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| STAY LEAN WITH MORE MUSCLES |
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Aerobic training and strength training are the yin and yang of the exercise world. They are two fundamentally different concepts that meet in a "harmony of opposites".
To be clear, when talking about "aerobics" I'm referring to low intensity, long duration exercise that is intended to expend calories and burn fat. I'm not referring to the term "cardio" which, properly used, should refer to strengthening the heart muscle. Many people use "cardio" and "aerobics" interchangeably but they really shouldn't.
Aerobic training is low intensity. Strength training is high intensity. Combining the two into an effective, efficient training regimen can be greatly simplified by using rational training principles.
The Biggest Mistake
The biggest mistake people make when trying to combine aerobic training with strength training is that they employ a progressive overload methodology to their aerobic training. For example, they start out walking a few days per week, then they increase the intensity to jogging, then they mix intervals of jogging with running. Then they run hills, and so on.
That method increases intensity to the point where the body needs extended recovery time. Which means more days off without training..., which means fewer calories burned and less fat loss. The key to effective aerobic training that burns of maximum fat is long term consistency.
Build Muscle and Burn Fat 24/7!
Muscle is called "active tissue" because it requires a lot of energy to maintain itself. In fact, every pound of new muscle you add to your body will burn about 60 calories per day. That can really add up. Look at the chart below:
The Fat Burning Effect of Muscle
| LBS. Of New Muscle |
LBS. Of Fat Burned Per Month |
LBS. Of Fat Burned Per Year |
| 1 |
0.5 |
6 |
| 3 |
1.5 |
19 |
| 5 |
2.6 |
31 |
| 10 |
5.1 |
62 |
| 12 |
6.2 |
74 |
| 15 |
7.7 |
93 |
| 20 |
10.3 |
123 |
By adding just 10 pounds of muscle to your body, it will burn off 62 pounds (!!) of fat over the next year. (If you keep your calorie intake constant.) And it will keep burning those extra calories year after year! Than means when you've lost the fat you can eat more (a lot more) and not gain back the fat. Also, with less fat and more muscle your body will have the lean, toned, fit look that everyone wants!
So by combining aerobics with strength training you can transform your body in the shortest possible time then keep it lean and muscular year round without starving yourself on a low calorie diet.
Opposite Principles
The important characteristics of a sustainable aerobic training program are:
- Low intensity muscular output
- No progression of intensity from workout to workout
- Fixed frequency
The important characteristics of a sustainable strength training program are:
- High intensity muscular output
- Progressive intensity from workout to workout
- Variable frequency (to allow for full recovery as intensity increases)
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| SUCCESS WITH STRENGTH TRAINING |
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Strength training is the most effective way to turn your body into a fat burning machine and stay in great shape! Find out how strength training can help you, why and what you need to know before you get started! Your Trainer will guide you through!
Strength training is the most effective way to turn your body into a fat burning machine and stay in great shape! It is the most productive form of exercise there is! In order to be successful with strength training there are some basic principles that must be followed if you want to receive the many benefits which strength training has to offer! The three most critical factors are progressive overload, intensity, and recovery.
Progressive Overload
Progressive overload simply means that you must force your muscles to work harder each time. That means you can't use the same weight every workout, regardless of how many sets or reps you do. The best way to do this is by attempting to increase the resistance / weight used and, or increase the number of repetitions performed at each workout.
Intensity
Intensity is also very important. You must force your body to increase its strength. For example, if you typically do 3 sets of 10 reps on the leg press at 115 pounds, and your legs are capable of doing 16 reps, why is your body going to make any improvements? Your body will only add muscle if you force it to work at a higher level than it is used to. The most effective way to overload your muscles is to perform one or two sets per exercise, and continue each set to muscular failure. That means continuing each set until no more repetitions are possible. Challenge yourself!
Recovery
Once you have overloaded the target muscle group you must then allow for proper recovery and over compensation. This means you must rest long enough to allow for recovery of the targeted muscle group, the nervous system, refill glycogen stores (Energy stored within your muscles), and also allow enough time for the muscles to make improvements or increases. This process takes time. Generally, it takes between 2-7 days to recover from a strength workout! The harder you work the longer it takes your body to repair. Don't short-circuit your progress by strength training too often!
Basic Guidelines For Successful Strength Training
- Strength train no more than Five times per week!
- Perform 2 to 4 sets per exercise!
- Choose 2-3 exercises for small muscle groups and 3-4 for large muscle groups. (ex. 3-4 exercises for legs, back, chest, and 2-3 for arms, shoulders, etc.)
- Choose no more than 8-10 exercises and work hard on them!
- Always keep a record of all workouts!
- Take each set to failure or fatigue!
- Perform each exercise SLOWLY
- Force the muscle to do the work -- NOT momentum!
- As soon as you see a slow down in progress it's time to make a change to your program!
- No worries, your trainer will help you with the above, you just do your best and enjoy the workout.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How do I lose the flab on the back of my arm or my spare tire?
A. It is physically impossible to only lose fat in one area. What you can do is decrease body fat by burning more calories than you consume.
