The biggest thing likely to put women off seriously lifting weights is the thought they will turn bulky and masculine. Of course the bottom picture is fake, but seriously,many women are put off by the thought they will turn into some muscle bound freak show the moment they pick up a dumbell.
That is really so far off the mark. Women just do not have the genes to naturally build that much muscle, Most of the bulky, masculine women you see in some gyms, are certainly taking something to boost their muscle mass.
One of the key differences and this also account for the variation in male to female sex drive , is testosterone. Apart from the main function of the so called sex hormone, testosterone to produce male reproductive tissues such as testes and prostrate. It also promotes secondary sexual characteristics such as muscle building, bone mass and body hair. Put simply, in order to build muscle the body needs testosterone. So when I tell you on average the male body produces about 16 times that of the female, we then start to realise how the she-man effect is created. testosterone is a natural anabolic steroid. The big, bulky muscle bound females will inevitably be taking something, either anabolic steroids, testosterone pills or both. This will also account for the beards and hairy chests .
So we move past the myth and look into the huge benefits to women lifting weights.
1 Huge impact on fat loss.
If your thinking is that weightlifting only benefits those who
want shirt-ripping arms? Think again.
Although many people consider weightlifting only a means to add
size, when contrasted head-to-head against cardiovascular exercise, resistance
training comes out on top in the battle to burn calories.
The huge advantage to weight training is your body's ability to
burn fat during and after exercise. Muscle has a daily metabolic rate roughly 4 times more than fat, meaning. A lean muscular body will use about 4 times more energy, (calories) per day to perform normal body functions. Add this to the exercise you do and your body becomes a fat burning machine.
2 Body shape and curves.
As you build muscle, your body begins to take a nice hourglass
shape. Though endurance exercise can help you lose weight, that weight comes in
the form of both fat and muscle tissue. The body will use energy from Carb,muscle and fat in that order. The energy required for running , specially long distance running can mean the loss of muscle as well as fat.
If you're losing both fat and muscle, you can lose those lovely
curves as well. Strength training can help create and sustain them.
3 More Muscle more calories burnt
As you increase strength and lean muscle mass, your body uses calories more efficiently. Daily muscle contractions from a simple blink to a heavy squat contribute to how many calories you burn in a given day. Sitting burns fewer calories than standing; standing burns fewer than walking, and walking burns fewer than strength training.
The more muscle contractions you experience during a day, the more calories you'll burn. If you have more lean muscle mass, you'll have more muscle contractions and thus burn more calories.
4 Improved Sleep
Strength training greatly improves sleep quality, aiding in your
ability to fall asleep faster, sleep deeper, and wake less often during the
night.
A study published in the International SportMed Journal suggests
that morning resistance training or high intensity training greatly affects the
quality of sleep and lengthens the time of sleep the night after training.
5 Healthy Heart
Pumping iron can reduce your risk of heart disease and was
approved as a healthy form of exercise for those at risk from both The British
Heart Foundation and the American Heart Association. A study in the Journal of
Strength and Conditioning found that those who lift weights are less likely
have heart disease risk factors such as a large waist circumference, high
triglycerides, elevated blood pressure, and elevated glucose levels.
Another study conducted by researchers in Brazil found that
though the heart rate increased in patients during heavy bouts of training,
their blood pressure and resting heart rate were significantly lower the
following morning.
6 Bone Health
As you age, you are at risk of losing both bone and muscle mass.
Postmenopausal women are at a greater risk for osteoporosis because the body no
longer secretes estrogen. Resistance training is an excellent way to combat
loss of bone mass, and it decreases the risk of osteoporosis.A study varios studies found that after a year of resistance training,
postmenopausal women increased spinal bone mass by 9 percent. The
earlier you begin weightlifting, the greater chance you have to maintain bone
health later in life.
For more from PT Wayne check out the Friends 2 Fitness Web site.
It is called personal training for exactly that reason. A good PT will not only develop and build a specific and personal program designed for your requirements and particular goals but also encourage and evolve a unique professional relationship.
