WOMEN ON WEIGHTS 2
"I found that I am now able to spend less time on cardio, more time with the weights, and I have actually lost weight and completely changed the shape of my body."
Melissa Di Bernardo,
Miss NY Natural Figure and Bodybuilding Champion
How many of you have heard that to tone, you need to lift light weights? It's something Jon and I hear constantly from potential female clients: "I don't want to lift heavy weights, I just want to tone". What does that mean? How do you define 'light' and 'heavy'? Something I find constantly is that I will hand my client a weight and she'll say, "This is far too heavy; I couldn't possibly lift this". 20+ repetitions later....she's still going, with perfect form. I would define that as a light weight. Put another way, I would define it as a waste of time. If you can do a weight for more than 18-20 reps it's simply not enough of a challenge to force the muscle to adapt; it's like doing bicep curls with a pillow. I would define a weight that was 'too heavy' as one that you could only get 6 reps from. The ideal, if you are looking to tone, is to lift as much weight as you can for 12-15 reps. This will be enough weight to challenge the muscle but not so light you are spinning your wheels.
So what about that stuff hanging off the back of your arms? Please keep in mind that there is no such thing as spot reduction. It has been proven countless times that you cannot lose bodyfat in a chosen/preferred area. When you lose bodyfat it is an overall loss- it comes from everywhere. Your best results will be if you focus on all your major musle groups. The bigger the muscle group, the more calories burned. If you are doing a lot of biceps and triceps (arms), inner & outer thighs, and crunches, think BIGGER- those are all small muscle groups that don't burn a lot of calories. Don't expect a tricep kickback to wittle away the bodyfat on your arms. This is a reason why we do a lot of MOVEMENT with clients- swiss ball exercises, squats, lunges, multi-joint dumbbell exercises, and more. Emphasize your large muscle groups (legs, back, chest, any exercise that uses a combination of large muscle groups) and stay OFF the weight machines as much as possible (stay on your feet).
So, to recap...
*Weight training is essential and must not be skipped.
*DON'T lift 'light' weights. Use as much weight as you can that you can still do 12-15 reps. If you find you can do 20+ reps you need to increase the amount of weight.
*Focus on your large muscle groups. This means legs, back, chest, and shoulders. You can still do your smaller stuff like arms but you must impact the large muscle groups. Focus especially on exercises that use a combination of these muscle groups such as squats, lunges, pushups (you can do them from the knees ladies), curl & press, etc. Look for ideas in exercise books or hire a trainer (us, of course- we're the best!). Also keep an eye out for our upcoming swiss ball DVD!
*For cardio, interval training is best for bodyfat loss. Either use a preset program on a cardio machine or make up your own. To make up your own, add speed/resistance/incline for 1-2 minutes and really try to bring your heartrate up, then drop speed/resistance/incline for 1-2 minutes until your heartrate has recovered. Do this for 30 minutes total.
*Be patient. Planet Fitness member and recently-named Miss New York Figure and Bodybuilding Champion Melissa Di Bernardo says,
"There's absolutely NO quick fix to losing weight (or putting on muscle, for that matter). The best way to go about it is to consider it a complete lifestyle change. My parents always used to instill the philosophy that you appreciate the things you work hard for rather than just having them hand it to you, and I think that it can be applied to exercise and nutrition. There's a sense of self-satisfaction when you look in the mirror and know you look great because you worked hard for it."