The truth about weights

This image speaks so strongly to me, as well as highlighting the many misconceptions people have about lifting weights. All the time I hear girls saying "but if I lift weights won't I get big and bulky, and find it hard to lose fat?" NO! I see girls in the gym; some overweight, some very skinny doing exercises with 1kg dumbells. They do incredibly high reps and complete them so fast they almost throw them around. I always give them quite strange looks, and wish I could just go and show them what they should be doing. These girls seem to think that if they use a weight where it actually begins to 'hurt' their muscles, that overnight they are going to blow up to the size of a male heavyweight bodybuilder. NO, NO, NO! Trust me if it was that easy, men would be very happy! Women simply do not have enough testosterone in their bodies to grow this sort of muscle. In turn they build lean, toned and hard bodies.


Tone: Now this is a word that women throw around without really understanding it. They say I just want to tone up, yet spend all of their time on the cardio equipment. Being toned, is when your muscles are in a constant state of partial contraction, this way you are able to see the muscle definition. For your muscles to appear toned, you need to have muscle to start of with. How do you build your muscles? By lifting heavy enough weights that you create small microtears in the muscle tissue so that when given rest they will rebuild themselves back up stronger and bigger (in a process called hypertrophy). Use a weight that causes failure at about 12 reps. Women also need to understand that muscle tone can only be seen when they lower their body fat. No matter how large your muscles are, if you have a blanket of fat covering them you aren't going to see any definition. Most women then decide they are going to 'spot reduce' their fat. Now this is an absolute myth! You can't choose where your body is going to lose fat from. By doing continual sit ups, does not mean that you are going to have a 6-pack! Of course you need to work all of your bodies' muscles and aim at building them hard and strong, although this does not necessarily mean they are going to be defined. In order for them to 'show' you need to lose overall body fat, so this layer of fat is thinner, and your muscles become more apparent. The good news is that lifting weights does burn fat, and the more muscle your body has the more calories it burns at rest (pretty sweet deal if you ask me!).
Yes cardio is still important, in raising your heart rate and burning unwanted calories, although static rate cardio just doesn't cut it. You see the same people everyday slogging it out on the treadmill or X-trainer, they jump on for an hour and 'exercise' while reading a magazine or chatting on the phone. They stay on a speed that is comfortable and never really push themselves. After a year, I go past the same people, and they still look exactly the same. In order to burn calories you need to raise your heart rate, and 20-30mins is all you really need, of high intensity cardio, after your weight training. I love High Intensity Interval Training, where I go on the X-trainer and do 10 mins of 30sec full out (100%), and a 30sec at about 80%, at a resistence level where I can complete 6-10 intervals. My heart rate is up and I'm pushing my body as hard as I can, I get off huffing and puffing covered in sweat. It doesn't take long.
Unleash these misconceptions about weights turning you into a male body builder. Weights at a challenging weight will help you to build lean muscle mass, and at the same time burn fat. Add in some high intensity cardio to raise your heart rate and continue burning fat, and you will start to notice fat loss, and more overall body 'tone'. So get away from the cadio theater, and enter the weights room! Make sure you are working all of your bodies muscles, as spot reducing does not work! Lift heavy, and get a sexy, lean , hard body that does not resemble anything of a male body builder. Trust me it's hard, you will sweat and it will hurt but it's definitely worth it! <3 Rach