The bondship between a trainer and client will start with a connection, this might be the style of training or particular way they motivate but more often than not its down to personality. Far too often I see PT's sat behind a reception desk, heads down looking at some form of screen. Then they question why they have few clients and struggle to develop business. The only USP they have is THEM . So why these guys and girls don't get out there and talk to people I will never understand ? PT's need to get on the gym floor, showing potential clients what they are about, offer some free advice or maybe demonstrate something different.
These days anyone can download a youtube video or fitness app but how impersonal is that ? Most people know how to exercise or as I have said, they can easily get some internet assistance but a qualified trainer is far better equipped to find the means and motivation to make sure you get results.
So how do you go about looking for a Personal Trainer?
Obviously the first place to start looking is on your own gym floor, watch how the trainers are working. Specifically look at the variation of exercise, how he or she demonstrates and motivates. Once you have a particular trainer in mind check out their credentials!! Now guys I'm not talking biceps here and girls certainly not butts.
By credentials I am talking qualifications, experience, insurance and particularly REP registration. Most reputable fitness establishments insist on membership of REPs. The Register or Exercise Professionals. Reps will have details of each individuals qualification. They will also insist on proof of suitable insurance. In my opinion any reputable Personal Trainer will be a member of their professional body, REPS , If they are not then I would question why. It isn't expensive so my first question to an unregistered PT would be how do you prove your insured and qualified?
Value for money
When you have a trainer in mind but certainly before you commit to any form of program, I suggest you request an email or similar with rates for sessions and what is included. Prices can vary from area to area and trainer to trainer. Also look at the options of training with a friend. Not all trainers do so but I am always keen to offer value by having 1 on 2 or 1 on 3 sessions . I fact I charge the same rate for 1/2/3 clients in a session. Main reason being rest between sets is key when resistance training and most exercise is performed better with a bit of competition and training with a friend or partner can encourage this. Obviously then a £28 session becomes £14 each for 2.
Always consider though, that the cheapest trainer may not offer the best value for money. Check out reviews, ask previous clients or anyone you know they are working with.
Finally before you commit, ask for a consultation, a good pt will usually ask you to complete a questionnaire and par-q . This will be to assess your current fitness levels, your goals and requirements as well any medical issues or considerations. The initial consultation can also sometimes include some testing and maybe weighing and measuring. Look for a deal, its beneficial to your trainer to fill his diary so you can often get a deal by prepaying for blocks of 10 or so.
There's a really cool, smart machine at my gym,, it measures your body composition in % and kg. It'll tell you how much water you have, muscle mass and fat! Amazing, right!?
I've tested myself 2 weeks ago, and I was positively surprised with the results. 90 points out of 100 for the body composition, 15.8% fat and a decent amount of lean muscle mass. I was chuffed and motivated to push it a bit more. My end goal 13% of body fat to finish "cutting".
After 2 weeks, excited as hell, I jump on the magic machine again just to find out that I LOST WEIGHT, LOST 1 KG OF MUSCLE AND GAINED 0.4% OF FAT
The mother of gains! Why!?
So here's a list of things you need to go through if it happens to you:
✔ PROTEINS - you need a good amount of proteins in your diet to maintain and/or build muscles. Typically 1.5 - 2.0 g per body weight in kg. Definitely not my case as even on my naughty days I make sure I get 140g of proteins. So let's look further...
✔ HYDRATION - your muscles are primarily made up of water. You need to stay hydrated for your body to function properly. Note that even 3% dehydration leads to great loss in muscle strength. Not my case again, as I can easily take in 3- 4 litres of water 🙃 what's next?
✔REST & SLEEP - you need to get a decent amount of sleep and rest in order to recover from hard workouts. Everyone differs, some people need 5 hours of sleep, some 8. You need to find you ideal! Let's dig in deeper!
✔ STRESS - that's what I think have contributed in this slight fat gain. Cortisol - the stress hormone reduces ability to burn fat, makes your cells less sensitive to insulin and raises your levels of fatty acids and tryglicerydes in your blood. I'm going to start doing yoga.
✔ TRAINING - here's where I made the mistake and here's where I'll talk about individuality! We need to be very careful with the training regime we choose when in a calorie deficit. You want to choose the training type that will stimulate your muscles and enhance fat burning.
