This is an issue that men don't fret about the same way women do because they WANT muscle so its a no brainer when it comes to weight training for them, however for many women its like a bad word. A word so dark, so ugly, so horrible it shan't be uttered in polite society!
"OOOOO she di'in' just say what I think she said?"
"She did! She said PICK UP THE DUMBELLS!"
"Nooooooooooooooooooo"
OK girls get over it. We shouldn't be scared.. we should be strong! Embrace the benefits that weight training offers us.
Women need to build muscle, again, let me repeat the word NEED. It is hard to stress how difficult it is for us women to build muscle to the point of looking like men which is the biggest fear many women have. Trust me, the women who have manly muscles (or extreme hypertrophy) spend countless hours daily in the gym, and didn't do it by picking up 10lb. dumbells in the aerobics class. They did it by putting in the HEAVY duty weights, they eat incredibly restricted diets and in some cases help with a little special 'juice'. Said juice would be hormones - and we do not produce enough of those hormones naturally to build muscle like a man.
So, feel good about picking up those weights, and don't be shy about it. Again, you might be asking yourself "Why would we want to do this?" Well then, aside from building incredibly sexy curves to replace the other fatty ones? How about the fact that in rest muscle burns more calories than fat. So if you build yourself up some muscle, at rest you can feasibly burn 200 more calories a day. Your metabolism will be closer to what it was when you were about 20 years old. Nice huh?
Plus aside from the increased metabolism it also strengthens the bones helping fight osteoporosis. Muscle building and also impact exercise strengthen the bones and keeps them that way, so to help fight osteoporosis it is one of the top recommendations by Doctors and Fitness Professionals everywhere. If these aren't reasons enough then I do not know what is.
Again, you won't look like a man and you will burn more fat and in general be healthier.
Think about it .. how sexy is it when a woman can pick up the heavy stuff herself?
Monday, December 28, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
I hear my heart a' pumpin'....
Yes, I have a love/hate relationship with my heart. Its like a lover you know you cannot live without, and yes, in this case you CAN'T! So why, oh why do we mistreat it so??
Our hearts are muscles, simple and easy. I believe we all learned this sometime in what? 4th Grade? Maybe earlier. Either way, the better you train that muscle, the better that muscle will treat you.
I am skipping over a diatribe of 'eating healthy' in this instance because I wish to talk about heart rate and exercise. We all know that making that heart pump is important to lose weight but please do not forget the importance in making it pump to train it so it can stay strong and healthy. Again, it is a muscle. So when you are doing those bicep curls and admiring those guns in the mirror, know that your heart needs its own version of 'weight training'.
So.. you are sitting in your Indoor Cycling class and the lady next to you has her legs FLYING around and she is pedaling faster than anyone there and yet... wait... she has been coming to the class for years and hasn't lost a pound. She is sweating, is she not? Sure she is. If you flail your ams about over your head long enough your heart will beat faster and you might break a sweat but it sure isn't a workout for your body. Same concept.
I won't get into the nitty gritty of biomechanics and heart rate but here is my very own 101 version. First of all, the other person with the bigger gear, slower cadence and is also sweating just as much as fly lady is the person getting the real work out. He or she is pushing a larger gear (working the large muscles of the quads, hamstrings and glutes much more and more efficienty) but in doing so is forcing the heart to really PUMP and get oxigenated blood to those muscles. To work the heart you need to also work big muscles. Hard.
Now for the real 'weight training' for the heart. Intervals. Intervals and yes, INTERVALS. This type of exercise not only gets you fit faster (read: lose weight and make purdy legs and bodies) but it also strengthens the heart like no other!
So what exactly are the miraculous Intervals of which you speak Carla? It is pushing as hard as you can, for as long as you can and then pulling back when your poor body can't any more. Keep the body moving at a slow pace until you recover and do it all over again! In the beginning we could be talking say, walk fast for 4 minutes and run for 30 seconds and then build it up to 3 minute recovery and one minute full out sprint.
On a stationary bike? No problem! Push the hardest gear you can as fast as you can for 45 seconds and recover for 2 minutes. Build up the intervals to one full minute and then 90 seconds and a full recovery of 5 minutes. Trust me, you will need the full 5 after blowing out for 90 seconds!
Swimming? Every 3rd lap go full out then recover for the next two.
It isn't easy, but your body will be singing to the Angels because you will be giving it what it wants and needs and your Heart will reward you for your effort.
Give it a try!
Our hearts are muscles, simple and easy. I believe we all learned this sometime in what? 4th Grade? Maybe earlier. Either way, the better you train that muscle, the better that muscle will treat you.
I am skipping over a diatribe of 'eating healthy' in this instance because I wish to talk about heart rate and exercise. We all know that making that heart pump is important to lose weight but please do not forget the importance in making it pump to train it so it can stay strong and healthy. Again, it is a muscle. So when you are doing those bicep curls and admiring those guns in the mirror, know that your heart needs its own version of 'weight training'.
So.. you are sitting in your Indoor Cycling class and the lady next to you has her legs FLYING around and she is pedaling faster than anyone there and yet... wait... she has been coming to the class for years and hasn't lost a pound. She is sweating, is she not? Sure she is. If you flail your ams about over your head long enough your heart will beat faster and you might break a sweat but it sure isn't a workout for your body. Same concept.
I won't get into the nitty gritty of biomechanics and heart rate but here is my very own 101 version. First of all, the other person with the bigger gear, slower cadence and is also sweating just as much as fly lady is the person getting the real work out. He or she is pushing a larger gear (working the large muscles of the quads, hamstrings and glutes much more and more efficienty) but in doing so is forcing the heart to really PUMP and get oxigenated blood to those muscles. To work the heart you need to also work big muscles. Hard.
Now for the real 'weight training' for the heart. Intervals. Intervals and yes, INTERVALS. This type of exercise not only gets you fit faster (read: lose weight and make purdy legs and bodies) but it also strengthens the heart like no other!
So what exactly are the miraculous Intervals of which you speak Carla? It is pushing as hard as you can, for as long as you can and then pulling back when your poor body can't any more. Keep the body moving at a slow pace until you recover and do it all over again! In the beginning we could be talking say, walk fast for 4 minutes and run for 30 seconds and then build it up to 3 minute recovery and one minute full out sprint.
On a stationary bike? No problem! Push the hardest gear you can as fast as you can for 45 seconds and recover for 2 minutes. Build up the intervals to one full minute and then 90 seconds and a full recovery of 5 minutes. Trust me, you will need the full 5 after blowing out for 90 seconds!
Swimming? Every 3rd lap go full out then recover for the next two.
It isn't easy, but your body will be singing to the Angels because you will be giving it what it wants and needs and your Heart will reward you for your effort.
Give it a try!
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