Why should women lift weights?

Introduction

For fat loss and muscle tone at least, the thing that I hear many women ask is, "what's the best thing that I can do to achieve this goal?"

Is it cardio? Are classes better? How about abdominal training because thats the area I want to lose my 'weight' from?

STOP!!!

Allow me to shed some light on this topic;

1) Doing cardio alone will help you become smaller than you are (under the assumption that you are creating a calorie deficit with a combination of food and exercise) but that's all it will do! You won't look anymore toned, you won't necessarily be able to see shape on your abdomen and you will likely become what's know in the industry as skinny fat. You will become a smaller version of your not toned self unless you have exceptional genetics in terms of muscularity (which is uncommon).

2) Depending on the class, you could see a benefit if they incorporate some weights and HIIT training. Sorry guys but Zumba, Legs, bums and tums and yoga classes aren't going to help with the outlined goals of losing fat and achieving a more toned physique. 

If you do like the classes then do them but do them for fun, not for a specific training goal as they are generalized not designed specifically for you. I will always encourage keeping active and doing exercises that you enjoy. 

3) Training abdominals for fat loss without having a structured nutrition and resistance training plan in place is like having a large pizza to yourself with a salad on the side. Its pointless...

So how do ladies lose fat then?

Both the males and females burn fat and improve muscle tone by being in a deficit of calories and performing resistance exercise that allow you to grow or retain muscle whilst being in a calorie deficit.

The only difference being, that women naturally have higher estrogen levels than men, which can make it a little more difficult to achieve fat loss as fast as their male counterpart. It is still very achievable though and it can be done with a few little tricks.

There are three ways to burn fat

1) I'm going to sound like a broken record here.... Be in a calorie deficit!

2) Manage your insulin levels. Don't let them spike too sharply and try to keep them stable throughout the day.

3) Increase the size of your overall musculature.

How do we do that?

1) Simply burn more calories than you consume. There are lots of different ways to track this however, the easiest way is to just eat very slightly smaller portions and gently over a period of 2-3 week's increase your activity to 30-45 mins per day with 1 day per week of eating a little more than the other six. This allows for balance because you should have everything in moderation including moderation.

2) You stop your insulin levels from spiking by limiting the amount of processed foods that you consume, cutting sugar out of your diet and eating a variety of foods that have a low glycemic index whilst increasing your protein and healthy fat intake. Protein, fibre and fat cause no insulin response. You can consume your food in the order of veggies and salad, then protein followed by carbohydrate. This reduces the insulin spike from the carbohydrate, helps to manage your blood sugar levels and will balance out your hormones.

3)To build muscle, we need to have a training routine in place that is based around resistance training. Now that doesn't mean that you will end up looking like the hulk. In fact, this is a myth for most women (and most men quite frankly) and is very frustrating to those that know how hard it is to gain muscle without gaining too much fat.

One of my favourite analogies for using weight training to achieve fat loss is;

"If you put a steak onto the barbecue what happens? The steak goes from being soft and and large with a higher fat content, to the steak shrinking, getting firmer and the fat drips out."

This is what happens when you do weights. Your body will shrink because you'll lose fat and your muscles will become firmer and more toned. 

Having more muscle will speed up your metabolic rate (the number of calories that you burn each day) and maks it easier to achieve a deficit of calories.

Summary

When you combine the three methods above you will achieve a steady fat loss and long term success. There are many 'fad' diets out there that promise fast results and some do deliver what they say.

If you want long term fat loss and a toned physique, then follow the advise above and you'll be sure to make an improvement.

Always remember that when embarking on any exercise routine you should always have a health check with your doctor first and consult a trained professional who can advise you on how to safely perform the correct exercises to help you achieve your goals.

Stay strong, be happy and enjoy your journey.

BC

Alternatives to traditional cardio

Let's face it, if you want to have any decent level of fitness or athleticism you are going to have to perform some kind of cardiovascular exercise. There are however less boring/tedious ways do do cardio other than just going for a jog, up hill walk on the treadmill, a cycle or doing the x-trainer for 30-45mins three times per week.

