Any woman who works out with weights will likely wax lyrical about it.

Weight-lifting brings tangible results and is hugely satisfying. It’s becoming increasingly popular amongst women, but many still fear they’ll soon resemble body-builders, rather than create the lean physique they desire.

Gradually, general consensus is shifting though, with more and more women trying resistance training - be that with weights or just their own bodies - and never looking back.

One female personal trainer even told The Independent she can eat eight times as much as she used to when doing purely cardio. But if that’s not incentive enough, we spoke to personal trainer Tom Mans to find out exactly why lifting weights is such a good idea for women.

1. Weight training is key to losing fat

“When it comes to fat loss, the single most important factor is making sure you burn off more calories than you consume on a day-to-day basis,” Mans explained to The Independent

By weight training, you build lean muscle, and muscle is a metabolically active tissue where carbohydrates and body fat are burned and used as energy. The more muscle you have, the higher your basal metabolic rate, so the more calories you’ll burn over the course of a day. 

2. It's more effective than cardio

Many people think slogging it out on a cardio machine or pounding the pavements are the keys to fat loss, but cardio like running or cycling puts strain on your muscles (which can lead to injuries) and won’t build muscle, according to Mans.

Plus with weight training, there are practically endless exercises you can do, so unlike with cardio you’ll never get bored.

3. Lifting weights doesn't mean you'll become big and bulky

“I completely understand why women think weight training makes you bulky and muscly,” says Mans, adding that it can make you bulky, but only if you do specific training with a strict diet to match.

Plus women are built differently to men, and Mans says we won’t become bulky because of our basic biology: “On average, testosterone levels in men are about seven to eight times as great as in women. And testosterone is the main hormone that builds muscles.”

4. It has a positive impact on bone density

“When our bones are put under stress from the force of resistance training over a long period of time, they grow stronger and increase in density to withstand the extra load and force,” Mans says.

“Resistance training increases bone density and therefore decreases the chances of women and men developing osteoporosis later on in life.”

Studies have shown that both aerobic exercise and resistance training help strengthen our bones’ ability to bear weight, but resistance training is more effective.

5.  It will improve your strength and boost your confidence

Every time your work out with weights, you become stronger, and so next time you’ll be able to lift more, which is both incredibly satisfying and motivating.

“Unlike fat loss, which takes a lot of time and patience, strength in the gym can increase on a week-by-week basis,” Mans says, “Especially in the first five to six months of training.”

Plus, it just feels awesome to feel strong: “My female clients get a massive confidence boost when they know they are can lift more than most men of the same age in the gym,” Mans says.

6. It makes you more athletic

Everyone wants to look toned and sculpted, and weight training is the way to achieve this. But it’ll also improve your abilities in other sports.

“I have trained a range of athletes in the past - from professional rugby players to tri-athletes to motorcycle racing drivers,” Mans says. “Having a solid strength base helps improve many other elements of athleticism, including power, speed, agility, endurance and muscle mass gains. 

“Strength training and weight training will help the body adapt to the forces it will face during sport and through everyday life.”

Weights machines can be daunting so put people off. But all you have to do is ask someone how to use them once, and then you’ll be good to go.

And if you don’t have access to a gym, it’s easy to find at-home resistance-based workouts using stretchy bands, dumbbells or even cans of beans (or bottles of alcohol, depending on your priorities).

Once you start working out with weights, chances are you’ll never look back. And then you’ll be one of the ones waxing lyrical (and smashing the men at arm-wrestling).

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/why-women-should-lift-weights-6-reasons-exercise-fitness-confidence-strength-fat-loss-a7829436.html

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The Benefits Of Yoga!

Yoga has become very popular over the last decade. Why are so many people doing it? What are the benefits and what is the commitment?

Yoga has become very popular over the last decade. Actors, athletes, politicians and moms are doing it. If fact, there is no firm demographic of people who are devoted to yoga, it runs the gamut. Why are so many people doing it? What are the benefits and what is the commitment? Can it replace strength or cardiovascular training?

Simply put, yoga is excellent for your physical and psychological being. Below is a list of some of the most common benefits gleaned from practicing yoga on a regular basis.