Increase muscle tissue with strength training and burn more calories all day long, even while you are sleeping!
Q. How often should I strength train if my goal is to burn fat?
A. 2-3 times per week would be great! You will build muscle tissue, which burns calories 24 hours a day, and you will decrease the chance for excess calories to be stored as fat!
Q. What if I don't want to bulk up? I just want to tone.
A. If it were that easy to bulk or get big nearly every guy in the gym would be huge. Women generally don't have the genetic potential to build large muscles due to hormonal differences. Plus, don't forget that adding muscle tissue to your body is a good thing! It makes everything you do much easier, reduces the chance for injury, and increases your metabolism!
Q. How many sets and repetitions should I do?
A. This will vary depending upon your goal. If you are training to increase strength, due fewer sets but higher intensity (1-2 sets to failure per exercise). If training for muscle size, perform multiple sets (2-4 sets, but only 1 to failure). The number of repetitions will vary also depending upon the speed at which you move the weight and your goals. In general, shoot for 8-12 reps.
Q. What are the benefits of strength training?
A. Strength training, if done correctly, can make some major changes to your body and mind! Here are just a few:
- Increased metabolism
- Increased strength and flexibility
- Increased muscle tone
- Reduced stress levels
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| WHY WEIGHT TRAINING HELPS |
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WHY WEIGHT TRAINING HELPS YOU BURN FATS AND LOSE WEIGHT
Women also do not become masculine-looking when they build muscle mass. If anything, they develop a more symmetrical, feminine shape. Learn how it can help YOU build muscle and lose fat!
Adding weight training to a cardiovascular routine practically guarantees slimming results. Here's why:
First, it speeds up your metabolism of fat. By this, I indirectly mean that your body becomes more efficient at burning calories. Picture two cars in a race. Car A is small in frame, but it has a huge engine. Car B is very large and heavy and has a very small engine. Which one do you think will go ten miles in the shortest amount of time? Your muscle mass is your engine, and the larger it is in proportion to your frame, the more efficient a machine you become.
Balancing Your Body
When you build muscle mass, your muscles actually gobble up calories from your food in order to maintain themselves. This leaves fewer excess calories lying around, turning into fat. In fact, if you lower your calorie intake just a little bit, your new muscle mass will eat up some of your body fat. There's a delicate balance that you need to strike here, though, because if you cut your caloric intake too dramatically, your muscles will shrink and your body might feel threatened by starvation and begin to store extra fat, as a precaution.
Weight training increases your heart rate. Yes, it is basically an anaerobic exercise, not designed for fat-burning the way cardiovascular exercises are, but between sets, your heart rate remains up, and you actually are getting a bit of the aerobic effect throughout your circuit.
The best way to take advantage of this is to use a light to medium amount of weight and do a lot of repetitions (for example, three sets of fifteen). You should feel your muscles burning, though, and the last three or four reps should be difficult to do. If you breeze through it, you may get the aerobic effect, but you won't increase your muscle mass sufficiently. If you warm up and cool down, you'll have an increased heart rate for an entire hour or longer.
If you're not comfortable with dumbbells or machines with heavy weight plates, there are some great products out there that use your own body weight as resistance. Many of my website visitors have reported that the Total Gym (now marked way down) is a terrific machine. One woman wrote to me saying that it was easy to use the first time she used it and she started seeing results very quickly. If you can find a machine or method that motivates you, you're much more likely to stick with your workout routine.
People who lift weights generally sleep more restfully than people who don't. A correlation has been shown between insomnia and weight gain, with many possible explanations. The most logical is probably that the body repairs and restores itself during restful periods. When it is deprived of these sojourns, its fat-metabolizing mechanisms must work in a less-than-optimal state. Well-rested organs are better equipped to take care of business. If you don't sleep well, the best way to change that is to begin weight training.
Building strength makes it possible for a person to increase physical ability. This is why athletes spend so much time in the gym. If a tennis player trained by simply doing drills and playing the game, she might improve her agility, but she wouldn't add much oomph to her serve without strengthening her shoulders, arms, legs and torso muscles. With that extra muscle power, she can hit the ball harder and play more explosively, ultimately burning more calories while she plays. She is also less likely to sustain an injury which would put her on the sofa for two weeks. See the connection?
Women Weight Training
Women are often hesitant about weight training, especially when their goal is to lose weight. "Why add bulk to bulk?" they wonder. Contrary to what many assume, a heavy woman will not become bigger if she lifts weights. As a matter of fact, as the muscles become denser, containing less marbleized fat, she appears smaller.
Women also do not become masculine-looking when they build muscle mass. If anything, they develop a more symmetrical, feminine shape. Women don't have the hormonal make-up that men have and therefore aren't able to build as much muscle mass. Only with steroids and fanatically intense training can a woman develop a manly body.
When you begin weight training, stay off the scale for a while, but get out the tape measure. Measure your waist and hips every two weeks and keep a workout log. Your weight may stay the same for a month or two (or longer), but you will almost certainly lose some girth within that time frame. And isn't that what you really want?
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