it magically disappear.

5 - It helps your heart. Done regularly, strength training can improve your muscle-to-fat ratio, making your body leaner and putting less stress on your heart muscle. Recent studies show that a leaner body also has beneficial effects on blood pressure, lowering the risk of stroke and coronary heart disease.