Weight Training for Weight Loss.

You swim, you run, and you bike but you avoid the weight room at all costs. First, because you wouldn't know what to do with free weights even if you could lift them, and second, because your goal is to whittle your waist, not to look like a professional wrestler. Am I right? 


Q: why on earth would I lift weights when I can burn more calories with cardio?


Answer: A sweaty cardio session will burn more calories than pumping iron in 30 minutes of exercise BUT lifting weights increases your ratio of lean muscle mass to fat. We all know that muscle burns more calories that fat, meaning that women who add strength training to their workout routines continue to burn calories after they leave the gym - the "afterburn". SCORE!!

The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research cites that women who completed an hour-long strength-training workout burned an average of 100 more calories in the 24 hours afterward than they did when they hadn't lifted weights.
William Kraemer, PhD, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine says that for women who want to lose weight or prevent weight gain (most, if not all of us), strength training is key: Women in their mid-30s begin to lose 5-10 % of muscle strength each decade. Since muscle burns an estimated three times more calories than fat, adding two to four pounds of muscle can translate into an extra 100 calories burned each day.


Use Womens Health Magazine's weight training tips:
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/weight-training-tips

As you increase your lean muscle, you will decrease your body fat % - boosting your metabolism and burning more calories throughout the day without any extra effort. Our workouts need to be a combination of aerobic and strength training exercises ladies!! Lifting weights will not only help us build lean muscle, but will also help strengthen our bones, boost our immune systems and improve our self esteem on top of seeing our bodies transform into fat-busting machines!! 


CHALLENGE: this week, add two full-body strength training routines to your workout. Do 10-12 reps for each move, repeat for two to three sets. 
** note: ask a fitness professional to give you a demo of your facility machines.