2 weeks ago I gave a try to a 6,12, 25 method. For 1 muscle group you choose 3 exercises and do them back to back with no rest. First for 6 reps with long eccentric phase, second for 12 reps with 3 sec eccentric phase and last one is 25 rels dynamic 2:1 tempo. You repeat it 5 times.
As I like to go all out in my training I repeat my workouts 2x a week for each muscle group and even add 20 min steady cardio or tabata at the end just because it felt way to quick. That's basically how I must have burnt my muscles!
MORE DOESN'T MEAN BETTER
AND MOST OF THE TIME
LESS MEANS MORE
I am now going back to heavy lifts in max super sets, no more than 12 reps. Focusing on big moves, specially olympic lifts and adding hiit sessions as my cardio.
It's important to choose the training that makes you feel good and gives you results!
How hard do you find it to to deal with an injury that stops you from training,running or cycling?
Should you train through illness or rest and recover?
They say age is no boundary and I understand the phase but surely its harder at 50 than 25.
Fitness, exercise, diet and lifestyle are always discussed and promoted as key factors in living a full healthy life but are there detrimental factors in training hard.
Lets look at injury first.
I have often said to myself,clients and anyone inclined to listen, that if we were not prepared to run or train through a niggle or mild injury then we would seldom run at all. What I mean is how often do you run and feel completely injury free? Certainly as age creeps up on us it gets harder and harder to recover from exertion. Of course genes play a major part, we all know a Peter Pan than never seems to age and defies every additional year. But to most of us our joints, muscles and bones bare the brunt of time.
So should we ignore these little aches and pains or should we rest and clock up the sessions on the physios table?
Key point here is. I am obviously not a doctor, neither am I a medic of any sort. I know about bones,bodies,joints,muscles etc which helps me make decisions but if your in any doubt, see a medical professional. Having said that most doctors will when pushed admit it isn't an exact science. I'm sure i have told this story before but its very true. I had the old style cartilage operation on my knee at a very early age, 14 actually, a large part of it was trimmed and 2 years later the rest was removed. Both involved cuts and stitches. This procedure makes the joint prone to early arthritis and meant 3 further, Cleaning of the joint, Arthroscopes. 10 years later,age 30, an orthopedic surgeon told me if I was 20 years older then they would do a knee replacement but I was too young. The perfect excuse not to run. Only when I needed to lose weight and get fitter did I forget that excuse and start very slow jogging.This eventually lead to more serious running ( despite my large frame ) and a few sub 140 half marathons. Point being, my knees are far more pain free as a runner than pre-running. Many old school doctors will still advise,running is bad for the knees but more and more are advocating the huge benefits.
As
the nation and in some cases the world gets larger, by which I mean it's
people, US.
The
health, wealth and general condition of all of us is affected by body weight or
more accurately BODY FAT.
Life
expectancy now is still an awful lot longer than many years ago but not due to
the way we live. Imagine how long the caveman may have lived with current
medicines available and advanced clinical technology? This on top of their more
natural diet and exercise needed to survive. Most of us now live longer despite
our life styles not because of them.
I'm
not going to harp on about the obvious cost to our health service etc, but you
only have to spend half an hour at your local hospital to view the thousands of
people seeking treatment. What percentage of these have ailments at least
influenced by lifestyle choices if not caused by them? The smokers crowded around the doors,
youngsters with sugary drinks and obese young couples in mobility scooters queuing
for their Greggs.
So
why, when we all clearly know the positive and negative impact of diet and
exercise, do we largely ignore them?
Instead
of listing some, take my example. Right from my early twenties I have been
prone to add or lose body fat in short periods of time. In fact, I am writing
this now to change my mindset and kick
start a good few months of positive actions, purely because of other life
episodes recently allowing my focus to drop. But when you think that my
cardiologist has told me many times that my exercise and lifestyle have kept me
alive, why would I let things slip? Even more importantly, why when I have
studied and learned all that I have on fitness, would I allow myself to add
BODY FAT?
The
simple answer is living. Life is always going to throw in a curve ball; stress,
work, women, men, kids, adults. Socially, these days life is so much about
drinking and eating. How many times have I written Food is for Energy not
Entertainment? Well, many of my close friends and family will seriously
disagree with that statement and I am a little inclined to agree but still we
need a balance. It mustn't just be about consuming as much as some of the
fashionable buffet style establishments are willing to allow us to. Quality
should always surpass quantity.
