Are You Lifting The Right Weight

Are You Lifting the Right Weight? By Dan Grant, NSCA-CPT, http://www.bodytransformationcoach.com Have you ever seen the women’s only section of a gym and see how much weight work is actually happening? I’m not talking actually lifting. I’m talking how much actual weight is being lifted. Sometimes I wonder why there’s dumbbells in there that go over 10 pounds. Most women are focused on fat loss and what everybody has been telling them for years is that light weight high rep resistance training will help them lose weight. Maybe when people start out the 5 pound curls will help. This world currently has a MAJOR problem and it’s that most people are weak. Society now is sit and work, sit and watch television, sit and play video games, etc. We don’t have to work our bodies too hard anymore but so many people are constantly getting hurt, having nagging injuries, and just don’t feel too great overall. Is this a correlation? Damn right it is. The stronger you are the less likely all of your pains will occur because your muscles and neurological system will know how to function better. But let’s get back to the light weight high rep problem. Has anybody who has lifted light weights for weight loss ever thought on how something so easy to do would be able to benefit them at all? I mean, if you’re doing 15 bicep curls and you barely start to feel a burn of any sort until 10 and by 15 you still could do another 10 reps, is that really going to help you? To make any improvement physically your body has to go through some sort of struggle. To burn fat you need to build lean muscle. To build lean muscle you need to use a weight that will make you struggle to finish the allotted reps. Pretty simple, right? If your set is 10 reps then there should be no way that you can complete an 11th rep. That 10th rep should be the last one you are physically able to do. That’s how you’ll get the results you want with fat loss in the gym. People still are trying to find the easiest way to lose fat. That’s probably why people spent over 100 billion dollars in 2006 on weight loss information and services and the world is STILL getting fatter and fatter. My advice, STOP finding the easy answer and realize the fact that it’ll take some hard work and dedication. Work hard at it for a few months and you’ll not only realize how good it is for you, you’ll realize that it was a fun journey to get the weight loss you wanted, AND you just won’t understand why you couldn’t just do that a long time ago. If you’re absolutely serious about fat loss and having a healthier life, then go out and do your research or hire somebody you can help you reach your goals. You have to lift the right amount of weight though. If you’re just starting out only do 1 set per exercise for about 15 reps and that’s it. Do that for about a week and see how you’re feeling and then progress to 2 sets for a week or two and then you should be ready to step up the intensity. If you are a woman reading this and worried about get too “bulky,” please don’t worry about that. Women just don’t have the levels of growth hormones in their bodies to get big huge muscles. It’s hard enough for men to even get any decent size growth with their muscles, naturally. If you’ve ever read any of my fat loss articles before you know I talk about shocking your metabolism to keep it high so you can burn fat at a higher efficiency all day long. That lean muscle that you’re building will do that. Your metabolism will be higher for days after a good, strong intense resistance workout. DAYS! And it doesn’t have to be an hour long session. That’s just way to long. You should be able to get a proper and effective resistance workout in about 30 minutes. I feel 45 minutes is fine but anything over that just isn’t worth it. Go grab a copy of Dan’s limited time fat loss e-course at www.bodytransformationcoach.com. Dan Grant is a body transformation specialist in Winchester, VA and is an internationally recognized coach in the fitness industry.