I want to start by explaining the definition of cardiovascular exercise. Cardiovascular exercise has two different energy systems.

- Aerobic system... This refers to your body using oxygen to perform an exercise for a prolonged period of time at a generally light to moderate pace of around 60%-85% of your maximum heart rate. Aerobic exercise can be fuelled by glycogen reserves, fat reserves or a combination of both.

-Anerobic system... This refers to your body working for a short period of time at a high percentage of your maximum heart rate, usually over 85%, in which case your body is initially powered by glycogen which is the body's prefered source of energy. Glycogen is stored in the liver and muscles. Glycogen, when needed, reacts with oxygen and produces carbon dioxide and water to then produce energy for our body to use in short bursts.

Now the Science is out of the way lets get down to the good stuff...

3 ALTERNATIVE WAYS TO DO CARDIO

Sometimes it is hard work to get motivated to get on the treadmill, stationary bike or x-trainer with a goal of using up any excess glycogen and to burn some body fat.

What if I was to tell you that you could burn off that extra glycogen and fat without your joints taking the impact of pounding the treadmill or the tediousness of the stationary bike or x-trainer and get fitter at the same time! Interested?

CIRCUITS
Circuits are great because you can really elevate your heart rate for 30-45 mins with your heart rate in the 60%-85% range. This can be done on resistance machines or free weights or even just with your own bodyweight. That is why circuits are so good. You can tailor your workout to what equipment you have available to you.

I have provided a sample circuit below but feel free to create your own. You can add ANY exercise to this circuit and it will fit right in.

Start off by doing 3-5sets of the exercises below and build it up to 10 sets.

(1) Bodyweight Squats x10
(2) Press Ups x10
(3) Crunchies x10
(4) Burpees x10
(5) Alternate Leg Lunges x10 on each leg
(6) Plank for a 30 second count
(7) Back extensions x10
(8) Chin Ups or Horizontal Rows x10
(9) Hip thrusts x10
(10) Leg Raises x10

You will find this very challenging at first but your body will quickly adapt, gaining both aerobic fitness and muscular tone at the same time. Due to the variety of different exercises your mind is active and the time goes much faster than when you do traditional cardio.

TABATA
The Tabata protocol was created by a Japanese man named Izumi Tabata. The idea of this protocol is to quickly create an oxygen debt which you will recognise from the lack of breath that you have. This will quickly make your body use up your stored sugar (glycogen) which then forces your body to use stored fat (once your glycogen levels are low enough) for energy.

The Protocol
5 min warm up (a walk, cycle or gentile mobility would be fine)

Choose any cardio machine/bodyweight exercise (like a burpee or jump squat)/ weighted compound exercise (like a squat or deadlift) and do 8x20 seconds of work as fast as possible (with good technique) followed by 10 seconds of rest.

Do a 2 min cool down (a walk, gentile cycle or some stretches  )

The Tabata Protocol is intense and they are great at the end of a weights workout to burn off any excess glycogen and to start tapping into your fat storage cells.

COMPLEXES
Complexes are a combination of three or more compound exercises (an exercise that uses two or more joints and multiple muscle groups at once) done consecutively without rest, using the same peice of equipment (usually a barbell or dumbbells). Complexes are very good for increasing fitness and burning fat. They also have the added benefit of allowing you to tone up whilst doing something a bit more creative that standard steady state cardio.

An example complex routine would be as follows;

3-5 sets with a 1 min rest period:
X5 Power Cleans
X5 Front Squats
X5Push Press.
X5 Back Squat
X10 Press Ups

This will be very challenging both physically and mentally but the rewards gained from complexes are well worth the effort. Don't forget that this is just a sample routine. Please feel free to get as creative as you want with this.

So there we have it! Three alternatives to doing your traditional cardio that should keep your interest and get you burning stubborn fat in no time...

If you have any questions then please leave a comment and I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Until next time. Have fun, get creative and in the words of Mark Bell, Strength is never a weakness and weakness is never a strength.

BC