If,
with all my knowledge and experience in these areas, I can allow myself to
lapse into overindulgence and under activity, then why should I deem myself fit
to judge any of those people at the hospital I talked about previously. Every minor
detail of daily life affects how our brain and body functions. Some of those
people could have recently lost someone special, have a terminally ill child or
even a less drastic, broken limb. Think
back to how a major event in your life, be it positive or negative. Has had a
massive effect on your weight. Lots of us lose or gain body fat either during
or after similar times.
How
to lose body fat.
Before
I go into the details of exercise, diet and routine. I want to touch on some
points from a book I have just read. I never expected 'No Nonsense', an
Autobiography by footballer Joey Barton to have anything like as much thought
provoking material in it as it did. Before, during and after digesting this
fantastic account of a young scouse guys journey though early adult life in and
out of football. I still can't decide if I like or dislike him. But that's just
it. I can't, won't and don't need to.
Can't because I don't know him well
enough from his book, social media and general media. Won't for those same
reasons. But more importantly don't need to. One of the important points Joey
makes in his book is our need to judge others. Forget the glass houses
scenario. What I mean is why do we need to like or dislike and form opinions on
people we know so little about. This not only takes me back to the people at
the hospital whom we so often judge but more often the people a lot closer to
us. Use your wife, husband or partner now as an example. Do you love or even
like every single thing about her or him, all of the time? Of course not, you
don't even love every aspect of yourself.
What we do is love the important parts and
forgive the differences. The same needs to be applied to others. Take the
pluses from people around you and except the differences. From that life will
be so much more positive and with so many more acquaintances you will broaden
your horizons and knowledge.
I
will reflect on other aspects of the book soon but the relevance of the the
last paragraph to me are these 3 points.
1. Friends
encourage positive thoughts and actions. See my website
Right
then. Down to the facts. How to lose BODY FAT.
This
is where we come back to the quote. Food is for energy, the fact is, the only
way to lose body fat is to consume less calories than you burn. It doesn't
really matter where your calories come from, as one calorie is one calorie.
Well, perhaps not as simple as that, and using the car analogy again, the
better the quality fuel you put into the
engine, the better it will run. By now we should hopefully all be aware of
previous misguided information given to us by government medical officials
concerning fats and sugars. If not then please, take time to read the article
at the end of this paragraph .Fat in foods is not so much the negative
substance we were lead to believe. The biggest cause of body fat is SUGAR. We
need good fats such as nuts, avocado and dairy product for our body to survive.
Even more scary is the fact that the body is so clever that if we deprive it of
fat then it will hang on to any stores it has, hence that muffin top over your
jeans you never seem to shift. Simple carbohydrates (sugars) found in most
pre-produced products,our body uses the energy required and then stores the
remainder as fat.
What’s
worse for me: fat or sugar?
BHF
dietitian Victoria Taylor says:
This
question has been a hot topic in the press, with arguments raging back and
forth, but it shouldn’t be a choice between the two.
We
have good evidence that there is a link between saturated fat and raised
cholesterol levels, while there is also an issue in relation to the amount of
sugar we eat and our weight. This means that, as well as cutting down on foods
high in saturated fat and replacing saturated fats like butter with unsaturated
fats like rapeseed, olive or sunflower oils, it’s important to keep an eye on
the amount of added sugar we are eating, or that is in our drinks, so that we
don’t end up consuming too many calories.
A healthy
diet consists of foods from five different food groups: fruit and vegetables;
bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and other starchy carbohydrates; meat, fish, eggs,
beans and other non-dairy sources of protein; milk and dairy foods; and foods
and drinks high in fat and/or sugar, and it’s better for us to focus our
attention on the overall balance of these.
If
we are eating too much of one food group, then it means there is less room for
another in our diet. So rather than focus on cutting out, think about what you
could be eating more of.
Swap
your fatty and sugary snacks for fruit and vegetables and have good helpings of
these at mealtimes too. Go for low-fat milk and dairy products, ditch the white
starchy carbohydrates for wholegrain versions, and choose pulses and fish
instead of processed or fatty meat, for example. You will be well on your way
to a healthy balance that is low in saturated fat and added sugar.
