Don't Be Afraid of the Incredible Bulk

Benefits of Strength Training

Mention the words “strength training” and many people will roll their eyes and poo-poo the entire idea. Images of big burly men lifting Olympic size weights immediately enter their minds. Who wants to have muscles like that?

What they don’t understand is that strength training isn’t about getting bulging muscles. Oh, you can get them, if you are a man; but the average woman won’t build “manly” muscle – no matter how much they lift.

First, let’s define strength training, or resistance training. Resistance training is any exercise that causes muscle to contract against an external resistance with the expectation of increasing strength, tone, mass, and/or endurance. The external resistance can be anything that causes the muscles to contract – such as dumbbells, tubing, or even your own bodyweight. So, do a push-up and you are strength training – no bulging muscles there!

Now, let’s put away our overactive imaginations for a moment, and take a look at why you should be strength training.

I’m sure you’ve heard the old saying, “use it or lose it”. With muscle, this can be taken quite literally. As we grow older, our lean muscle mass diminishes, and if you don’t do anything to replace it, it will be replaced by fat. By strength training, you build lean muscle mass, reversing this aging effect.

Stronger muscle will help you perform daily chores, reducing your risk of injury and increasing the chances of maintaining your independence as you grow older. And you can start at any age; research has shown that whether you are 20 or 60, you can make the same gains (progress) in the gym.

There are many health benefits from strength training. It not only builds muscle mass, but stresses your bones, increasing bone density and reducing your risk of osteoporosis as you get older. Research has shown that it can help reduce the signs and symptoms of many chronic conditions, including arthritis, back pain, depression, diabetes, obesity.

You don’t need to spend hours in the gym – you don’t even need a gym – to reap the benefits of strength training. You can gain an increase in strength with just 2-3, 20-30 minute sessions per week. This meets the American College of Sports Medicine and government health guidelines for strength training.

Now that you know why you should be strength training, do you know how?

To avoid injury, be sure and start slow. If you are a beginner, start with bodyweight exercises. Make sure you learn proper form and technique. You can either hire a trainer, or find some professional videos on the internet to show you a demonstration of each exercise.

If you start with dumbbells, make sure you pick a weight that will allow you to do 12 repetitions. You don’t want to go too light, but you shouldn’t be struggling either. Once you can do 12 repetitions, and the 12^th rep is no longer a challenge, you will need to increase your weight or reps. It is important to progress by increasing your weights or reps; this continuous challenge allows your muscles to grow strong and stay strong.

Make sure you allow for rest days for the muscles to recover. You can do this by performing a full body routine on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; or upper body Monday, lower body Tuesday and resting on Wednesday and starting routine over on Thursday. A 

Fit Tips Friday - Healthy Eating

Many people know that they need to change their eating habits – but they aren’t sure how to begin. They see pictures of skinny bodies in magazines, and hard bodies on social sites like facebook and believe that they will never look like those photos, so why even try? The truth is that the models in magazines are not the average woman and most of us won’t have the ripped hard bodies that we see in motivational photos. And that’s ok. The main point is that everyone needs to eat healthy and exercise for their overall health. What may work for some people is not going to work for others. You have to find you own path to health.

Learning to eat healthier can be an overwhelming task. If you try to change too much too soon, you are likely to get discouraged and give up. For the next few weeks, we are going to do a series of fit tips to help you make healthier habits, a few at a time.

This week we are going to start with the basics.

Tip 1   Write it down.

To know what you need to change, you need to know exactly what you are eating and drinking. Start a journal in which you write down every single morsel, bite, nibble, and sip that goes in your mouth. No mindless munching. Record where you eat and how you feel. Tired? Angry? Bored? – write it down.

Tip 2   Eat Breakfast.

Yea, yea, I know – you aren’t hungry in the morning. But the National Weight Control Registry has found that people who eat breakfast eat fewer calories during the day. Not only that, studies shows that after they members lost weight, eating breakfast help them to keep the weight off.

Tip 3   Don’t Drink your Calories.

Choose low or no calories drinks such as water, tea, coffee or a small amount of no sugar added fruit juice. Most beverages are nothing but empty calories loaded with sugar.

