I found a great post on a site called Lauren's Fitness, so I thought I would share it. It gives 11 tips on how to increase your metabolism. Why would you want to do this? It will increase the rate at which you turn food into energy, and also generally boost your energy levels and give you a sense a health and wellbeing.

1. Eat enough
It’s extremely common for people on diets to eat too little. You will lose weight to start, but your body is smarter than you. Way smarter. It will start thinking, “this crazy kid is simply not eating enough to survive, I’m going to drop his/her metabolism, so he/she doesn’t burn as much during the day and can survive off this ridiculously small amount he/she is eating”. Bottom line, starvation won’t work as a diet, your body will make sure you don’t burn too much and die. the amount of calorie you consume is different from the amount of food you eat. Eating a lot of lower-calorie foods means you can lose weight without starving.

2. Eat more frequently
Try to eat 5-6 small meals a day. Don’t let yourself get too hungry in between meals. By getting food into your body regularly, you keep your metabolism firing, and leave your body in a much better state to burn some energy for you. The best way to do this is to plan your meals a week or so in advance, until you are able to get into the habit of eating 5-6 times a day.

3. Eat Breakfast
This is a simple one, but is still not being done in a lot of cases. By getting something in early in the day, i.e. when you wake up, you are kick starting your body. You will burn more fuel if your metabolism is up and running early. Your body is most tolerant to glucose in the morning, so you can get a fair bit of carbs into you. In fact, get almost anything into you (OK not anything…), just eat something in the morning. You have been in starvation mode all night, and need some fuel in right away to get your body firing. Not only will this get your metabolism going, you will find that later in the day you aren’t as hungry and won’t make terrible food choices, or pig out as much.

A healthy breakfast... Wish my breakfast looked like this!

4. Eat more Protein
This has lots more benefits than just metabolism. Protein is a muscle builder, you need it to grow. Lean protein is even better for that, more good stuff for fewer calories. Your body takes a bit more work to burn this stuff too, which is called the thermogenic effect. So, if you don’t get enough protein in, start eating.

5. Eat more Fiber
Same principle as above. Fiber is harder for your body to process, and you will get a small increase in metabolism through this effect. It’s also wonderful for your digestive system and keeps you regular.

6. Weight Train
Weight training is the ultimate exercise for firing up your metabolism. The more intense your exercise and the more muscles you get involved, the better metabolism increase you will get. Weight training is intense, you are pushing weights around, and you will get a good post workout increase in metabolism and burn for much longer.

7. Build Muscles
The more muscle mass you have the higher your metabolism will be. I'm not saying you need to look like a bodybuilder - please don't go for this look! But a little resistance training will create the muscle mass you need to look good and burn more nutrients.

8. Work Your Legs
Leg Weights are important for overall muscle balance, and do need to be done for many reasons other than speeding up your metabolism. However, it’s just another added benefit. Legs are often neglected; it’s the biceps that are overworked. Your legs very large muscle mass, if you work this mass, you will burn more energy, and thus, increase your metabolism post workout. If you don’t care about how muscly your legs are, at least throw a few leg exercises in there to get your body working harder during your weights session.

9. Do more Higher Intensity Cardio
Getting on the treadmill for 30 mins at a slow pace is OK. But there are better options. Doing some intense work will burn more calories, and leave you with a better post work out metabolism boost than a long slow cardio session. A 10 minute bike interval session would be much more beneficial than a slow 30 minutes session. It’s the post workout boost that is the key, as with weight training, the more intense you work, the longer and stronger your increase will be and the more you will burn whilst you aren’t even active. Scan through this article from t-nation on which type exercise is best for energy burning and speeding up your metabolism.

10. Avoid Alcohol
Alcohol is bad for your metabolism. It acts against it and will slow it down. Avoid drinking it too regularly.

11. Increase Incidental Physical Activity
This is an important one. Physical activity will automatically give you a short term boost to your metabolism. Adding some extra things into the day that you hardly realize can add up. For example, make your bed in the morning, park your car a little further away than normal, take the stairs occasionally, get up from your desk frequently and walk about if possible. Just by simply being more active during the day, called incidental activity, you will get an increase in your metabolism.

Labels: metabolism

Volumetrics is based around the concept of fullness. Unlike diets, which deprive you of food and make you hungry, Volumetrics encourages you to eat as much food as you want. The idea is that we feel full because of the amount of food that we eat, not the number of calories. The key of Volumetrics is to allow to to fill up on the right types of food, namely, low-calorie food-types.

