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If you are losing weight and not increasing your muscle mass, you are in a lose-lose situation.
If you are on a weight reduction "diet" without increasing your muscle mass you are not only LOSING muscle, but if you regain the weight, the muscle that you lost will be replaced with FAT.
Although your aerobics class or walking workouts may increase your muscle mass a little by toning your legs, strength training can have a more significant impact. Resistance work will help you build muscle and, in turn, burn more calories.
Studies have shown that weight training can help the average woman burn about 300 calories more a day at rest. Plus, a strength-training workout itself burns about 500 calories per hour for a 143 pound woman.
Lean muscle mass burns fuel...ALOT of fuel. And it burns it slowly...for a very long time! The fuel that is burns is ... you've guessed it ... FAT!
Increasing lean muscle increases FAT burning. If that isn't enough encourage to start a weight-training program here are some more advantages:
Strength-training increases strength. You will be strong and it will make every moment you make easier.
If you are reducing your weight, you will be losing fat. You will want to make sure that there is muscle being developed underneath the fat you now have, so that when your fat is burned off, you will have a nice lean body as opposed to wobbly stuff on your limbs.
Gaining muscle will turn your body into a fat burning machine. Strength training can help keep your bones strong. Strength training is inexpensive -- a couple of cheap dumbells is all you need. Find a book at your local library to help you with the how-to's and check with your doctor before beginning any exercise program.
TIPS FOR STRENGTH/RESISTANCE TRAINING
Most people overestimate the amount of weight they can lift. To determine what sort of weights to begin with, consider what you lift in a day. A grocery bag with two cans of soup, two oranges, one grapefruit, half a gallon of milk, and a head of broccolli, for example, weighs about 10 pounds. Ask yourself if you could lift that 12 times in a row. If that's way to much see how a seltzer bottle (about 4lbs) feels. For the first two or three weeks of your training, start at about 50 percent of the weight you can lift. This prevents injury and it hurts less, so you won't be as likely to give up.
WARM THINGS UP
Before lifting, spend 10 minutes walking briskly to grease your joints and tendons. This will make it easier for you to move, and you'll be less likely to strain a muscle. Follow your stroll with some stretching where you think you need it. If you can't touch your toes, for instance, you need some stretching of the back of your legs. (Most exercise books in a library can help you with this.
KEEP IT SLOW
Take two whole seconds to lift the weight. Exhale while you're lifting. Then, lower for four seconds while inhaling (you know, "one Mississippi. two Mississippi" and so on). This way, you're sure you're using your muscles, not momentum, to lift the weight.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
You can get big benefits by doing only one set of each exercise - that's 8 to 12 repititions of a particular lift. If you have time, go ahead and do two or three sets; you'll burn more calories.
FOLLOW THE RULE OF 12
The golden rule in weight lifting: When you can do 12 repetitions of a move with strength to spare, it's time to increase the amount of weight your lifting. You should be working hard enough that you can't do a 13th rep, but not so hard that you struggle with the first. When rep #13 feels like a distinct possiblility, move up to the next level of weight. (Note: it should be no more that 5% more than you're lifting now).
MEASURE SUCCESS BY WEIGHT
On the dumbbell, not on the scale. Healthy changes in the amount of fat and muscle in your body may not show up when you weight yourself. But you'll soon notice a change in your strength and in your clothes. When you first start lifting, write down the weights you're using for each exercise. Measure that against what you're lifting 16 weeks later. You're sure to see results :o)
REMEMBER: Fat does very little other than clog you, widen you, and destroy you. Fat is NOT active. Muscle tissue IS. So BURN FAT and increase muscle mass and you'll be in much better shape than you are now and you'll feel great!!
I have made a "Fitness Contract" for anyone wanting a true committment to oneself.
Unique Background by Miss Maggie. Thank You So Much For All You Have Done For Me :o) I Am So Thankful For Your Friendship. And Most Of All, Your Patience!