That’s it for this week. For the next 7 days, concentrate on these 3 things – that’s all. That way you do not become overwhelmed and your journal will help you determine your worst eating habits. Next week we’ll tackle those habits.

Don’t forget, as with eating, you need to change your physical habits as well. This week, if you are a beginner, start walking 2-3 times a week.

Basic Move of the Week - The Lunge

This is week 3 of our Basic Moves Series. During Week 1 we covered the Push-up, and Week 2 we covered  Squats. This week we are going to cover the Lunge. If you aren’t doing lunges now, they will be a great addition to your leg routine.

There are several types of lunges which allow you to target different parts of your lower body. According to the American Council on Exercise, this single exercise works the abs, butt, hips and thighs all at once. They can be performed using your own body weight, or you can make them more challenging by adding weight with dumbbells or barbells. Lunges improve balance, hip mobility and coordination. Because lunges closely mimic movements found in many sports that involve running and jumping, they are great training exercises. However, you don’t need to be an athlete to benefit from doing lunges. Spending long periods of time sitting can make your hip flexors tight. Lunges and reverse lunges can help keep these muscles more flexible.

Some of my favorite types of lunges include:

Forward Lunges:  The basic lunge. Learn proper form/technique here.

Reverse Lunge: The reverse lunge causes less stress on the knees because they cannot extend beyond the toes.  The reverse lunge develops the quadriceps and hamstring muscles in the thighs and helps to shape the glutes.

Side Lunge - The side lunge emphasizes the inner thighs along with the hips and glutes.

Sliding Side Lunges - Adding a paper plate or towel to the traditional side lunge creates more challenge for the inner thighs.

Curtsy Lunge - Works the glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, abs, calves – great for outer thighs

Walking Lunge – This lunge is great for getting your heart rate up, so if you want to get a little cardio action in your workout, this one is a good choice.

Tips:

If you feel any pain while doing lunges, make sure you are using proper form.

If you have had a knee injury or surgery, check with your doctor to find the right exercises for you.
If you're a beginner, start with one exercise (such as basic stationary lunges) and do 1 to 2 sets of 10 to 16 reps, adding weight when you feel comfortable

Basic Move of the Week - The Squat

The squat allows you to build strength in your legs, define your thigh and gluteus muscles, and, when done, properly, may strengthen the core area. Abdominal and back muscles are needed to keep balance during the movement. The result is a tighter, flatter abdomen and a stronger lower back.  Make a conscious effort to hold in your abdominal muscles while squatting down to increase this effect.

By adjusting your feet in different positions, you can also work your inner and outer thighs. Because the squat is a compound exercise of a major muscle group, it is also an effective fat burning tool. Here are a few to try. They can be performed as bodyweight exercises, but to increase intensity use a barbell, dumbbells or resistance bands. Make sure that you have mastered proper form before adding resistance.

A good set would be 10-30 reps, for 2-4 rounds, depending upon experience.

Beginners should start with bodyweight squats to build strength and learn technique, before adding any resistance.

Regular Squat: Stand with feet should distance apart, stomach tight, back straight. Keeping your back as straight as possible, slowly begin to lower your torso, bending you knees, until you are almost in a sitting position. Make sure your knees do not go beyond your toes, and do not lean forward. Pressing through your heels, come back to standing position.

Sumo squat: Similar action as above, but stand with your feet wide apart.

Plié (Inner Thigh) Squat: Stand with your feet wide apart, toes pointing out (away from each other). Perform bending action as regular squat.

One Leg Squat:  Same as regular squat, only using one leg.

Wall Squat: Stand with back to the wall, perform a regular squat into a sitting position and hold for 30-60 sec. as 1 rep.

Things to Remember

1.    If you can, go down until your butt is in line with your knees (knees at 90 degree angles). If you can't go down that low, go as low as you can.

2.    Make sure your knees are BEHIND your toes.

3.    Keeping the weight in your heels, slowly push your body back to starting position.

Fit-spiration Friday and My FitFluential Fitness BucketList

  

Do you remember when you first started your journey on a healthier lifestyle? More than likely you were excited and nervous at the same time, thinking “How difficult will it be”, and “Can I do it”? But you had made the decision and your motivation was in high gear – you had a challenge, a goal, to conquer. Now, fast forward a few months, or even years – do you still have that high level of motivation?