Volumetrics divides foods into two groups - High energy-density (high calorie) and low energy-density (low calorie). Here are some examples:

High energy-density foods

• Butter
• Oils
• Chocolate
• Sweets / Candy
• Nuts
• Biscuits
• Sugar

Low energy-density foods

• Skimmed /low fat milk
• Vegetable broth
• Non-starchy vegetables (like lettuce)
• Rice

How It Works

Volumetrics relies heavily on foods with a high water content - this includes many fruits, which are 80% to 90% water - since they will fill you up without adding many calories. It's important to note that simply drinking water will not work; it'll quench your thirst but not your hunger.

Volumetrics is all about setting modest goals. This isn't a diet that will help you lose 10 pounds in a week. Instead, you should aim for something reasonable and sustainable. A reasonable goal is shedding from 1 pound to 2 pounds each week. When combined with an exercise regime however, the potential speed of weight loss becomes much greater.

Some of the key parts of the Volumetrics diet are:

• Eating foods with low energy density. For most people, counting calories is pretty difficult. Instead, learn what kinds of foods are high and low in calories so you can make better choices. A recent book, "The Volumetrics Eating Plan", provides three weeks of complete eating plans for every meal and snack.
• Keeping records of the foods you eat and the amount of physical activity you get. Doing this is important for your long-term success. You start by recording your food and exercise on an average week so you get a baseline. This will let you see where you need to make improvements. Log your weight once a week to track your progress.
• Increasing your physical activity. You need to start slow, but eventually you should aim to exercise for about 30-60 minutes on most days. Any activity that you enjoy is fine, but what you can do depends on your fitness level. Walking is a great approach for many people, and recommends using a pedometer. As you lose more weight, increase the intensity of your exercise, and eventually incorporate some resistance training into your exercise regime.
• Learning how to calculate energy density in foods so that you can eat (and shop) more wisely. The previously-mentioned book also has loads of charts at the end, which give you the energy density and calories of various foods by weight.

My opinion on Volumetrics

At first glance, Volumetrics seems like an overly-fancy name for something that isn't too fancy in itself. But remember that all the best training regimes and diets are simple. To stick to something, it has to be easy to apply, understand and maintain, for the everyday, busy person.

If we apply the principles of Volumetrics, we can eat our fill - indeed, eat more - of lower calorie foods and still lose weight. This is all good stuff. However, if you really want to improve your overall health and wellbeing, in addition to losing weight, there is no substitute for regular exercise. Combine this with Volumetrics' principles and you are off to a flyer.

Studio cycling or ‘spinning’ is a high-energy, studio-based fitness session. It involves loud music and hard work, and improves fitness whilst burning hundreds of calories from your body. Here's a guide to what spinning exercise involves and how it could benefit your own training.


Spinning is essentially a room full of specialised bikes encircling one leader bike. This is reserved for the instructor who will bark commands at you while you all listen to very upbeat music to help maintain a good pace throughout. The idea has been around since the 80’s and is an excellent way to get the old heart beating and significantly improve your fitness.

What spinning exercise involves:
In a group, people work out together for around 45 minutes. The instructor and the people surrounding you motivate you to such extremes that you find yourselves taking your fellow ‘spinners’ on in a sprint or hill climb. You have a resistance dial that you increase and decrease, making the class as hard, or as easy, as you wish. During the class you vary your pace - sometimes pedaling as fast as you can, other times cranking up the tension and pedaling slowly from a standing position. This helps you to focus inwardly and work on your mind as well as your body.

A general good level of fitness is required for these classes. There are often beginners, intermediate and advanced classes in each programme so check when booking that you have the right class for you. It is suggested that you attend a few beginners’ classes first as spinning bikes do take some getting used to.

Why is it so popular?
Spinning burns serious calories (about 450 in 45 minutes) and offers an awesome aerobic workout that makes your heart pump fast. It also tones your quadriceps (front thigh muscles) and outer thigh muscles like nobody's business! Because you stay in one place with the same basic movement throughout, Spinning doesn't involve a lot of coordination; it's easier to concentrate on your form than in other types of aerobic classes. And although you follow the general instructions of the spinning teacher, you are in control when it comes to your pace. You can finish a spin class, regardless of your fitness level, simply by adjusting your pace or the tension knob on the bike.

