Facts and Myths

Since the 1950’s women have been strength training to aid in their sporting performance. Yet, unfortunately, misconceptions about weight training haven’t grown old with the times. Typically, women shy away from such a valuable exercise because they are afraid of bulking up or getting “manly.” Well, let’s explore the truth below, and see what’s really going on, ladies!

Myth #1: “I’m going to get big and bulky like Hulk Hogan!”
Ladies, you will not bulk up, plain and simple. And no, big manly muscles will not develop over time; in fact, the female body builders you see on television typically train for four hours a day while consuming anabolic steroids over the course of several years. Hey, even men can’t bulk up unless they take supplements! The reality: You will gain a better body composition! That is, your ratio of fat mass to lean muscle mass will start favoring that muscle mass. For instance, one study of young women who were weight training an average 3 days per week over the course of eight weeks lost about 3.5 pounds of fat mass and gained around 1.75 pounds of lean, beautiful muscle.

Myth #2: “I’ll gain weight and look fat!”
Actually, muscle is denser than fat mass, so it’s going to take up less space in your body. While pound for pound it may “weigh” slightly more than fat, the reality is that you will not in the least bit look larger, fatter, or bigger. In fact, you will look leaner. Your pants size will decrease in inches as will other areas of your body. You see, weight is only a number, and you can’t count on that number as a true representation of what you will look like. More accurately, you should be looking at inches lost to represent body transformation. Weight lifting will certainly help with this. Moreover, muscle gain balances in ratio to fat loss.

Myth #3: “Pilates and Yoga are just as good as Strength Training.”
This isn’t quite accurate. While the benefits of yoga and strength training are great, strength training wins the prize. In terms of degree, weight training is definitely the supreme method for building muscular strength. Pilates and Yoga focus on very controlled movements that depend on body weight to build muscle. As well, they are wonderful exercises to aid in meditation and relaxation. However, incorporating them into your exercise routine instead of strength training isn’t a great idea. They should be considered an enhancement rather than a replacement.

Myth #4: “I will have to eat more protein when I weight train.”
The fact is the typical American eats far more protein in a day than they should. In fact, if you make a fist with your hand, you will be viewing a good size portion of meat. Yet, most restaurants serve around three times the size of that portion. Moreover, only power athletes really need to consume extra protein in a day, and this is a minimal increase at that.

Myth #5: “Weight training is too expensive and time consuming.”
First, if you have time to watch the O.C. or any popular weekly program, than you have time for a few weekly strength training sessions. It’s all about priorities, ladies. And in the long run, the benefits of a better body will outweigh some program you can’t even remember. Depending on the type of strength training you do on a typical day, you’ll only need 20 minutes to an hour out of your 24-hour day. Also, weight training can fit into any budget. Just check out your local sporting goods store for a variety of free weights at decent prices. Similarly, it may be a good idea to check out Google for better deals on free weights. Comparing prices is always consumer savvy, and you may be able to find some smashing closeouts on the ever popular ebay. Moreover, if you’re a student you should check out your gymnasium facilities because student gyms are often free or memberships are offered at next to nothing prices. As for joining a gym, make sure to ask for an initial trial, to see whether it suits your personal needs and goals. Another helpful tip is to try to find a deal depending on the time of year. For instance, during the holiday season gyms often offer wonderful rates or specials. And some even offer couples specials. So, you may want to motivate your partner to join in your plans.

Myth #6: “Women should avoid high-intensity training.”
You don’t have to avoid strength training machines ladies. And certainly don’t be too shy to add on weight just because you think it may look unfeminine. This merely correlates to our culture’s perceptions about femininity and delicacy, which is totally off and ridiculous. In fact, lifting solely dumbbells may not be enough resistance to gain the lean body you’d truly like. Moreover, you have more in you than you can imagine, ladies. You definitely have the capacity to strength train at higher intensities and volumes. Additionally, higher volumes and capacities are the means to creating adaptation in muscle, cartilage, bone, ligaments, and tendons. So, to reap the best of benefits, at least once per week perform a weight routine at the maximum repetition for all exercises.