Most likely, if you’ve been in this game a while, you have figured out that motivation ebbs and flows and you sometimes you have to find something new to get you excited again.

That happened to me this past year and I started a new training program with Figure Competitor, Christy Allen. And thus far, it has been great and I have been having a blast – she has definitely thrown me some challenges. Sometimes, you need to find someone or something to throw you a challenge.

If you are in a rut and feel unmotivated to exercise or eat right, here are a few things that you might consider to get the ole mojo going again.

A Big Event – Do you have any big events coming up – a reunion or wedding to attend, or a vacation coming up? These are great motivators because, after all, you want to look your best and strut your stuff a little. Plan for these events about 8-12 weeks out so that you won’t be trying to starve off those last few pounds at the last minute. You can find plans in almost all the fitness magazines during the spring and summer season.

Fitness Challenge – Plan a fitness challenge with your friends or the people in your office. There are several free online sites that allow you and your friends to log activities and keep up with one another. This could be made even more motivating by having some type of prize for the winner. Try these links for more information: Fit Friendzy App Weightloss Wars

Team Health Challenge

Also, if you have a facebook account, there are always challenge to be found on many of the fitness pages. The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans has been doing a workout challenge every month this year.

Enter a Race: This is a great way to work on your cardio. It doesn’t have to be a marathon, start with a local event that does a walk/run, or a 5k.

Start a Fitness Bucket-list: There are so many options when it comes to physical activities, start a list of things you  would like to give a try. Take this time to step out of your comfort zone and be bold. Try boot camp training, cross fit, rock climbing,  martial arts, marathons, etc. Join Pinterest and start your own motivational boards and invite your friends to follow them. By making it public you are more likely to hold yourself accountable.

Speaking of Fit-spiration and Fitness Bucket-lists - I am soooo excited to announce that I am a new FitFluential Ambassador! This is an awesome group of individuals from all over the map who has a desire to spread the love of fitness and I am honored to have been included in this group! Head over to FitFluential and meet some great people!

One of the things that several of the ambassadors are doing is starting fitness bucket-lists – so I jumped in on the fun! Why not take my own advice and step out of my comfort zone? You can check it out on pinterest. There have been a few things I’ve wanted to try and my first project/goal is to form a team for our local Susan G. Komen 5k race in Spring 2013. There – I’ve said it and written it down – now it’s an official goal. Wish me luck!

How do you stay motivated?

The Big Event is Over....NOW WHAT?

Getting back at it after a “big” event that you have spent weeks and even months preparing for can be even more challenging than prepping for the event in the first place.

I have been competing in physique competitions and participating in photo shoots for over 5 years now and I have to tell you that AFTER the event is when the "real" work begins.

And step #1 is.... NEW goals. Start thinking about what you want your fitness journey to eventually be. Do you want to share your story with others? Do you want to inspire others to reach for their goals? Do you want to compete? Are there special events coming up that you really want to rock? Is there a body part that you want to give all of your focus to?

Setting goals that are both physical AND tied to your bigger purpose in life are the key.

Evaluate all aspects of your life. Do you want a career change in your future.... how does your love of fitness play into that?

Think you want to compete? Have you started planning out which federation you would like to compete in? Have you thought about starting a blog?

Competitions and photo shoots are INCREDIBLE but the challenge that comes with prepping for such an event is that you have now set the bar higher for yourself. You demand more from yourself. Your "why" has changed. Finding your new "why" is what will get you back on track.

Our body is really craving the extra nutrition too... not completely mental... this is physical too. Stepping away from the sugar is step #1. Have more good fats and add more flavor and texture to your meals. Add crunch. Add dressing. Add croutons! Add sauces!

Make sure you are eating plenty earlier in the day. Bump up your starch servings to 1/2c to 3/4c. If you want something sweet, have extra fruit. The amount of sugar in a couple extra pieces of fruit is nothing compared to the sweet treats.

Focus on clean and then you can get back to the portions. You can, will and are doing this!

