Capital Region Fitness
Strength training, weight lifting, resistance training - whatever label you choose to put on it - has been proven benefits for all populations - from adolescents to athletes to seniors. Women, in particular, see tremendous benefits from resistance training - for a myriad of reasons.
Unfortunately, most women rely on cardiovascular activity and a low calorie diets to change their physical appearance - whether it be to lose weight, or just "get toned". (There's no such thing as "toned" by the way! You can build muscle, maintain muscle or lose muscle. That's it!) The look you probably consider "toned" is low body fat and some level of increased muscle mass (as compared to an untoned look).
Fat sags. Muscle doesn't. If you've got jiggly stuff - it's fat.
Unfortunately, the strategy most women employ to change their body shape - crash diets and excessive cardio - does little more than cause fatigue, moodiness, hunger, and a decline in the metabolic rate. In the end, many women are worse off then when they started.
You know that look many of the Biggest Loser contestants have at the finale? I call that skinny fat. They've dieted off far too much muscle and are left with mostly sag. Yes, some of that is excess skin - but it's also a result of the low calorie diets and 4-6 hours of cardio a day - both of which destroy muscle tissue.
If your weight falls within a healthy range but you still feel like you need to lose more weight and/or "tone up", you might be experiencing the same sort of skinny-fat phenomena. It's possible to be at a healthy scale weight yet have an unhealthy body fat percentage. More on that in another article.
Know this: If your goal is to create a permanent change the visual appearance of your body - be it weight loss, "toning", or both - if you fail to include resistance training as part of your strategy, you're setting yourself up for failure.
Resistance training enhances the quality of life. It enables us to better perform daily activities that require lifting, pushing and pulling. I can proudly carry approximately $150 worth of groceries into the house in one trip. (OK ya got me - I'm really just complaining about the cost of food. Sorry.)
The benefits of resistance training don't stop there though! Sooner or later the goal is no longer a "hardbody" but rather the self-confidence and feeling of control that resistance training gives us.
Women further benefit from resistance training because of the increase in resting metabolism. The more muscle you have, the more calories you'll burn while doing absolutely nothing - never mind the increased calorie burn you'll get during your workouts!
OK! OK! I hear ya! You don't want to get bulky. I know. I know. Bear with me here...
For men and women approaching middle age, resistance training is particularly important. We lose anywhere between 5-7lbs of muscle per decade beginning in our early 20s. This is just one of the reasons for the decline in metabolic rate and hence the weight gain most of us experience as we age.
Resistance training can reverse the predictable metabolic slowdown that occurs. Thus, the true secret to keeping pounds off is not to eat less, but to "shut up and lift!"
The "I'll Get Bulky" Myth
Many women are afraid of strength training because they believe they'll get "bulky". "I’ll weight train once I get this fat off. I don’t want to turn it into muscle." This is an all too commonly held, false, oh so false belief.
Yes, anyone who begins a resistance training program is going to build some muscle - to the tune of about 3-5lbs if you're also dieting. This is simply the rebuilding of whatever muscle you've starved, aged, or treadmilled off thus far. After that, any muscle gains you get will only, and I said ONLY come as a result of eating more calories than your body requires to sustain it's current weight!
In English - if you're gaining muscle, stop eating so much! It's physiologically impossible to build muscle while restricting calories. Impossible! The best you can hope for is to maintain whatever muscle you currently have.
Another pet peeve fitness myth of mine - promoted by far too many fitness trainers and by virtually every woman's magazine - is that in order to avoid this mythical gain in muscle mass, women should lift very light weights. Over. And over. And over. This is not only ineffective, it can be harmful to joints.
Here's the thing - if you lift a light weight, over, and over, and over again, you are no longer engaging in resistance training. You are engaging in a (very) low intensity aerobic workout.
It's kind of like walking. You lift your leg. It's no so heavy. You move it forward. You put it down. Repeat on the other side. Over. And over. And over. Walking is actually better because then at least you're engaging more muscle groups than you are when you SIT around on that silly inner thigh machine at the gym opening and closing your legs for five minutes!
Is there anything wrong with performing a low intensity aerobic workout? I guess that depends on your goal. If your goal is to spend half your life at the gym without burning too many calories - then keep on truckin!
Are you after that "toned" look - the tightening up of "trouble spots" - hips, thighs, arms, butt anyone? If that's your goal ladies, then you're gonna hafta suck it up and venture on over to the dark side, to what I used to call "the boys section" of the gym.
Don't worry. The boys don't bite. I promise. Most of them are actually really nice! I'm sure you already know which ones to steer clear of - you know, the ones at Gold's throwing weights around and screaming obscenities. Yeah, OK, they are kinda scary. Most (normal) men don't think that's too cool either! Here's a tip - those guys are far too busy doing self absorbed stupid things to even notice you're there. As long as you can't bench more than them, they could care less about you! So don't sweat it!
Ah, I'm on a rant now. Back on topic.
For something to, physiologically speaking, qualify as resistance training, the weight you are using should be heavy enough so that you can't lift it more than approximately 12 times. If you're doing it right, by about the 12th repetition you should barely be able to move the weight. (Don't try this on the thigh master contraption unless you want to destroy your knees by the way!)
It's at this point where you'll have worked your muscle to what's called, "failure". You don't have to go to failure every time - but you should be coming close. I don't want you straining or injuring yourself. You just need to sufficiently fatigue the muscle.
I don't want to get stronger! I just want to look good naked!
Well, honestly, you can't have one or the other. They go hand in hand. No, you won't get bulky (unless you're eating too much!) Yes, your strength will increase. Yes, you will look good naked. Yes ladies, we can have it all. And more!
Dale Kelley
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
ACE Certified Lifestyle and Weight Management Consultant
http://capitalregionfitness.com
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