What should you expect from the Instructor?
The instructor’s role should primarily be motivational and make what is quite a gruelling workout fun! They should also be aware of all the members of the class and be able to spot anyone struggling. Anyone struggling should be instructed to slow down and peddle at a lower level to recover and then join back in again. Whilst it is difficult for the instructor to give each student individual attention they should be aware of everyone and not just go through the motions of the class on autopilot. If you feel that the instructor is not giving the best class find out if there are other classes run by a different instructor.

Hot Tip
Arrive five minutes early for your first class so your instructor can answer any questions and help you with bike adjustments. Make sure you let her know about any injuries that you have so she can help you modify some of the moves. During class, be sure to let your instructor know if you are having trouble with the resistance knob or the general technique. If the class is too intense, just pedal more slowly or take the tension down.

Check your heart rate
Strictly speaking everyone in the class should have a heart rate monitor as the whole idea of spinning is a workout that is based around your very own heart rate which makes it much more personalised.

Adjust your saddle height
Once the class is all there and have been allotted their bikes (don’t hide at the back thinking you won’t be seen as the instructor is trained to watch everyone) you should begin with setting your bike’s saddle up at the correct height for you. This is measured so that when you are sitting on it your leg should be outstretched for the lowest peddle with a slight bend in the knee. If the bend is too much raise the saddle, if your knee is locked straight then lower the saddle. A warm up should follow this which should involve some stretching and limbering up. Next should follow the start of the program which should always commence with a not too intense cycle in a seated position. After about 5 minutes, the class should really kick off.

Increase the resistance
During the class the instructor will inform you of what intensity you should be feeling. They will ask you to increase the resistance on your bike, which you do by turning a dial or knob on the front of the bike, they will also ask you to stand up on the peddles to cycle and change your hand positions. All of these commands help replicate real outdoor cycling where the ground is not always flat and increase the intensity of the workout.

…and finally: cool down and stretch
The classes can last anywhere between 30 minutes to 1 hour and should always include a cool down and a stretch at the end. However if this does not happen it is your responsibility to do so. It is very intense so don’t expect too much from yourself in the first few attempts. Keep persevering though because it can be worth it.

The Benefits
This class is specifically designed for your heart and lungs. It is a cardiovascular workout that is focused on the biggest muscle group in the body and therefore can have some of the biggest gains for weight loss and fitness. It is an intense workout where you have someone in control of what you are doing and it is for this reason that you will get more benefits from this than using one of the regular gym bikes by yourself. Motivation is one of the biggest problems in training but you will have no problems with that in this class.

Drawbacks
Spinning does not work all leg muscles equally, so if you spin without doing some cross training activities, you may develop muscle imbalances. Spinning every day can also be too much of a good thing -- real spin enthusiasts have to watch out for overuse injuries in their knees, hips and lower backs. If Spinning is your main source of exercise, we recommend doing some resistance training workouts that include hamstring (back of thigh), buttock and inner thigh exercises.

Equipment Needed:Other than the bike, here's what you need for a safe, comfortable ride:

• A stiff-soled shoe with good ventilation. (Running and aerobic, which are soft-soled, may leave your feet numb by the end of the class.)
  
  
• Two towels, one for wiping away sweat and one for draping over the handlebars so your hands won't slide out of position.
  
  
• A full water bottle, because you're definitely going to sweat. Most spinning bikes are equipped with a water bottle cage so you can place your H2O within easy reach.

And a Warning… Spinning is a very intense workout and whilst it can be adapted for a range of people if you are new to exercise or have a high heart rate then do not start with this. Get your level of fitness up in the gym first and then build up to a Spinning class. You should definitely have a blood pressure reading of less than 140/90 before you even consider this. I would also avoid this class if you have a heart condition, or any knee or hip injuries. Also give it a miss if you suffer from a bad back. If you are still determined to take it up then please check with your doctor before commencing any new exercise routine, especially one as intense as this and remember to buy and use a heart rate monitor.

Labels: fat loss, fitness, spinning

 

A recent study showed that women who chewed each mouthful of pasta between 20 and 30 times ended up consuming 70 per cent fewer calories than when they ate at their normal rate.

From a purely practical point of view, you can see how this may happen because the longer you take to eat a certain quantity of food, the more aware you are likely to be of what and how much you are eating, which in itself is likely to put the brakes on overconsumption.

From a physiological perspective, it is possible that chewing more helps us to eat less because, it seems, the act of chewing stimulates nerve centres in your brain that register a sense of fullness. Chewing may also trigger the release of hormones that tell you it is time to stop eating, and so, in theory at least, the more you chew, the more likely it is that these hormonal signals swing into action.

