Weight Training 101
Weight training seems to intimidate some people, particularly women. As a personal trainer it is my job to formulate the most effective weight training program to achieve the wanted results. I go over with my clients, especially female clients, that weight training is essential for full body transformation. Added muscle not only burns more calories it also changes the contour of the body. The more muscle you have the more calories you’ll burn. Also, a 150 pound body with muscle looks healthier, more toned, and shapely than a 150 pound body without muscle. So ladies, don’t worry about lifting heavy weights and bulking up like a man. Simple genetics does not allow a woman to gain the muscle mass a man would because of the hormone testosterone. Women don’t have near the levels of testosterone that men do and therefore will not bulk up like a man. Also, men naturally have much larger muscles than women. Yes, you can bulk up like a man if you want to but that will require an extreme diet plan, a lot of time in the gym, I mean hours a day, not to mention the use of illegal drugs. If you’re not willing to commit to that type of routine then please don’t be concerned about lifting heavy weights. I lift very heavy weights and fluctuate between 130 and 140 pounds and I don’t have a huge manly man frame by any means. Men, if you’re looking to tone up and don’t want to bulk up too much you still need to lift heavy but you’ll want to stay away from mass building moves such as one rep maxes and power moves such as cleans and presses. I won’t avoid power moves completely because they’re great for revving up the heart rate and burning a lot of calories, but use them in moderation.
Okay, weight training 101, whether you’re a man or a woman, is pretty simple. Like I said before the more muscle you have the more calories you’ll burn. That being true you don’t want to spend all your time in the gym building up the smaller muscle groups of the body. Instead you want to target the larger muscle groups which include the legs, chest, and back. Those are the three largest muscle groups in the body. Spend your time building muscle here so you can burn big calories. The smaller muscle groups such as shoulder, biceps, triceps, and abs you can target towards the end of the workout. These smaller muscle groups are all involved when the larger muscle are engaged. For example, the biceps are being worked when you perform a lat pulldown and the triceps are being worked when performing a push up. If you work these smaller muscle groups out at the very beginning of the workout then when you work the larger muscles you won’t be able to perform the set as well because of the fatigue of the smaller muscles. It will take a lot more work to fatigue the larger muscles than the smaller ones so make sure you work them first and get the best set in possible. I typically work the core all the way through the workout both directly and indirectly. I find it essential to have a strong core in order to achieve proper form.
Some exercises that work the larger muscle groups are squats and lunges for the legs, push ups and bench presses for the chest, and lat pulldowns and standing rows for the back. Now, go have an amazing workout and obtain the quality of life you desire!
