Part 2: Women, Weight Lifting, & Weight Loss - Strategizing

When you plan out your workout routine, there are several things you want to keep in mind.  You always want to be injury free when beginning a routine in the weight room.  If you have nagging injuries, meet with a qualified professional in order to rehabilitate.  If you have never had training in how to use weight lifting equipment, I suggest meeting with a personal trainer for an orientation before beginning a program.

With this blog entry, I hope to help you establish your goals for strength training, and begin establishing a foundation for how to start.  Overall, every woman should train for strength and balance because of the health benefits for the cardiovascular system, muscles, and bones.  From that point, toning and muscle definition can be an optional pursuit depending on your goals.

1. If you are new to weight lifting, you want your goal to be increasing your strength. 

• You shouldn't skip to the toning portion of your training program without sufficient muscular strength because it can lead to injury.  
• The goal here is 8-10 repetitions for each set using heavier weights from your repertoire. Twice per week you should train the entire body.
• My suggestion is that once you are comfortable using 10-20lbs dumbbell weights for most exercises in your routine, you are ready to move on.  This can take anywhere from 2-4 months depending on your level of strength prior to beginning training.

 2. Once you have sufficient strength, you should begin to incorporate balance into your program.

• This can be done in a variety of ways with a variety of equipment.  You should still have the goal of 8-10 repetitions, and training the entire body twice per week.
• Some examples: doing exercises with one leg or balancing on an exercise ball, doing different upper body exercises while in plank position instead of standing, etc. 
• My suggestions is that once you are comfortable using a variety of balance equipment for your workout, you can move on to toning your muscles.  This can also take anywhere from 2-4 months.

 3. With a good foundation of strength and balance, you are now ready to begin toning the muscles you've been strengthening.

• This requires more repetitions than training for increased strength.  The goal is 12-15 repetitions for each exercise set.
• Your goal should be to train the upper body once and the lower body once per week, doing more than one exercise for each muscle group.
• It is best to use a wide variety of equipment and exercises - machine weights, free weights, and body weight.
• This phase of training can be continued indefinitely.  The longer you are in this phase, the more you'll notice which muscle groups you need to focus on.

Put together your weight lifting regimen with confidence, knowing this will be helpful in your journey towards weight loss and improved health.  If you feel that you are stuck in a rut with your current routine, don't be afraid to change things up and train in a way that you wouldn't normally choose to do.  Always find a way to enjoy your weight lifting routine so that you can get the maximum results from it!

Part 1: Women, Weight Lifting, & Weight Loss - Myth vs. Fact

As a personal trainer, I often get questions from women who are concerned with their [lack of] muscle tone.  They are usually in the gym several days per week, but are not seeing their muscles change.  The motivation is present, but the results are lacking. 

I usually find that somewhere in a woman's journey towards weight loss, she has noticed two things.  First, she notices that she is losing weight (the intended goal); second, she notices that even though she has lost the desired amount of weight, the actual shape of her body has not changed.  In other words, she is just a thinner version of her old self.  For some women, this is enough, but for others, they desire that toned, muscular physique.

The key to changing your physique as a woman is to invest time in the weight room actually lifting weights, in addition to maintaining your cardiovascular fitness.  I sometimes have women who push back against this idea, most often out of fear that certain myths concerning women and weight lifting are true.  The following are some of the most common myths I hear:

1. Myth: I'm afraid that if I lift weights regularly, I will "bulk up."  Fact: A woman lacks the needed amount of testosterone to truly "bulk up" from lifting weights.

Don't worry!  Unless you are taking a banned substance to help you out in the weight room, you will not bulk up like a man does.

2. Myth: If I devote some of my time to weight lifting instead of devoting all of it to cardio, I'll gain weight back.  Fact: The combination of weight lifting and cardio actually INCREASES the amount of weight a woman can lose and keep off.

The combination of cardio and weight lifting helps increase the amount of calories you spend in a single session of exercise, thereby helping you to burn more fat in the long run and keep it off.

3. Myth:  There are only certain parts of my body that I'm concerned about toning, so I don't need to worry about toning my entire body.  Fact: It is impossible to "spot tone" parts of the body; toning the entire body keeps your musculature balanced and injury free.

I talk with women all the time who really want to spend time toning their tummy and inner thighs, and that's about all they want to do.  This will not work; if you only strength train a few parts of your body, your muscles will become imbalanced, leading to an injury.  Also, and for reasons that are too deep to explore in this blog entry, training all the muscles of your body will benefit each individual muscle.  Even if a particular muscle group is not being specifically worked, it is still acting as a stabilizing muscle for other exercises.

If you're curious about what you can do to gain muscle tone, stay tuned for Part 2: Women, Weight Lifting, & Weight Loss - How do I do it? coming next week.  You always want to have a plan when you hit the weights; if you don't have a goal in mind, you'll never know if you're making progress towards it.  I want to help you find that goal and make a plan of action!