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If you want to lose fat or change your body, one of the most important things you can do is lift weights. Diet and cardio are equally important, but when it comes to changing how your body looks, weight training wins hands down. If you've hesitated to start a strength training program, it may motivate you to know that lifting weights can:
Help raise your metabolism. Muscle burns more calories than fat, so the more muscle you have, the more calories you'll burn all day long.
Strengthen bones, especially important for women
Make you stronger and increase muscular endurance
Help you avoid injuries
Increase your confidence and self-esteem
Improve coordination and balance
Studies tell us that between the ages of 20 and 30, without weight-resistant exercise, we begin to lose muscle. As we age, the rate at which we lose seems to increase slightly. As we lose muscle, our basal metabolic rate slows down, which means we are burning fewer calories. This change in metabolism generally means a gain in fat. Let's say that between the ages of 30 and 40, we have lost 10 pounds of muscle and gained about 10 pounds of fat. That means that in 10 years, we would have a 20-pound body composition change and still weigh the same amount.
There is another interesting aspect to muscle. Muscle is denser and takes up much less space than fat. You could therefore maintain the same weight you are now and be 2 sizes smaller by gaining 10 pounds of muscle and losing 10 pounds of fat. Just think, by increasing your muscle, or your lean body mass by 10 pounds, you would increase your metabolic rate by about 350 calories a day. Just gaining 5 pounds of muscle would increase your calorie expenditure by 175 calories a day. That's 63,875 calories or 18 pounds a year.
No wonder as we age it is so easy to gain fat simply by not exercising. Many people are frustrated by the fact that they eat just like they always have, but now they are gaining weight, not realizing that each year without resistance exercise, their metabolisms are slowing down. Exercise is the only way to reverse this effect of aging.
From improving how we feel, how we look, and how we think to increasing our life expectancy, the ability to exercise and literally change the quality of our lives is something we should be thankful for. Exercise is not only an anti-depressant, but it increases the quality of our sleep. Another one of its greatest benefits is that it's never too late to start! Even beginning an exercise program in our later years can greatly improve our health and mobility. It is vital that we continue to use our bodies so that we don't lose our physical capabilities. We should plan on growing old well able to enjoy an active lifestyle!
Not only does weight training reduce your blood pressure, lowering your risk of cardiovascular disease, but a landmark study performed by researchers at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center at Tuft's University revealed that weight training has a tremendous effect on aging. In only 8 weeks, 10 frail men and women between the ages of 86-90, all of whom had chronic diseases or disabilities, increased the strength of their leg muscles by a dramatic 174 percent without any injuries! They also increased their balance and walking speed.
According to the American College of Sports Medicine, weight or resistance training is the only type of exercise that can substantially slow and even reverse the declines in muscle mass, bone density, and strength that were once considered inevitable consequences of aging.
Getting started with strength training can be confusing--what exercises should you do? How many sets and reps? How much weight? The routine you choose will be based on your fitness goals as well as the equipment you have available and the time you have for workouts.
The Basics
If you're setting up your own program, you'll need to know some basic strength training principles. These principles will teach you how to make sure you're using enough weight, determine your sets and reps and insure you're always progressing in your workouts.
1. Overload: If you want to get stronger, you need to use more resistance than your muscles are used to. This is important because the more you do, the more your body is capable of doing, so you should increase your workload to avoid adaptation. In plain language, this means you should be lifting enough weight that you can ONLY complete the desired number of reps. You should be able to finish your last rep with difficulty but also with good form.
2. Progression. In order to avoid plateaus (or adaptation), you need to increase your intensity. With strength training, you can do this by increasing the amount of weight lifted, increasing the sets/reps, increasing or changing the exercises you're doing and/or change the rest intervals between sets. You can also change the order of your exercises. This means increasing your intensity every week.
3. Specificity. This principle states that the way your body adapts to exercise depends on the type of exercise you're doing. That means, if you want to increase your strength, your program should be designed around that goal. To gain strength and mass, you want to train with heavier weights closer to your 1 RM (1 rep max). If you want to build endurance and strength, you'll want to stick with lighter weights and a rep range of 8-12.
4. Rest and Recovery. Rest days are just as important as workout days. It is during these rest periods that your muscles grow and change, so make sure you're not working the same muscle groups 2 days in a row.
Before you get started on setting up your routine, keep a few key points in mind:
1. Always warm up before you start lifting weights. This helps get your muscles warm and prevent injury. You can warm up with light cardio or by doing a light set of each exercise before going to heavier weights.
2. Lift and lower your weights slowly. Don't use momentum to lift the weight. If you have to swing to get the weight up, chances are you're using too much weight.
3. Breathe. Don't hold your breath and make sure you're using full range of motion throughout the movement.
4. Stand up straight! If your mother could see you now, she'd probably slap a book on your head. Pay attention to your posture and keep everything straight. Engage your abs in every movement you're doing to keep your balance and protect your spine.
Choosing Exercises, Sequence & Weight
Your first step in setting up a routine is to choose exercises to target all of your muscle groups. One way to make sure you're doing this right is to work with a personal trainer who can help you set up the right program for you and educate you on proper form. If that's not an option, consider renting or buying a workout video . Strength training videos can give you visual instruction without the cost of a personal trainer. The only limitation is that, once you adjust to that workout you might have to get another video!
Check out the strength training and cardio workouts available Here.
Net Fit
offers beginners weight training exercises for developing a stronger firmer body for FREE.
You'll find a huge variety of weight training equipment here.
If you decide to workout at home, here are a few items you might want to consider buying:
Resistance Bands are around $6 to $15. They're small, light, travel well and you get get a full body workout with it.
Dumbbells . They're cheap and you can do a variety of exercise with them. Find them at your local Wal-Mart . Other options include a barbell sets, an exercise ball, and/or a Weight Bench . You can also find these items at rummage sales for little or almost nothing.
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