If you are a women that has been training your butt off - and its still there, or you are about to embark on that endless quest for a new body in time for next summer (again), put down your latte & muffin and sit up. I’m going to give you the big heads up on burning fat that you won’t find talked about in any edition of Cosmo or Muscle & Fiction.
Ladies when it comes to burning fat … “Heavy weight training will beat cardio hands down”
If you want to look like the goddess sprawled across the cover of Cleo or one of those girls your man salivates over that is entrenched in his "wank bank".... train like a man!!
Simplifying it down even further; get off the tread mill, stepper and out of the aerobic classes & start lifting some free weights that actually challenges you when you lift.
One of many miss-beliefs that have been shaped by the health industry is that women should primarily spend their time on cardio activities and lift ‘light weights’ to strip fat and reshape saggy arms & wobbly bums.
I hear you regular work out girls saying “I’m exhausted when I’m finished, I’m sweating profusely (or glowing for the more refined reader)” But let’s be honest has your body morphed to where you want it to be? Have you noticed no one around you has changed either or those that temporarily did because they starved themselves are right back to their original starting point with out getting that toned look?
Sure cardio has its place (thou interval training is far more effective as a fat burner & cardio conditioner), but in the war against fat the most effective way to speed up the metabolism is to lift heavy weights that hit the central nervous system. This will get your body burning calories as you sleep. If you thought you miss read that I’ll say it again burn calories as you sleep!!
How many hours have you put in...?
If you new 3 x one hour sessions a week in the weight room, with a slight adjustment to your eating habits, could of delivered you the desired look over a sixteen week period, would you of ventured out of your comfort zone ???.... Well now you at least know - no more excuses.
Big Muscles??
A few of you will already be thinking “oh but I don’t want big muscles”, please..... Do you really think you are accidentally going to build overnight what has taken years of hard work, strict dieting and in some cases anabolic drug use to achieve?
How many women or men for that matter do you know that after a few weeks of training “accidentally” turned themselves into freak body builders?
The women you may have seen floating around the internet that dwarf Arnold, have devoted a good chunk of their life working dam hard to achieve that look. Their bodies have probably absorbed more testosterone based steroids than any winning tour de France cycling team.
It is just not possible to exceed your genetic potential to grow freaky muscles without a chemists help - Women do not possess the testosterone factor.
Muscle & the Metabolism
Muscles play a huge part in raising the metabolism.
A kilo of muscle burns about 132 calories a day while a kilo of fat burns 11.
That means any growth in your muscle tissue is going to help you burn more calories all day long.
In fact, strength training has all kinds of great effects on your body like:
1. Increasing the resting metabolic rate so you burn more calories, (3rd time…even while you sleep).
2. Muscle though it weighs more takes up less space than fat.... so the more lean mass the slimmer you are.
3. Helps strengthen bones and connective tissue.
4. Enhances your balance & stability
5. Builds confidence and self esteem.
However all the good stuff above only works if you are lifting enough weight to stimulate muscle growth.
Picking a weight that you can push or pull 15 to 20 times per set is a complete waste of time. You are not going to get the fat loss you’re looking for. You might as well roll up on the couch and tune into Desperate House Wives for an hour.
Independent Study Results
Still not convinced? You still cling to your belief that cardio is mandatory in fat loss, read on....
In a recent study published by the North American Association of Obesity, men & women were instructed to do 60 minutes of aerobic exercise per day for 6 days per a week for an entire year. That’s 6 hours of cardio per week.
Now with that much time & consistency spent huffing & puffing you’d expect a decent amount of weight loss, right?
Well, the surprise findings showed the average weight loss for females was only 4 pounds (less than 2 kilos) for the entire year, men faired slightly better at an average of 6.6pounds (3kilos).
That’s 300 hours of aerobic exercise just to lose a measly 3 kilos of blubber. - That’s time not well spent in my opinion.
Summary
So in summary ladies, ask yourself this; “Are your current training methods delivering you the body you are looking for? “ If not, I challenge you to get yourself into the weight room and start lifting heavy, after all what have you got to lose (other than fat), and who knows you may find yourself delightfully surprised.
Cheers….Henry
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment