If you're like my patient over 40, you might have a few pounds to lose and want to get back the young, toned, muscular look you have. It's true, as we get older, if we don't use it; we lose it, muscle strength, that is.
Did you know that people lose 5 kg of muscle mass every 10 years after 30 years? That's right! Losing muscle decreases metabolic rate, which means we burn more slowly and can gain weight faster. However, the good news is that there is a way to reverse this process. It's called resistance training.
There are so many aspects of optimal health that affect good muscle strength. In fact, lean muscles not only make us healthier but can actually help us slow down, lose weight, build bone density, and stay agile and less prone to injury.
Many people who try to lose weight tell me they do aerobic exercises like walking, running, or biking, several times a week along with watching what they eat, but their weight is still very slow. When I asked them if they were doing any resistance, or muscle strength training along with the effort, they were surprised to hear that they would see faster results if they replaced aerobic training for some resistance training. Let me explain why.
What is Resistance Training?
In short, resistance training is any kind of movement of your muscles against external obstacles such as free loads, weight machines, training bands, or even lifting stones, which causes your muscles to contract. Performing these movements of the muscle causes microscopic tears in the muscles in a process called catabolism, or damage, of muscle fibers.
The healing and repair that our body does in response is known as anabolism. It causes the muscles to not only improve themselves but also become stronger, denser, and more resilient. The result of this two-stage process is that you get more toned and increase your metabolic rate which helps you burn fat faster. If you burn fat faster, what do you think? You lose weight faster than fat.
Here are some other benefits of resistance training that I'm sure you'll be surprised to find out:
•It can help lower blood pressure - Current research shows that resistance training reduces both systolic (top) and diastolic (low) stress by some points. It also reduces blood pressure hormones which helps lower blood pressure.
•Prevents osteoporosis by building bone - Muscle friction to the bone during resistance training stimulates the bone to grow and become thicker.
•Invert or slow down the aging process - along with increased protein intake, resistance training helps release Human Growth Hormone (HGH) which slows down aging.
•Improve glucose metabolism - Weight training increases insulin use by using glucose for muscle work. Helps prevent type 2 diabetes.
Aerobic Training and Resistance - Both Working Together
Don't get me wrong, aerobic exercise is very beneficial to your overall health. It also improves your mood, lowers your blood pressure, improves your metabolism, improves your lung and heart capacity, and helps you sleep!
However, I have had some patients throw up and dehydrate myself for 1 hour daily aerobic exercise, trying to reduce muscle and muscle fat. It's actually not productive. You can shorten your aerobic workout by up to 20 minutes, 3 times a week, doing aerobic exercise intervals not only energizes you but strengthens your heart and improves your metabolism better and faster.
Exercise aerobics over time, do a 10-minute warm-up with your chosen workout (walking, jogging, traditional cycling or "spinning" on a club bike, elliptical, swimming, fast dancing) and then alternating between 2 short breaks more intense, faster, higher resistance levels and slower, resting exercises for 10 minutes left. When you get used to doing this interval, you can gradually increase the length of the high-intensity spray to 5 minutes.
Resistance exercises, on the other hand, specifically target the strength of each muscle group and should be done 3 times a week. Whether you use a heavy load or a heavy machine standing in your gym is your choice. However, you may want to start a weight machine and incorporate some weight training into your resistance training routine once you become comfortable with it. Also, a good warm up session before resistance training is important to prevent injury. Make sure you are also hydrated and drink plenty of water while exercising.
In general, good guidelines are 3 sets of 10-12 reps (repetition), starting with 5-10 lb free, or 20 kg machine weight. Every exercise should be done on every other day, giving your muscles a chance to relax and improve in between sessions. However, to start with for the first week or so, you may want to reduce your number of sets and reps to half this amount and gradually build this level, increasing your weight slightly as you go. You don't want to do unused muscle work and get sick.
Remember, this is resistance / strength training and not bodybuilding, so make sure your weight is only slightly heavier than a comfortable level to avoid building a lot of muscle mass. Resistance training is very easy, and safe to do on your own, but you may want to start with a little personal instruction in the gym with a coach who can provide you with a basic endurance training program and help you keep track of your goals.
I hope the basics of resistance training mentioned here will encourage you to add them to your fitness routine. Resistance training gains are usually noticeable in the first 3 weeks, and if you are loyal to your diet, you should see some significant results in fat loss. Take your measurements before starting resistance training, and again 3 weeks later. You may not notice a large drop in the scale, such as muscle, although smaller and denser than fat, it weighs more. However, your clothes will get better and you will start to see more muscle definition. You will have more stamina, you will look great and best of all you will feel great!
Resistance Training - Muscle Strength Burns Fat!
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