Pro Diets...Newsletter 1

Women and Weight Training

A big misconception that I run into frequently is women who want to get into shape think that all they need to do is take aerobics classes a few times a week and within two months they will see results...Well, on one hand yes, they will probably see a reduction in total bodyweight because of the increased physical activity (as long as the calories they are taking in have not increased) but, women need to realize that a body that looks muscularly healthy - with toned muscle tissue and skin - comes from a combination of CONSISTENT aerobic activity and CONSISTENT weight training activity. This is a fact! Therefore, any exercise regimen should be a balanced combination of both.

Let me try to illustrate for you what happens if one does solely aerobic exercise. Let's assume your body is pear-shaped. If you do nothing but aerobic exercise in an effort to "tone" your body, you will probably lose weight (again, provided that the calories you are consuming are less than what you are expending through exercise). However, when you look in the mirror to admire your new body you discover that you have simply become a smaller version of that pear. Why? Because you did nothing - that's right - nothing to reshape or even maintain the muscle that was already on your body. Guess what the missing ingredient is? Yep, weight training. There's no getting around this plain and simple fact.

Toning. Just what does the word mean anyway? To a hairstylist it means a color, or shade of color. Toning your body simply means holding onto or increasing muscle while shedding body fat. Muscle building and toning are the same thing! In the gym I constantly encounter women who are looking to tone their body. They don't want muscle, of course. They just want to tone and strengthen their body. I smile to myself and ask, "Tone and strengthen what?" They will think for a moment, grab a handful of skin at the side of their hip and say, "This." "Your skinny" I ask. "Well, then maybe you should see an esthetician. That's what they do - tone and pamper skin." Do you get my point. As a personal trainer my job is to tone and strengthen muscle.

If you are one of those persons looking for muscle tone, then you have to accept the fact that the muscle has to grow and become stronger to make the skin feel tighter. Additionally, the more muscle you have on your body, the more calories you will burn even at rest. Muscle tissue is more bioactive than fat tissue. Fat just sits there. It takes energy (calories) just to maintain lean muscle tissue. Thus, it makes sense that you would want to maintain as much muscle on your body as possible in your quest for to burn body fat and "tone." The muscles you have on your body right now, whether a little or a lot, is in direct correlation to the number of calories you burn at any given moment. Muscle is vital tissue worth protecting.

The next concern, of course, is the fear of getting big and bulky. There are two reasons to not let this fallacy undermine your quest for a "toned" figure. First and foremost ladies, unless you are taking large doses of anabolic steroids or producing testosterone like a young bull it is physically impossible for you to develop large, bulky muscles. Secondly, if people could only understand how much work it takes to put on size through weight training, this concern would be nonexistent. Those who believe in the "Just Toning Theory" are not even close to the mindset you would need to develop BIG muscles with weight training.

Next, some people believe that high repetitions and low weights is the way to "Just Tone." This theory is simply a great way to waste a lot of your precious time in the gym. The muscles need to have constant increases in stimuli in order to strengthen, shape and tone. That's right - you can go through the motions with the high rep-low weight theory, or you can get results quick and easy by putting the proper stresses on that body that it needs to "Just Tone."

Finally, there are no magic potions or creams or easy workouts (high rep-low weight). If you want your loose skin to be tighter, you have to replace that body fat tissue underneath your skin with muscle tissue and you have to that through aerobics exercise AND muscle building, which happens to be the same as "toning."

Remember, without muscles it is harder to burn fat, and there is nothing for your skin to tighten itself around. Isn't that what you are trying to achieve, anyway? Best of luck.

Yours In Health,
Dr. Diet

You can contact Dr. Diet via e-mail with any questions at drdiet@prodiets.com.