Whether or not the amount of chewing you do improves digestion depends on the type of food. Yoghurt and fromage frais clearly need no more than a second or two in your mouth because they do not need to be physically broken down before swallowing, and digestive juices can tackle them easily in your intestines. An apple, on the other hand, needs a good chomp to get it into a manageable size to swallow and the chewing helps to break down cell walls, which makes the nutrients inside more easily accessed by enzymes in your intestines.

How long it takes to break down foods efficiently in your mouth depends on things such as the size of your jaw, the strength it can exert in its crunches and the amount of saliva you produce. As scientists from the University of California, Berkeley point out, while one person can take only nine chews to swallow a piece of carrot, another can require 65 chews to get it to an acceptable state for swallowing.

And so finally, in answer to the question, yes, it is probably a good idea to take your time over chewing. You may find that you gradually lose a few pounds doing so and will probably get more nutrients from the foods you do eat. I'm going to have a go myself.

Eating slowly: how it helps

Chewing and eating slowly mean that you are likely to swallow less air than when gulping food down and are less likely to feel bloated as a result.

British researchers found that people chewing sugar-free gum three times a day after surgery had a speedier return of normal colon functioning than non-gum-chewers and left hospital on average a day earlier. Gum chewing may “fool” the digestive system back into action by stimulating production of saliva and gut hormones.

Chewing releases flavours that pass up to centres in your brain that register pleasure and satisfaction. If nothing else, chewing may well help you to enjoy your meal more.

___________________________________________

Adapted from a Times Online article

Labels: weight loss

Labels: thighs, toning

Is it possible to lose weight by drinking more water?

Yes, certainly.

The main reason behind this assertion is that water contains no calories. If you substitute any other fluid you normally drink during a day for water, then you’ll automatically reduce your intake of calories. Water also partly fills the stomach before eating, so drinking water before a meal may help you to eat less of your meal and thus take in fewer calories.

A feeling of lethargy may actually be the reason some dieters don’t feel like exercising and burning off extra calories. In many cases, a lack of energy can be due to a state of dehydration therefore, another positive point of drinking more water is to help increase energy llevels. In fact, there are some people who have lost weight by just drinking more water without any dieting or exercise help. Following this idea won’t make you lose huge amounts of weight, but I really believe it is a good way to start getting into shape, especially by those who don’t have much time to get out and exercise much. The initial results could help boost motivation to continue towards a new exercise program coupled with a healthy eating regime.

How Much Water Should I Be Drinking to Lose Weight?

Our body needs water for all health functions; flushing out toxins, lubricating joints, producing energy and chemical reactions are just a few. If you do not provide the body with enough water, it will take it from other areas of the body causing some common health complaints; headache, joint pains, constipation, lethargy and poor concentration. Although, in some cases these could have alternative explanations, it is worth thinking about drinking more water to eliminate this as a possible cause. With this in mind, it’s hard to drink too much water. So ideally you should drink regularly enough that you are never thirsty.

Obviously, check with your doctor before any dramatic increase in fluid intake. If you have any unusual medical condition, or you need to take certain medications, then drinking more water may affect your condition, so best to be safe and check first!!

Labels: health, nutrition, water

How do I get a flat tummy with some nice firm abs? This post will give you some easy to use and very simple tips that will help you out.

These are some very general tips. You can implement them all at once or take what you like and leave the rest. It is a good idea to collect as many useful abs tips as possible as you never know when they might be useful.

1. Train your lower abs first

The lower abs are smaller, weaker and usually less developed than their upper counter-parts. It is for this reason that you need to train them first. If you train the upper abs first the lower abs will be too tired to perform at their peak when it comes time to train them and as such won’t develop as fast.

The best lower abs exercises are one that use the legs. For exampl, leg raises and reverse crunches.

2. Diet, Diet, Diet

When I say diet I do NOT mean go on a crazy low carb, low fat diet that lasts for a month and makes you really unwell. What I mean is that diet is the most important thing when it comes to getting a flatter tummy and firmer abs. You need to remove the layer of fat on the abs to let the muscles show through. The best way to control that fat is through your diet.

Eating little but often and eating healthy meals is the best way to do this.

3. Constantly increase your intensity/work rate

When training the abs it is important not to do the same thing day in, day out for months at a time. At the gym I see scores of women doing the same abs workouts everytime they are there. Do they make progress? No. When you train your abs you should be constantly thinking of new ways to shock and push your abs muscles to grow, as well as your cardio which helps you burn more fat. Add weight, change the speed, add a twist - anything to make it a little different.