Knowing that this is totally normal and that all of your hard work will NOT be undone in one week is soooo powerful. My first few times of competing/shooting, I had all of these feelings of guilt, loss of control, "will I ever get my willpower back", and MANY other strong emotions.

Trust yourself and focus on the other things in your life. You already know how to eat clean, timed, and portioned meals and you know how to kill it in the gym. Those things will naturally fall back into place. This is the time to reflect on your experience and figure out how to use it in your bigger life picture. I have seen WAY TOO MANY beautiful women get caught up in the competition/photo shoot cycle....

They shoot/compete and then go back to prepping for the next one but not exactly sure about what they are trying to get out of the shoot/comp. We are always trying to improve so obviously we put new physical goals in place, BUT taking the time to figure out the real satisfaction we derive from the experience is the true reward.

That may be getting a little deep but that has been my experience. I kept doing shows and shoots and I had the idea of "future marketing material" as one of my bigger picture goals but it wasn't until later that I saw how all of these things were leading up to something great.

So, when you feel that night time urge to eat whatever you want, quite the werewolf by spending some time working on your life goals. Your 5, 10, and 20 year goals, and by working on your "Ideal Day". Switch your focus and you will be back to your old, disciplined self in no time.

Guest Author: Stephanie Keenan, Founder of the SKFitLife Challenge, a 12 week fitness challenge that offers:

+Monthly Weight Training

+Weekly HIIT workouts

+ 30-day meal plan

+SUPPORT... access to the private Facebook Group

Stephanie spent 12 years working as a nuclear engineer in the Navy and then as a defense contractor. Now, Stephanie is pursuing her passion and helping men and women to learn the "whys" and "hows" of nourishing your body so you can feel and look your best.

Her philosophy is that your beauty will radiate from the inside out and it all starts with loving and respecting all that your body can do for you.

You can also follow Stephanie on facebook at Stephanie Keenan FitLife and on twitter at @StephKennanFit. And she blogs too! Check it Stephanie Keenan

"Life begins when you stop chasing skinny." ~Stephanie

My Biggest Challenge and Practicing What I Preach

Many of you know that the reason I blog is to help people learn to live healthier lifestyles. I don’t focus on weight loss because that would be narrowing the content too much. I believe that eating whole natural foods and getting some form of daily physical activity is less about weight loss and more about improving your health and your quality of life. Also, losing weight is not everyone’s goal.

Many people have other reasons for changing their lifestyle. Some may have eating disorders or health problems. Others may need to gain weight or may be skinny fat. The point is, everyone has different goals, so my main focus is too help people learn to eat right and find a way to exercise that works for them.

I have never had to lose much weight thanks to my family genetics. However, as I got older I noticed that I was getting a pooch in my stomach, I was losing muscle tone, and I had an overall sluggish feel in my body. So I started on my quest to lose the pooch and find some energy. I researched and read every article, book, published journal I could find. Then I signed up with an online coaching program, and learned I knew less about eating healthy than I thought! Out went all the processed foods, diet products, fat-free anything, and soda from my house. I went cold turkey; this doesn’t work for everyone, but it is what worked for me. After a few weeks, my body didn’t feel so sluggish and after a few months, I had leaned out nicely; however, I didn’t have any muscle so I just looked too skinny.

My goals then changed; I wanted to build some muscle. I worked on my own, trying different techniques and didn’t do too bad, I looked better than I did, but I just couldn’t seem to build the muscle that I was looking for. I wanted shapely shoulders and maybe some hamstrings? So – when Christy Allen, of Christy Allen Fitness and Blue Print Body Designs, offered me her coaching skills – oh heck yeah – I jumped! (Ok, the words may have been a little stronger there).

I started working with Christy in February and noticed a difference in a matter of weeks. My workouts were tough but I liked it. I also came to realize that I push harder when I have someone to answer to. After a few months, my progress seemed to stall. I was getting stronger, no doubt, but my muscle gains seemed to stop. Christy then offered to revamp my diet – turns out I’m a hardgainer – which means because of my genetics, it makes it tough for me to build muscle. She then sent me what turned out to be my toughest challenge – my eating program.