Victoria
Taylor is a registered dietitian with more than ten years’ experience. Her work
for the NHS focused on weight management and community programmes for the
prevention of cardiovascular disease. At the BHF she advises on diet and
nutrition.
Going
back to Joeys book quickly. A friend of his, Steve Black, introduced him to
Kaizan, a Japanese concept mainly used in businesses like Toyota. I was
previously made aware of this means of continuous improvement, back in 2006. I
have dipped in and out of the concept but really wished I'd have used it more. Kaizan is is all about
continuous improvement using short incremental steps, making minor adjustments
for small improvements. Take this out of business and into everyday life, so
for example, how easy would it be to do 10 press ups a day ? Or 15 Squats. What
about cutting out one weekend night of drinking or dropping a takeaway once a
week. Small steps towards a bigger goal.
Another
key point is planning. My clients best results come from a plan or program, in
fact so do mine. How often have you walked into the gym without a clue of what
you intend to do, these sessions become disjointed and miss directional. With a
program, its structured, pre-prepared and you are ready to go. The same goes
for food, plan and prepare your food. All these things are small incremental
steps towards a bigger goal. You probably didn't add the body fat in a few
weeks so don't expect to lose it in days.
Now
for calorie counting, every man and his dog seems to currently use a Fitbit or similar device to count steps or
calories burned. If I had a £ for every person that says to me " I've only
burned 200 calories on that treadmill, that's not even a kitkat ," or
similar,I would be a rich man. Rubbish,
1.
The devices are only as accurate as the information you put into them.
2.
Even more importantly, exercise and your metabolism is well compared to an
oven. Turn up the heat by exercising and your body continues to burn more
calories after you finish and start to recover. Repairing muscle can use more
energy for hours after training. Just like the oven stays hot, your body
continues to recover. So those 200 calories burned on the exercise machine can
turn into 400 or 500.
I
recommend you ask a local pt or nutritionist to work out your metabolic rate
and apply a current rate of exertion. This gives you a good starting point to
your recommended daily energy intake.
Then gauge you calories consumed using my fitness pal or similar. Drop 200 or
250 off your daily intake and guess what? Over a week that's between 1400 and
1750 calories. SMALL INCREMENTAL STEPS.
One of the easy ways to lose those few calories
daily is by substituting something not so calorific for some of your high
calorie foods.
ALCOHOL
So
many peoples weight and fat problems are caused by the sugars in alcoholic
drinks, empty calories with no nutritional value at all. A perfect example of
the fat/sugar argument. Beer, wine or spirits contain little or no fat but we
all know how they affect the belly area. My best time for weight and body fat
management came when I had a 3 year spell of alcohol abstinence, completely tea
total.
So
why would I start drinking again? The simple answer again is life, parts of
life for me became boring. Party's or social events were not really the same
and friends said "you've changed." Originally it was a few beers,
once a month maybe but more recently and yet again due in my eyes to major life
events, Personal reasons not for this blog. But things like House
moves, holidays etc, My social activities have also increased, with which comes
alcohol as well as food. So believe me, I'm no different to anyone of us and
yet again I need to change. Not so drastic this time but small incremental
steps towards the bigger goal. This is easy done by restricting myself to small
amounts of alcoholic drinks for social nights not every weekend night or even
every night.
EXERCISE
We
all think we know what exercise is and how to exercise but I disagree. Many
times I am asked, "why can't I lose weight? I walk 4 miles a day with the
dog." Or very similar questions. That is an activity our body should do
naturally. We are designed to move, not to sit or lay. Exercise is about
building up a sweat and getting the heart rate elevated. Optimum fat burning is
estimated to be at about 80% of our maximum heart rate, your rarely achieve
that walking the dog. There are basic equations to estimate maximum heart
rates. See below but again, one session with a PT doing a stress test or
similar will give you more accurate assessment.
The
art is to exercise smart rather than long. I am not necessarily selling my
services here but taking out an exercise plan with a good PT can be hugely
successful. Even if you think you exercise well, a professional trainer can get
you those hard to reach results. Jessica Ennis or Mo Farrah hire their trainers
not because they are better athletes than them but because they have the
knowledge and skills to improve performance and results.
