Weight Training for Women August 18, 2009

Weight training for women is considered to be one of the most effective ways of losing weight. Unfortunately it is typically seen as a masculine sport or activity and not for women. Some women and men even feel that weight training is rather unladylike. This perception keeps a lot of women from considering weight training as an option for weight loss and/or body toning. The fact however is that apart from increasing your metabolism, it develops lean muscles in your body by burning a lot of calories.

A lot of people believe that cardio training is all that is needed to burn fat and lose weight. While it is true that you will burn calories, fitness strength training or resistance training as it is also called, helps to speed up your metabolism which in turn burns a lot more calories. The difference between cardio and resistance training is that with resistance training you can target specific parts of your body.

The best way to boost your fat burning diets is to adopt a regular resistance training routine. You will lose body fat and increase lean muscle and as a result you will end up being fitter and looking more toned.

One word of warning though, you can’t go from couch potato to a svelte body fitness model overnight. You will have to lose the fat that you’ve been carrying around before your muscles have a chance to show off at their best. There will be some hard work and persistence needed on your part but as you start feeling better your regular workout can become a lot of fun.

I feel very strongly about the benefits of resistance training for women and I would encourage you to take it up and begin working out 3 days a week. I do my training on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The reason for the day in between is to give your muscles a chance to rest and firm up.

If you don’t have enough time to go to the gym regularly or don’t feel comfortable working out with other people around you, than Click Here to have a look at the “Gym in a Bag” option. This is a portable multigym that meets the demands of any regular resistance training program.

Working out regularly at home makes a lot of sense.

Fitness Strength Training July 12, 2009

Improve your bone density

I have always been reasonably fit and usually eat regular healthy meals, except that I just simply don’t like milk. My calcium intake over the years has been mainly other dairy products such as cheese and butter but it turned out that this was simply not enough.

I had heard something about a bone density scan that can measure the strength of your bones and when a few years ago I asked my doctor about this, he suggested that we have one done to see how mine looked at that stage. The result wasn’t exactly good. While I didn’t have osteoporosis yet, the scan showed that I had osteopenia and was getting very close to osteoporosis. For anyone not familiar with the scan measurements, the standard measurement looks at the bone density of a healthy 30 year old and allows for age matched deterioration there after. My bone density was found to be 2.3 standard deviations below the mean while osteoporosis starts at 2.5 deviations below. Obviously there wasn’t much leeway. The doctor’s comment when we discussed this was “Well my girl, it’s off to the gym with you to lift some weights”. Given that I had never worked out before I was, to say the least, a little apprehensive. Fortunately I found a good gym and an excellent personal trainer who worked out a program geared specifically to improving muscle strength, without bulking up, which in turn should increase bone strength.

Easing into it

The first few months working out required some perseverance but it soon became enjoyable. One important thing though that I had overlooked was to adjust my diet and as a result, I actually lost some muscle in the first couple of months instead of gaining. Fortunately, my trainer noticed this with the first assessment, asked me what my diet consisted of and suggested some simple changes. The main point was that I was not getting enough protein, particularly after my workout, and hence the muscle loss. This was fixed by making sure to always have a high protein meal within 1 hour of finishing a workout. A favourite best protein for me is a couple of pieces of light crisp bread with cottage cheese and red salmon. Of course there are many other options that would be equally good but with some careful reading of labels on bottles and jars most people should be able to find something equally suitable. If in doubt, talking to a nutritionist would also be a great idea, because he/she will help you work out the right diet plan for you. You can exercise all you want, but if you’re not getting the right diet you won’t be able to achieve the maximum benefit.

Best Protein Choices

Has all this worked out for me? You better believe it! One year after the first bone density scan, I had another one done and the improvement was great. I had progressed from almost osteoporosis to an acceptable level of bone density for my age group. Being over 65 by that time however did not mean that I was out of the woods yet. Through the year I had really started to enjoy my workouts as well as the social aspect of the gym and hence I continued. My exercise routines were changed on a regular basis to make sure that my whole body would continue to benefit rather than plateau out. After another year, my doctor arranged another bone density scan and the results were absolutely fantastic. From having almost had osteoporosis, my bone density had improved to the level where it is now above the standard for a healthy 30 years woman. My doctor was so pleased with this result that he asked me if he could use the details in a medical paper on the subject that he was about to publish. Needless to say, I had no problem sharing this with anyone.