I eat clean on a regular basis, it’s my lifestyle and I have no problems with doing so. However, what Christy was telling me I needed to do was to eat more – 7 meals a day in fact. This increased my daily calories by about 500-600 calories. No problem, I thought, I like to eat. Holy mini meals, batgirl! Not only did I need to eat more meals, but I had to eat more at each meal. Now I know there are going to be some people that just don’t understand, but many will. If you are truly eating clean, you have to eat a lot of food to hit 1700-1800 calories a day. I have been on this eating program for 8 weeks and I am just now getting to where I am actually eating the entire day’s worth of calories.

I am disappointed with myself for this because I know it has hindered my progress. I have also told myself that I need to practice what I preach and take one day at a time, because a little progress is better than no progress. I also have to remind myself not to compare myself with others. Everyone is different and many factors come into play when you are working on a goal. There will be setbacks and not all days or weeks go as planned. So today, I renew my goal and will kick my own butt in the gym.

Please let me be clear, no one can make you do the work. If you have a coach, they can guide you and encourage you, but YOU have to do the work. I am very grateful for Christy being my coach. Sometimes, even coaches need their own coach. It is easier to coach someone else than it is to coach yourself. You’ve heard the old saying, “you need to get out of your own way”? Sometimes I’m like that, and the coach brings me back in line.

I hope you don’t mind me sharing my journey. If you are looking into online training, or personal training if you are lucky enough to live close by, hop over to Christy’s website and check her out. You don’t need to be trying to do a competition, she coaches anyone that has a goal to be healthier – and I strongly recommend her! Look at her before and after pics!

Christy has also given me permission to share a sample of my workouts. This is what a Shoulder/Booty day may look like.

SHOULDERS/BOOTY

Shoulders: 4 Sets, 6-10 Reps, increasing weight with each set

Booty: 4 sets of 15 Reps done in a circuit style

Military Press

Two Arm Rear Facing Side Lateral Raises, - Incline Bench

Two Arm Side Lateral Raises – Super 8’s (Hold 8 seconds on the raise)

Two Arm Rear Delt Machine

One Arm Bent Over Fly’s – Dumbbells

Single Leg Press – Feet high

Cable Pull Throughs – 50lbs

Weighted Walking Lunges, 25 per leg followed by 25 bodyweight squats followed by 15 Jump Squats

To end on a good note, I have gained 5 lbs but only .50% body fat since we started this program.

What has been your biggest challenge in your journey?

It's Never Too Late

No matter what your age, you can improve your level of fitness. Having strong muscles help you to maintain good posture, alleviate joint pain and even prevent osteoporosis; but as we get older our bodies begin to lose muscle mass and strength. However, studies show you are never too old to teach your muscles new tricks. According to a study in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, it was determined that women in their twenties and their sixties, made gains in the weight room at the same rate. Here are some tricks you can utilize in your routine to keep your muscles strong.

Firm Up Faster: Add 5 percent more weight to your reps. If you can do leg presses with 100 lbs now, for 2 consecutive sets, add 5-10 lbs. more weight in your next workout. Studies show that people who increase their weights by 5-10 percent can gain strength by 38% in 13 weeks.

Strengthen your ticker: Add interval cardio training in your gym routine. Research shows that this type of training increases your cardio capacity and strengthens your heart muscle. Perform short bursts of intense exercise followed by a period of recovery. Perform 6-8 rounds.

Power Up: To increase your muscles power, try fast lifts. According to Brad Schoenfield, author of Women’s Home Workout Bible, by incorporating this type of training into your workout, you increase how quickly your muscles can generate force. His rule of thumb: Lift your weight in a 1 / 2 tempo – lift the weight in one second, take 2 seconds to lower the weight. Example: In a bicep curl, curl the weight quickly – taking only one second, but lower the weight slowly – taking two seconds.

Hunchback of Notre Dame

I remember my Aunt Bobby always telling her daughter, “Stand up straight”, and then would pull her shoulders back. My teenage cousin was well-endowed and had a tendency to slouch, rounding her shoulders forward.