Improved muscle tone, flexibility, strength and stamina

Reduce stress, tension and blood pressure

Boost self-esteem

Improves concentration and creativity

Decreases stored fat

Improves circulation

Improves digestion

Stimulates the immune system

Improves balance

Improves mind/body connection

Improves posture

Improves agility

Yoga helps create a sense of well-being and calm

Developed in India 5000 years ago and brought to the United States in the early 20th Century, yoga has proven itself over time. Yoga is a holistic therapy that is beneficial to the whole being.

It's not just a "Band-aid" meant to relieve an illness or cover pain. Yoga seeks to create balance between the mind, body and spirit, which allows the natural healing process to occur. Yoga is beneficial in preventing and eliminating some problems.

Yoga involves holding postures, which improves balance, strength and stamina. Many of these postures help to improve circulation, digestion, balance, flexibility and agility. The process of holding certain postures can be difficult and requires a great deal of strength, balance and concentration.

WHAT IS YOGA?

It's a type of meditation. If a person is focusing intensely on something they are not usually bothered by other thoughts intruding in their mind. This is how concentration and the mind/body connection improve.

Because these postures take a great deal of strength and stamina, muscles become more tone and develop a greater tolerance for endurance. The back, arms, legs, abs, practically every muscle in the body can achieve a good intense work out (with certain types of yoga). It's not uncommon for participants to be soaked in sweat after an hour-long class.

Yoga helps teach proper breathing (the most important element of yoga) and alignment of the body. The focus is on balance. The body should be in balance physically, from front to back and side to side. Breathing should come from the diaphragm (which can be noticed by the stomach expanding and contracting instead of the rib cage).

With proper breathing the body receives more oxygen, a person feels better and the immune system in improved. With proper posture, proper breathing and stronger muscles a person will stand up straight walk straight and enter a room with greater self-esteem and confidence.

Yoga comes in many forms. There are at least 27 different types practiced in the United States ranging from slow easy stretches with meditative breathing and guided imagery to intense sweat producing postures held for many minutes in a 105-degree room.

To achieve the maximum benefits of yoga a person should practice as much as possible - every day of the week would not be too much. Although, a person can feel more relaxed and limber after just one session the more it is practiced, the better they will feel and the longer the benefits will last.

CONCLUSION

There are many staunch disbelievers that say yoga cannot have any medical benefits. But even the most skeptical usually agree that although it may not help, it at least should do no harm (when done correctly).

The most common reason people begin a yoga program is to relieve stress and back pain, and within a few sessions they usually feel better.

All-and-all yoga is very beneficial to the whole person and part of a regular exercise program. It is not a stand-alone cure-all. But like juice, toast and milk with breakfast cereal, yoga compliments other fitness programs beautifully.

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What are SUPERSETS and Are They Even WORTH DOING?

What are supersets and what can they do for you. Watch this video now and find out.

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Two types of exercise may be needed to preserve muscle mass during weight loss

While obesity presents a number of health risks for older adults, weight loss is often accompanied by a reduction in muscle tissue and loss of strength. A team led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine set out to determine whether more exercise or specific types of exercise would help preserve muscle during weight loss.

The researchers randomly assigned 103 obese women and 57 obese men over age 65 to one of four groups. Three groups participated in a reduced-calorie diet plus one of three exercise programs — aerobic training, resistance training, or combined aerobic and resistance training — while the fourth, a control group, only received information on healthful eating.

After 26 weeks, people in each of the exercise groups had lost an average of 9% of their weight, while those in the control group had no change. Performance scores — a measure of ability to do daily activities — increased more among the people who did a combination of aerobic and resistance exercise than among those who did only one type. However, all three exercise groups had better performance scores than the control group did. Aerobic capacity — the ability to metabolize oxygen — increased more in the combination and aerobic groups than in the resistance group. However, the people in the combination and resistance groups showed a greater increase in strength and retained more muscle mass, compared with those in the aerobic group.

The results, published May 18, 2017, in The New England Journal of Medicine, add to evidence that resistance exercise, in addition to aerobic exercise, is essential as we age, especially when we're losing weight.

Source: https://www.health.harvard.edu/exercise-and-fitness/two-types-of-exercise-may-be-needed-to-preserve-muscle-mass-during-weight-loss

Images courtesy of patrisyu at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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