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Why would you want to lift heavy?
So last night I met with one of my clients, Juliana, who also does my lifting class.
Juliana has gotten super into the lifting and has grown by leaps and bounds. Her movement patterns have improved and she is now lifting human beings! 🙂
She seems to enjoy the lifting and seems to like the way she looks!
But then this week, a situation that has happened to almost all of us female lifters, occurred. It is a conversation that can scare off many beginning female lifters.
The “you don’t want to get bulky do you” conversation. Juliana had two people start-up that conversation.
Luckily I didn’t even have to convince her that they were wrong! She already knew what she was doing was right!
Lifting heavy won’t make you bulky people!!!!! COME ON!
Having extra fat is what makes you “bulky.” Eating crap so that you have bad body composition is what makes you “bulky.”
Not leaned toned muscle mass!
I’ve gained about 17 pounds in the last two years. I still wear the same clothes I wore when I was 17 pounds lighter. Actually some don’t fit as well now because I’ve shrunk in certain areas…like my waist. I’ve shrunk because I’ve lost FAT. I haven’t become any bigger by adding muscle because I cut off the fat that was previously holding its spot!
If you don’t believe me because you know I’m biased, take a look at this Women’s Health Magazine article! Mainstream media even agrees that lifting heavy is good for you! (Of course as I go to post this and click on their link from Facebook it says “Page not found”….Maybe I shouldn’t yet think so highly of mainstream media!)
BUT here is a quote from what was up there.
Lift Heavier Weights! A recent study showed that women who lifted a challenging weight for eight reps burned nearly twice as many calories as women who knocked out 15 reps with lighter dumbbells.
See burn more fat and look LESS bulky by lifting heavy weights!
Let’s Make a Bet – 20 minutes vs. 1 hour
What do you want to bet that a 20 minute workout can be better than an hour workout?
I’d bet just about anything.
Circuit training - killing two birds with one stone....Candy also made a good point - this is what we look like when we are working out.
It kills me to see people in the gym who think they need to slave away for hours to get results. It kills me to hear people say that they don’t  have enough time to workout.
It kills me that people WASTE THEIR TIME doing long, drawn out workouts when they could get better results in 20 minutes.
And I’m not saying you should never workout for an hour…I’m just saying that you don’t need to!
Why spend 30 minutes on the treadmill and then 30 minutes doing some slow isolated muscle group weight workout when you could accomplish the same thing (and more!) in only 20 minutes?
Don’t waste your time! Try circuit training! It will help you get great results in less time.
When I say circuit training, most people think of quick circuits and light weight…barbie weights actually. But that isn’t what a true circuit is.
A true circuit is one in which you use challenging weights while taking minimal breaks between exercises. A great circuit also alternates the body parts worked so that you can keep moving from exercise to exercise without having to take any rest.
And the other benefits of circuit training besides saving you time:
- You improve your cardiorespiratory system WHILE you build muscle. With traditional weight training workouts, you take super long rests between sets, which allows your heart rate to recover. But with circuit training and less rest, your heart rate remains elevated throughout the entire workout, helping you reap cardiovascular benefits without going on the treadmill for 30 minutes after your weight training circuit.
- You burn more calories AND fat in less time! Now who wouldn’t want to do that!?! More work is performed in less time equaling a greater calorie expenditure. A 185-lb. exerciser performing a 30-minute weight training routine expends 133 calories. To compare to circuit training, the same 185-lb. person performing a 30-minute circuit training session burns 355 calories. These statistics show that circuit training burns more than double the amount of calories than a standard weight training workout.
- You also burn more calories for longer! Circuit training triggers a response in your body that accelerates metabolism for up to 48 hours. You burn more calories after your workout because of excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, which is affected by exercise intensity. Since circuit training is more intense compared than the typical weight lifting workout, circuit training will help you burn more fat after you workout!
- You build muscle! Most people think that circuit training equals light weights which equal no strength gains. But the lack of rest actually increases the amount of testosterone released, which helps build muscle. Also, because circuit training workouts are shorter you avoid cortisol releasing, which it does typically during lengthy cardio sessions. Cortisol can actually start to breakdown muscle tissues!
Hopefully, now you are thinking to yourself…Why don’t I do any circuit training? If you are looking for a great circuit, try one of the workouts of the week!
Top 10 Stupid Fitness Myths
A sexy, weight lifting woman! Jamie Eason ROCKS!
- Lifting heavy weights will make women bulk up. Uhm..if you’ve read one post on this site, I hope you don’t believe this any more. Weight lifting won’t make women look bulky unless they are taking steroids! Weight lifting will actually make women look more toned since muscle takes up less space than fat (so you can actually look smaller and trimmer if you have muscle!). Weight lifting also has a ton of health benefits such as stronger bones so don’t skip it!
- Cardio is better for weight loss. NOPE! I just posted a great article about this AND Brian is a great testament to the fact that you can lose more weight and look fitter if you just do weight lifting! Brian has lost 12 pounds over the last 3 1/2 weeks doing absolutely NO cardio! (P.S. Congrats Brian!)
- Taking in fewer calories than you expend (calories in vs. calories out) is all that matters when you are trying to lose weight. AH! If you eat a ton of peanut m&ms but don’t consume more than 1,500 calories, you will probably lose weight on the scale, but you won’t be healthy and you will probably not  have great body composition (you will be “skinny fat.”). If you eat well, you don’t have to count calories, you will lose weight and you will have great body composition.
- Eating late at night can make you gain weight. It doesn’t matter when you consume the calories, if you need the calories. You won’t gain weight JUST because you ate late at night. With Intermittent Fasting, I only really ate before bed, and I lost weight. As long as you aren’t consuming extra calories during the day, it doesn’t matter when you eat the calories you need!
- I can “spot reduce” problem areas by doing exercises specific to those body parts. HA! I wish! It doesn’t work that way unfortunately. You can’t control where you lose fat from, but if you lift heavy and eat right you will get a healthy, lean body!
- If I can’t workout hard enough or long enough, I may as well just skip it that day. NOOOOO! Short workouts can be good for you! And pushing through a workout even when you don’t feel like you can give it your all can still produce results! Even a workout at 60% effort can help you achieve results in the long run!
- You will burn more fat if you exercise for longer at a lower intensity (within the “fat burning” zone). This should be a whole post on its own…the fat burning zone, unfortunately, doesn’t exist. While walking is good for you, lifting to build muscle is better for fat loss. More muscle equals more fat burning! So start lifting to lose fat!
- Exercising a lot is all you need to achieve your weight loss goals. As much as I would love to tell my clients that all they need to do to lose weight is exercise, it isn’t. Diet really is 80% of the weight loss battle! Working out can help you keep the weight off and burn extra calories during your weight loss battle, but it won’t melt the pounds away. You need a clean diet to really lose weight and make all the work you do when you are working out really pay off! 🙂
- All you need to do is cardiovascular training to be in shape. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! If you believe that, you are on the wrong blog!
- Women who have muscle and can lift more than men aren’t sexy. BS!!! We are so super sexy! AND don’t you forget it!
Man Bicep 