Myth #7: “Abdomen machines work better than the crunch.”
Please, please, please don’t let another infomercial sway your gut instinct: They just aren’t any better in performance than the tried and true abdominal crunch! All of this high tech machinery needs to be put to the grave. Often, they are difficult to use and inaccurate performance becomes normal by participants. And what’s more is the expense! Well, the crunch is free, easily learned, and just plain better than any machine you could own.

You Lift, You Lose

Many other types of exercise are beneficial for fat loss, strength training is by far “the key” to losing fat in this plan. Not only you will lose body fat but you will also gain muscle tone. Even though you might not burn a great deal of calories during your strength training workout, you will ultimately burn a greater amount of fat. The addition of muscle tone on an individual will cause an increase in the number of calories that are burned at rest. So it is reassuring to know while one is exerting themselves through a high intensity workout that the hard work will result in a faster metabolism that continues to burn calories even after the workout. As I have mentioned in the Nutrition Part of the book Mind Over Body, for each pound of muscle you carry, you’ll burn an additional 50 calories. Think of it, how would you like to be burning extra calories even when sitting and having a nice conversation with friends? The extra consumption is on a constant basis, that means that if you gain a mere three pounds of muscles, you will be able to burn 1050 of extra calories per week, regardless or you working out or not, resulting in losing 15 pounds of fat in one year, providing that your nutritional plan is in accordance with your goals.. Strength training promotes greater post exercise oxygen consumption than cardio with effect lasting up to fifteen hour.

Here are some of the many benefits of strength training:

• Increases muscle tone.
• Decreases body fat.
• Raise metabolic rate.
• Strengthen your bones.
• Increased functional strength for daily activity.
• You look better.
• You feel better.
• Improves self esteem and confidence.
• You have more stamina.
• You are better able to deal with stress.
• You may even enjoy it.

Activities that improve your strength are:

• Free weights.
• Machines.
• Pilates (reformer or mat class).
• Power Yoga

Source:

Mind Over Body: The Key To Lasting Weight Loss Is All In Your Head! (Warner Books/Springboard Press)

3 Bad Habits That are Making You Fat, Sick and Unhappy - Without You Even Knowing it!

You wouldn't expect these habits to make you fat, sick and unhappy - but they do.

1. Skipping Breakfast

Many people skip breakfast thinking it will help them to lose weight.

"Fewer calories in - more fat burned."

The reality is that skipping breakfast actually lowers your metabolism so that at your next meal you'll tend to overeat.

To make it worse, the food you eat on a lowered metabolism is more likely to be stored as fat.

Avtar’s mindful tip: Never! Never! Never skip your breakfast. You need to BREAK (the) FAST by consuming high quality protein, carbohydrates and fat. Breakfast is the most important of all your meals.

2. Staying Up Late

The opposite would seem to make sense: If you stay up late, you burn more calories. Burn more calories, burn more fat.

Right?

Unfortunately, staying up late can set off a multi-pronged attack on your body composition.

First, sleep is vital for recovery. If you don't get enough sleep, your body won't build as much muscle mass - no matter how much time you spend in the gym. Less muscle mass = less fat burning power.

Next, if you are sleep-deprived, you increase levels of the stress hormone "cortisol." The connection between stress/cortisol and obesity is well established, but it gets worse.

A recent study (Epel, Yale) shows that cortisol related fat storage tends to be around the vital organs - the worst possible place to store fat in your body.

If that's not enough, lack of sleep is linked with glucose intolerance (diabetes), lower Growth Hormone levels, a weakened immune system, low energy, and more ...

Avtar’s mindful tip: This is NOT to be taken lightly! Get a full night's sleep (7 to 9 hours), but make sure your place of rest is peaceful and pitch dark. Your natural sleep hormone, melatonin, is suppressed when there is too much light.

3. Prescription Drugs

Many of the drugs you are prescribed increase appetite, cause edema, or slow our metabolism. That's a recipe for getting, and looking, fatter.

The most commonly used drugs that have these effects are oral contraceptives, many anti-depressants, and estrogen replacements.

Avtar’s mindful tip: Check with your doctor to see about finding suitable alternatives that won't make you fat.