Today, most of us have to remind ourselves to stand and sit up straight. We commute to work and then spend an average of 8 hours in front of a computer only to drive home, slump over the sink and stove and then flop down on the couch to relax for the evening. Kids sit all day in school and then come home and do homework (sitting), socialize on the internet, play video games and watch tv. It’s a miracle we all aren’t walking like the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

All this sitting causes your shoulder, chest and hip muscles to shorten and tighten, resulting in weakened upper and middle back muscles. By strengthening your back muscles and stretching tight chest muscles, your chest area becomes more flexible and your shoulders will naturally pull back, improving your posture.

You may not have rounded shoulders now, but have you felt any tightness and stiffness of the back and neck. Or maybe you don’t have the same range of motion that you used too. These are symptoms of poor posture.

It is important to have a strong core so that we can perform our daily activities without pain or risk of injury.

Be sure to include a back workout into your weekly exercise routine. Good exercises to include are lat pulldowns, back extensions, and reverse flye’s.

Here are six exercises to perform to help correct posture, per Fitday

1.   Plank

2.   Superman

3.   Wall Squats

4.   Hip Bridge

5.   Crunches

6.   Reverse Crunches

I also like shoulder rolls, open chest stretch and the YTWL.

What are your favorite back exercises?

Trying to stay fit on the go? - There's an App for that!

With all the health and fitness apps on the market, it is easier than ever to stay on track with your fitness goals. New applications for your cell phone or iPad make it easier to track calorie counts, download daily workout programs and share your progress with Facebook friends.

The best news: Most cost little or no money. Here are a few that I think are worth taking a look at.

Fleetly

I just discovered this website and I love it! It has a ton of exercise, but what I like most is that it allows you to join challenges. You can track your progress and compete with friends. You can sync it with Nike+ and Runkeeper. It also has an app for the iphone.

RunKeeper

The app will track distance, time, pace, calories and path traveled on a map. RunKeeper allows you to see your progress by showing you how many calories you are burning and the distance you are running every day. The graphs allow you to easily see how you are progressing. It also allows you to find other RunKeeper users from Facebook, Google contacts and your local area.

Nike Training Club

I love the idea of this mobile app. I hate that it is only for the iphone (ugh!). It was developed by Nike professional trainers. You can choose your workout to match your fitness level and goal. For every minute of exercise you log, you accumulate points to trade for rewards such as personal training advice or star workouts. If you have an iphone and give this app a try – I would love to hear about it!

Restaurant Nutrition

Allows you to search over 250 eateries and more than 60,000 menu items for accurate nutrition to track calories, carbs, protein, fat and more! You can also journal your food, upload images, and post to facebook.

MyFitnessPal

Mobile apps for all phones allows  you to log your food and exercise from anywhere, at any time! All changes made on your phone will be synchronized with our website and vice versa. It tracks calories consumed and burned through physical activity. It also had a community forum so members can offer support and advice to one another.

SparkPeople

This is an awesome website! You can get calorie counters and meal plans, a personalized fitness program, recipes, articles, videos and a recipe calorie calculator. You will also find a multitude of support and motivation from other members. It has an app that will allow you to sync up all your on-th-go data with the full website so you won’t forget a thing.  SparkPeople and SparkRecipes have applications for iPhone/iPod touch, Google Android, and Blackberry, as well as for the iPad.

Muscle and Fitness Workout Trainer:

It only has an app for the iphone, but you can also get all the info via their website. It has a massive database of workouts, exercise demonstrations, and articles or nutrition. You can sign up and find the perfect workout for your goals, or join monthly and have access to trainers. It has an app for the iphone.

Bodybuilding.com

A great source for fitness and nutrition information. It is also the home of the very popular Jamie Eason Live-Fit 3 month program. You can sign up and create your own bodyspace profile where you can blog your workouts, track your progress, and interact with like-minded people for support.

Has Your Progress Hit a Wall?

It happens to every person who is working to lose weight. You are traveling along at a nice speed, the pounds just seem to be melting away and the suddenly….BOOM…nothing. The scale doesn’t budge for weeks-you’ve hit a wall. What you are experiencing is the dreaded weight-loss plateau.  Almost everyone trying to reshape their body in any way has experienced it.  Be of good cheer, with a body check and routine review, you will discover how to bust that through that plateau and will be gaining ground and losing pounds in no time!