The message of my story, FITNESS STRENGTH TRAINING is great at any age but for anyone over 65, female or male, I would suggest that it is a must! You don’t have to work very hard but you need to do it regularly. And very importantly, don’t forget, osteoporosis in women is talked about regularly but men can be just as much affected. So, go to it! Get into fitness strength training while you’re young and enjoy a happy healthy body for a long, long time to come! Did you know that our bone density reaches it peak at only 30 years of age and from there on we gradually lose it? Needless to say, get your bones as strong as possible by the time that you are 30 because the thicker your bones are at that age, the longer it takes to develop osteopenia or worse still osteoporosis.

Go to the gym if possible but if for whatever reason you can’t get there, there are loads of different options that can have equally good results. More on that subject in my next post.

Training for the City to Surf July 7, 2009

A new fitness strength training venture.

Today is the first day of a new venture. I’ve signed up for the City to Surf, a 14km Fun Run in Sydney, based on the Bay to Breakers, going from the centre of the city to Bondi Beach. Of course the use of “FUN” in the description could be a bit of a misnomer. Doing 14km on level ground isn’t all that much but there is a stretch referred to as “Heart Break Hill” which takes a bit of sweat and in some case tears. One way of putting it would be that it makes for a great all over bodybuilding workout.

Early stage of training

I have started training and while I’m in the back of the pack and am not aiming to win, I sure will put my best foot forward to go the distance. I’ve never done this before but there is a first time for everything and let’s face it, we all need a challenge from time to time. I started about 5 years ago with fitness strength training because a bone density scan showed that my poor old skeleton could do with some improvement and my doctor strongly recommended that I do some back workout and general weight training. Not having a multigym at home I started going to the gym and it has worked wonders for me. With the improvements that I have made I should be in reasonable shape to get to the finish of the City to Surf within the maximum stipulated time.

Long distance training

The event has been going for quite some time. Here are some interesting points that were published by the organisers today.

Did You Know?

• The Sun-Herald City2Surf turns 39 this year
• There are still 39 legends alive today who have competed in all 39 City2Surf runs
• The event has been wholly owned and run by Fairfax for all 39 years
• The race was inspired by the San Francisco ‘Bay to Breakers’, but has since grown to be much bigger
• The first run in 1971 attracted just over 2,000 entrants and began on George St in front of the Town Hall
• In 2002 the race was named the largest timed road race in the world
• Women finally outnumbered men in the 2006 race
• The record is held by Steve Monaghetti with a time of 40.03 and was set in 1991
• In 2005, Victorian Anna Thompson took line honours in both The Sun-Herald City2Surf and The Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon

One thing not mentioned here is that from the original 2,000 entrants the total number of entrants has grown over the years to a total of 70,000 last year. You’d have to take your hat of to the organisers who have to manage all this.

The organisers have published a recommended training schedule that I have added to my regular fitness strength training routine. Some of the walking I can do on the treadmill in the gym but the longer distance walks are much more enjoyable done outside. I am fortunate that I have an excellent choice of both level walks close by some good hilly walks not too far away. Combining this training with good nutrition that includes best protein such as oily type fish should have me in good enough shape on the 9th August which is the date of the event.

So why am I doing all this? Simply put “Use it or Lose it” and while my 21^st birthday was many, many moons ago I have no intention whatsoever of losing it yet. I’ll keep you posted from time to time on my progress.

One further thing to mention here, as part of this fun run, a lot of people use the event to raise funds for charity. I have decided to do this too and have chosen the Guide Dogs for the Blind as my favourite charity. I am trying to raise as much money as I can for this great cause and your help would be much appreciated. Please click here to visit my fundraising page to find out all about it. I know that money can be tight in the current economic climate but please dig deep to sponsor me. Every donation, however small, will be much appreciated and will help a blind person to become just as independent as you and I are.