Weight Loss - 7 Reasons You Should Lift Weights And Use Cardio
Filed under: Health and Fitness
I’m a strong advocate of weight training and doing cardiovascular exercise at the same time to lose weight. (But always separate the two by at least 6 hours!) Here’s why.
1. Although weight training might, in the short term, make you heavier on the scale, it does not make you fatter. Muscle weighs more than fat but looks infinitely better on your body and is a lot more useful than carrying fat around. It’s useful bulk!
2. When doing cardio, only intensity matters. It doesn’t matter if you and your friend are both running at 5 mph. If he’s a seasoned marathon runner and you just got off the couch yesterday, you are exerting far more intensity over time than he is. I recommend doing the couch-to-5k program because most people can do it and it uses what we call HIIT (high intensity interval training) which is short bursts of low intensity and high intensity.
3. Did you know that your favorite Hollywood celebrities ALL use resistance (weight) training as part of their workouts? (Hint: The list includes Jessica Biel, Jennifer Garner, J. Lo, Pink, and tons more.
4. Don’t be taken in by people that tell you you won’t see results if you’re not on the treadmill for an hour every day. Let’s go back to #2: Only Intensity Matters. Why waste a whole hour every day when you could be training only with intensity in a fraction of the time with couch-to-5k?
5. Do not use weight machines. Use free weights. Our ancestors got strong by lifting heavy things. Machines only train you to move in a certain way with muscles. Using free weights (like dumbbells and barbells) engage a lot of our supporting muscles as well (especially with compound movements), so it’s the best bang for your workout time.
6. Find cardio boring? Find something new to do that gets your heart pumping! Go bike riding, rollerblading, take up a sport, go hiking… Just don’t sit there on the computer. If you find you’ve plateaued with your progress, try switching up your cardio. It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you MOVE.
7. Be stronger, leaner, and more protected with more muscle. It goes without saying that muscles give you more strength, and in the long run, a leaner look since they burn more calories just sitting there than fat does. But did you know you’d be more protected should you get in a tumble? Your muscles will act like a tough shell to your soft insides, protecting what’s important.
Jen L. owns and operates a health & fitness blog located at: http://befit.scoopme.net
Unlike a lot of other experts, she believes strongly in weight training for women as well as cardio.
Tags: compound exercises, lift weights, weight loss, weight training
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