Stop and Check:

1.    Calorie crunch time. There could be two possible things going on. You may not be eating enough. When you begin eating healthier and exercising on a regular basis, your body becomes more efficient at burning calories. Add another 100-200 calories to your daily total, making sure they are coming from whole nutritious food – not junk. OR – You may be consuming calories you aren’t aware of. Check you habits to make sure you aren’t nibbling from you children’s plate, sampling your co-workers candy stash, or drinking your calories. These small things can add up to many extra calories quickly.

2.    Increase your protein. Eating a higher ration of protein to carbs can make losing body fat easier. Protein boosts the metabolism and increases that “full” feeling, making it more likely that you won’t overeat.

3.    Add some weight.  If you haven’t been doing any resistance training, now is the time to start. Resistance training helps build muscle and muscle burns more calories than fat. If you have already been lifting weights, take it up a notch. Try a sculpting class (circuits with weights), or design your own weight training circuit routine (click here for a sample). Keep in mind, muscle volume weighs more than fat volume, so you may not see numbers on scale drop right away, but if your pants are getting looser then you are on the right track.

4.    Are you the cardio queen/king?  If you have been on the elliptical so much they put your name on it, then it’s time to try something new. Try adding in some HIIT (high intensity interval training) into your cardio routine twice a week. A typical HIIT session includes a warm up period of 3-5 minutes, followed by 6-10 rounds of 30-60 seconds going at full speed, followed by a 30-90 second recovery round; cool down for another 3-5 min.

5.    Are you overtraining? Have you been working out 6 days a week for months? Then you need to take a break. Your body recovers and builds muscle while you rest and sleep. Take a week off, preparing a different routine to try when you go back to the gym.

6.    Is life getting your down? Stress and lack of sleep can also interfere with weight loss.  Sleep is related to the hormone cortisol, which can be a great friend when you are in a “fight or flight” situation; however it is your worst enemy when you’re trying to lose belly fat.  Lack of sleep turns this stress hormone on and into over drive, which signals your body to store fat. Try meditation or yoga to help reduce stress.

Take inventory and see if any of these situations apply to you. Give one or all of the tips a try and I’m sure you will back to losing pounds again in not time!

Why Women Should Lift Weights

Many women feel if they lift weights they will become muscular and “manly” looking. I hear it all they time. However, it simply is not true. You will develop sleek and beautiful muscle; you look toned and more lean; you will have curves – but you will not look “manly”! So don’t be afraid to go for the iron!

Research shows there are many reasons a woman should lift weights. Here are a few.

You will be physically stronger

If your maximum strength is increased, daily tasks and routine exercise will be far less likely to cause injury. Research studies conclude that even moderate weight training can increase a woman's strength by 30 to 50 percent

You will lose body fat

As your lean muscle increases so does your resting metabolism and you burn more calories all day long. Generally speaking, for each pound of muscle you gain, you burn 35 to 50 more calories each day. That can really add up.

You will tone without bulk

Researchers also found that unlike men, women typically don't gain size from strength training, because compared to men; women have 10 to 30 times less of the hormones that cause muscle hypertrophy.

You Will Reduce Your Risk of Injury 

Strength training not only builds stronger muscles, but also builds stronger connective tissues and increases joint stability. This acts as reinforcement for the joints and helps prevent injury

You Will Reduce Your Risk of Heart Disease.

According to Dr. Barry A. Franklin, of William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, weight training can improve cardiovascular health in several ways, including lowering LDL ("bad") cholesterol, increasing HDL ("good") cholesterol and lowering blood pressure. When cardiovascular exercise is added, these benefits are maximized.

You Will Reduce Your Risk of Diabetes.

Weight training may improve the way the body processes sugar, which may reduce the risk of diabetes. Research indicates that weight training can increase glucose utilization in the body by 23 percent in four months.

It Is Never Too Late To Benefit.

Women in their 70s and 80s have built up significant strength through weight training and studies show that strength improvements are possible at any age. Note, however, that a strength training professional should always supervise older participants.

You Will Improve Your Attitude And Fight Depression.

A Harvard study found that 10 weeks of strength training reduced clinical depression symptoms more successfully than standard counseling did. Women who strength train commonly report feeling more confident and capable as a result of their program, all important factors in fighting depression.