This also makes it fun and keeps you interested.

4. Don’t over work the abs

If you workout your abs too often the muscles will have no chance to rebuild. Muscle growth only occurs when the abs are worked and then have time to rebuild. If you work them too often you are really only being counter-productive. Three times a week should be the max.

Conclusion
Abs training should be fun. Try to mix it up and not let yourself do the same thing too often. This is always a big help on the road to getting a flatter tummy with better looking abs.

Labels: abs

Where is the Butt (Gluteus Maximus)? The scientific name for the butt is the gluteus maximus or "glutes" for short. It is the round muscle below the back and hips that is involved with almost any motion that the leg makes in case there is someone out there who doesn’t know where their butt is!

The Glutes are made up of several muscles that are termed the Gluteal muscles of which the maximus is the most powerful. It is this muscle that we need to target when working on shaping and achieving a sexy, firm butt.

Working Out the Butt

Working out the butt isn’t that hard. It is worked almost anytime we use our legs and as such the way to make muscle gains is to intensify what you do normally.

The following motions and exercises work the glutes really well:

• Stair Climbing
• Hill running
• Bike Riding
• Sprinting
• Lunges
• Squats

Now, we are never going to shape and tone our butt if we just do normal squats, just going through the motions. Likewise, we are not going to make any progress by just wandering up some stairs. Like any muscle, in order to make it grow we need to add resistance by adding weight or intensity. The best and most traditional way to shape the butt is with weights at the gym. I will go over some of the simple ways later.

Getting a Toned Butt...

Getting a toned butt is an emotional task. It can take a very long time and the results can be painfully slow. However, with the information contained in this post and this blog losing that fat butt will be as painless as possible. Here are the important aspects that you MUST DO if you want to lose your fat butt as fast as possible:

1 - All over weight loss
You guessed it! If you want to have a good looking and shapely butt you need to lose the fat that is covering it. It is like any muscle, if you want people to be able to see the definition and tone you need to remove the layer of fat that is covering it.

Now, I don’t want to get into an argument about whether a big booty is better than a small one. I like them both! This post is for women who want to lose weight off their butt and as such will focus solely on that.

The fact of the matter is you cannot lose fat off of only one area of your body. If you want a toned and firm butt you need to lose fat off of your entire body.

In order to lose weight quickly you need to use three things well:

1. Diet;
2. Weight Training; and
3. Cardio

This post will look at all three things briefly. In order to lose weight you need to, very simply, burn more calores than you take in. You do this by boosting your metabolism with the right foods and the right types and amounts of cardio.

2 - Cardio Hard!
Have you ever seen a footballer or a runner or a bike rider with a bad butt? I haven’t. They do so much running and lunging and all sorts of movements that work the glutes. If you want to tone and shape your butt then you should do like they do.

The types of cardio that are best for the butt are the hard ones! Sprinting up hills, lunging, jumping squats and all that kind of stuff. You see, if you increase the elevation of the surface or do cardio that makes you bend over more then your butt will get more use. So, if you wan to shape and tone your butt while you are doing cardio, pick a hard one.

3 - Weight Training
Weight training for the butt isn’t that hard. It is essential. Not only does weight training shape your butt muscles, it makes your metabolism speed up and as such you will burn more fat and absorb less calories as fat during the day. All of these are the perfect ingredients for toning a muscle!

The Best Weight Training Exercises for the Butt

As I have mentioned, adding resistance to natural movements is the best idea. Here are the best butt exercises:

1. The Jumping Squat
   I have mentioned this baby before. It will leave your whole lower body burning and begging that you never do it again. Fast results with this one.
2. Weighted Lunge
   Careful if you have bad knees, otherwise a perfect exercise.
3. Step Ups
   Start with a light weight and gradually increase.
4. Hill Sprints
   One of my all time favourites!
5. Leg Press Machine
   One of the few machines that I use at the gym. Keep a wider stance on this one with some heavy weights to really work your butt.

These are just some of the best exercises. These five are more than enough to do the job if you do them well. Does anyone have any others they love to use?

Labels: butt, fat loss, glutes

Your resting heart rate is how many times your heart beats per minute. The measurement should be taken when you are laying down and breathing normally and most health professionals say it is best to check it in the morning after a good nights sleep.