Training
smart to me, means HIIT, high intensity interval training. Don't get me wrong
slow steady state exercise has its place, especially when training for an
endurance event and I love nothing better than my Sunday run club 10km or more,
but on its own the benefits are limited. Unless you incorporate some hill
sprints or similar the heart rate will probably only be about 50 to 60 %. HIIT
allows you to get the heart rate elevated to a higher level that you couldn't
maintain for longer periods, short periods of rest then allow you to go again.
A 20 minute high interval session can have as positive an affect as an hour out
cycling or running.
My
next 4 weeks training plan.
Sunday.
AM Run club. Slow steady state
fasting run.
After
various stage of assessing life after my Heart Attacks. The major thing I now
have straight in my head is this.
We have one
life, no rehearsals, no going back and certainly no second chances. I have made
numerous mistakes in my life but I have now come to terms with putting all that
behind me.
The last
Heart Attack being the biggy, the one that scared me as I thought I was a
gonna. Changed my thought process a lot.
The what
ifs, how would a different outcome have affected me and everyone else. I am not
going to go into the private things this has forced on me or the people
involved but what I will explain is my changes, both mentally and physically.
Those that
know me well know of my passion for fitness. Many would have described it as an
obsession. Rightly so for a long time it took over my life.
Imagine your
doctor, or in my case cardiologist telling you something had saved your life.
For me that was my fitness. “Wayne if it wasn’t for your high levels of fitness
you probably wouldn’t be here”. Of course it was going to remain high priority
but for me it took over my life. That and my fragile mental state after the
last episode cost me my marriage, some very close friends and very nearly an
awful lot more.
What I had
become was not really a very nice person; I was selfish and self centred. My
fitness and health came above living. No drinking, completely teatotal. No
socialising, I wouldn’t eat out as I couldn’t trust finding anything healthy.
My time was purely about me.
Yes I
Trained my clients and gave them my full focus and knowledge but lots of that
was still about me. About me proving something to myself.
So what’s
changed?
Simple really! I realised I was working so hard at trying to
stay alive that I wasn’t really living.
Today’s
Wayne World is all about living. Living everyday to the max.
Yes my
training and health is still very important to me but it doesn’t get in the way
of life.
Everything
in moderation is the key.
Have a drink but don’t have to drink
to access.
Treat yourself to a meal out or a
cheat day but not every day.
Pick an event, sport or goal to train
for, but don’t train for the sake of it. Especially not overtraining.
As for
friends and family,
Yes put yourself first but not at the
expense of others.
If what you do has a negative impact
on someone else’s life, let them go. Let them go and do what is best for them.
One life for you ------------ LIVE IT
One life for everyone
---------------- LET THEM LIVE IT
Our head rules our hearts, our bodies. If we can't get it positive in our heads then the body will never follow.
Think back to school, It doesn't matter where you were in the the social pecking order at school. One of the biggest motivator or booster was the GOLD STAR, the HOUSE POINT or the PAT ON THE BACK.
Remember how good that felt as a child ?????
Actually it almost certainly felt as good for your teacher.
In other words positive breeds positive. It feels just as great to give a compliment or a reward as it does to receive one.
Best of all, unlike flowers, a bonus or a gift. It costs nothing.
So tomorrow.
If you are a Boss.
Thank your staff for the good job they do, Say well done.
If you're a Husband, Wife, Boyfriend or Girlfriend.
Tell your partner how beautiful or sexy they look, how special they are to you.
If you're a Father or a Mother, How ever much that teenager is pushing the boundaries or that 2 year old is testing your patients.
Show them you understand and cut them some slack. Give them a hug.
If you're a child.
Make an effort to tidy your room or get your butt out of bed for school.
Hold doors open, Thank the bus driver or shopkeeper. Smile, don't scowl at your colleagues, Cut the impatient driver some slack for jumping the queue.
Most of all remember POSITIVE breeds POSITIVE. NEGATIVE just brings us all DOWN.
Wayne is a REPS Registered level 3 PT, Fitness Instructor and Strength & Conditioning Coach. A DNAFit accredited trainer with experience of working with professional sportsman, athletes and celebrities. Having had both weight management and fitness issues himself. Wayne has the experience to help you reach your goals.
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