October 22, 2009 at 9:48 pm / Filed under Fitness
One of the big mistakes that people make when going to the gym is repeating their workouts over and over again. Although this can be successfully done for a few sessions in a row and even up to a few weeks in a row, it is important to keep changing things up. The only way that your body, specifically your muscles, will respond to weight training is by constantly changing it. If you have become accustomed to certain exercises or routines, your body no longer finds it challenging and compensates by not improving. I’m pretty sure that is not your ultimate goal, not to mention, how boring it can be.
So how can you fix this? Well there are many ways to work around this and keep your muscles guessing. You can start by changing the order in which you do certain exercises. You can also try completely new exercises altogether. There are many websites out there that show you different exercises and how to perform them properly (very important!). Check them out and switch up a few of your exercises. I personally like this one: http://bodybuilding.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.exrx.net%2FExercise.html . Sometimes just changing the way that you grip a machine can be all the difference that you need. No matter what method you use, just keep in mind that your workouts must be challenging in order to get results. If you are really out of ideas, you can always hire a personal trainer. A good trainer will provide you with a completely different routine every time you workout, keeping you motivated and moving you closer to your goals.
October 7, 2009 at 8:57 pm / Filed under Fitness
I used to wonder why it is that many women today still do not lift weights - despite its numerous benefits. The truth is that most women have many misconceptions about weight training and the biggest one is that they will bet bulky. Now I agree that looking like a female Arnold Schwarzenegger is not very appealing but the reality is that this is not possible. You see women do not have enough of the muscle building hormones (aka testosterone) in order to gain that amount of muscle. Heck, most men can’t even put on that amount of muscle, unless of course they use steroids (which is a very harmful substance and is definitely not recommended).
So those women that you see in the magazines that look ridiculously humongous, they use steroids and other types of drugs to look that way. But the women that you see in the fitness magazines and gossip magazines that look lean and toned (I’m not talking about Angelina Jolie, but more like Jessica Biel), those women lift weights to get that look. And they don’t lift 2 # dumbbells either. Refer to my post on the weight lifting mistake of not lifting heavy enough - if it’s too easy, you will not get results. And lifting heavy, or at least moderately heavy, is the way to get the most benefits. The more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism is (which helps you lose weight even faster). And remember that muscle takes up less space than fat, so more muscle and less fat will make you look leaner - not bulkier.
So when a woman claims that weight training made her bulky, she was probably referring to the fat covering her muscles -not the muscle itself. Because all of the weight training in the world will not help you look leaner if you are fat. So losing fat and weight training is the ideal combination to get that lean look you are after.
