Yesterday, we started talking about the basic premise of weight loss – burning more calories through your daily movement than you are taking in by your daily food consumption. Remember, we want to boost your metabolism. We want to get your body to a state where just being, resting, even sleeping, it’s burning more calories. There are 2 really efficient ways to do that. Yesterday we talked about high intensity interval training and today we are going to talk about strength training!
Lift Heavy Stuff/Strength Train
I know, I know, women don’t want to lift heavy because we don’t want to get too bulky. But most women don’t have enough free testosterone (without external supplements) to gain that much muscle mass and get bulky, I promise. For men, this is not usually a problem (we don’t often have men come to the gym saying they DON’T want to gain muscle mass.)
Either way, the more muscle you have, the more calories your body will burn daily, whether you’re working out or not. Which is why we want to build lean muscle mass. Maintaining your muscle mass is far more expensive calorie-wise than maintaining body fat. Your muscles need the energy, which will increase your metabolism as your body burns extra calories breaking down carbohydrates and fat to provide energy.
Another really great and hugely important reason both women and men need to lift heavy weights is to increase bone density and fight off osteoporosis now before it’s too late.
Plus, who doesn’t have stress in their life from jobs, family, and other obligations? Lifting heavy stuff will definitely help relieve some of that stress that builds up throughout the day. It is so satisfying to lift heavy stuff and put it back down – there is such a feeling of accomplishment!
Next, we need to take a look at what we are fueling our body with – our food intake. We’ll talk about that tomorrow!