The heart rate is often used as a measure of a persons physical fitness and as such it is good to measure it now and again.

A resting heart rate for women is considered “normal” if it is between about 70-80 beats per minute.

What affects your resting heart rate?

The resting heart rate is affected by:

• age
• sex (men are lower usually)
• physical fitness
• some drugs/medication
• genetics
• anxiety

Some people simply have a higher/lower resting heart rate that cannot be attributed to any specific cause. Many scientific studies have shown that a resting heart rate really isn’t an effective way of measuring the health of a person although they say anything above about 84 beats per minute is erring on dangerous.

A better measurement of physical fitness

I would like to argue, however, that a much better method of checking your physical fitness is to measure your heart rate after exercise and see how long it takes to get back to resting rate. This is called the recovery rate and is much more important when looking at how fit you are.

Target heart rate

When exercising some people like to know how fast their heart should be beating to maximize their weight loss or fitness potential. I have never really been interested in all that though as it seems like an overly complicated exercise. I know when I’m making progress.

Lowering Blood Pressure

Blood pressure is also an indication of a healthy heart and something older people should pay attention to. A lot of people want to know how to lower their blood pressure and this clinically proven device is one such way. Doctors recommend the Respirate Duo blood pressure lowering device as one of the best methods on the market.

Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease

Finally I would like to suggest some further reading. There are many books about the heart but Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease is the most important. Dr. Esselstyn conducted the biggest research and came up with the most accurate results. If you want to learn about how the heart works and what you can do to lengthen your life by protecting the heart then this book is for you. I suggest anyone who is over 40 reads it

Do you ever find that no matter how hard and long you work out, you can never get below a certain weights. This is aptly described as a weight loss plateau.

Almost everyone reaches a weight loss plateau at some point. As your body adapts to your exercise routine, it may become more efficient, and no burn as many calories. Your technique will also inevitably improve with practice.

Some common reasons for plateaus include:

• Repeating the same workout week in, week out. Your body will get used to the same routine. However, if you continually change the order of your workout routine, your body will not be expecting what's coming next.
  
• Not increasing the intensity of your workout. If you find yourself daydreaming during your workout, or breezing through the exercises without breaking a sweat, you probably need to move up to a faster pace, or a heavier weight.
  
• Overtraining. If you exercise too much, the body may respond by decreasing the calories you burn during the rest of the day.

Remember, however, that you cannot go on losing weight forever. Once you are at a weight that you are happy with, increase the amount of resistance (weight) training you do - this will work your muscles , to firm you up and create a toned look.

Labels: intensity, weight, weight loss plateau

The pressures family life can make it difficult to motivate yourself to get started. So, it's worth thinking about what you gain from regular exercise - or conversely, what you stand to lose form lack of exercise.

• Physical inactivity is a major contributing factor to coronary heart disease - in other words, if you don't exercise you dramatically increase your risk of dying from a heart attack, particularly if your family has a history of heart problems.
• Conversely, exercise means a healthier heart because it reduces several cardiovascular risks, including high blood pressure
• Being physically active can help you to manage stress and increase your self-confidence
  
• Regular exercise can help you achieve and maintain an ideal weight, which can be important in managing many health conditions (or may just make you feel happier about your appearance)
• All exercise helps strengthen bones and muscles to some degree, but weight-bearing exercise, such as running, is especially good in promoting bone density and protecting against osteoporosis, which affects men as well as women
• Different exercises help with all sorts of health niggles, such as digestion, poor posture and sleeplessness, and physical activity can be beneficial for a range of medical conditions, from diabetes to lower back pain

Labels: health, motivation

I see a lot of women in the gym who seem to concentrate on cardio work, such as running. A lot of them say they don't lift weights because they don't want to build big muscles and look like men. This is a very common misconception; the fact is that women don't have enough testosterone to build significant amounts of muscle.

If you have seen any female bodybuilders who have big muscles it's because they take steroids. Lifting weights will not naturally enhance muscle size to this degree in women. It will only add a little muscle, which gives that toned look, as the muscle pushes out more. Lifting weights is one of the best toning and all-round fitness techniques women can use. Studies have shown that resistance training beats cardio in almost every area, including fat-burning.

Women should do the same exercises as male bodybuilders, including squats, deadlifts, crunches, pulldowns and curls. If you are intimidated by all the bruisers in the weight room, go with a male friend. Guys will most likely be impressed with a woman who knows what she's doing fitness-wise.

Labels: resistance, toning, weight