So many of us want to lose weight & we go to cardio, cardio,
cardio! I've done this before & it has worked but looking back
at my pictures from when I lost the weight then, I would much rather
have the heavier, tighter body I have now! I may not be the smallest
woman, I may not be lean, you may look at my pictures and think I still
have a ways to go & fat to lose, but I am stronger, tighter
& healthier than a lot of women (& men) who weigh less
than me & I am proud of that because it is something I strived
for and accomplished through building muscle!
Muscles
are like little powerhouses that burn fat even when you are resting!
That means, the more muscle you have, the more calories you can
potentially burn when you aren't even doing anything! To me this means,
you can eventually spend less time in the gym & less time
worrying about that piece of chocolate you want so badly!
Did
you know that when you are losing weight & you are doing
cardio, you are actually losing muscle mass as well? If you are losing
muscle mass you are also slowing down your metabolism! EEeek! Who wants
to be slender & weak with a slow metabolism?! Not me! I want to
have energy, I want to be strong & capable of all things
& I want to be able to eat because like so many of us I LOVE TO
EAT!!! Have you ever seen someone who is "skinny fat"? You know someone
who wears a small size in their clothing, but they still have jiggly
spots & the muffin top that you so desperately want to rid
yourself of? They are considered "skinny fat" because they do not have
beloved muscles working hard for them to pull in their waistline
& make everything look firm & smooth. Well in order to
not lose muscle mass, you have to be sure to challenge your muscles
& encourage growth with resistance & weights.
 |
| 5lbs fat vs 5lbs muscle |
I'm sure we have all heard the phrases that "muscle
weighs more than fat" & "five pounds of muscle is smaller than
five pounds of fat". Well this is true! So if you can somehow detach
yourself from being obsessed with a number on a scale you can actually
start looking smaller & much firmer from building muscle!
According to
LIVESTRONG.COM, "One pound of muscle burns about 6.5 calories per hour. Muscles burn 5.5
times more calories than fat tissues, which burn about 1.2 calories per
pound per hour."
If you have never resistance or
weight trained before and are unsure of what to do & where to
start, I say START WITH LEGS!! Think about what large muscles you have
in your legs. If you want to get the most bang for your buck, burn
calories & build a strong foundation that will help you in other
workouts and your beloved cardio, legs is definitely where to start!
Bodybuilding.com says
"Because the legs contain such a massive amount of muscle tissue, when
they are placed under an overloading stimulus they cause the release of
anabolic hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone; much more than when you are working a smaller muscle such as your triceps. These hormones alone stimulate muscle growth, so essentially, when you
work your legs, you are indirectly helping the rest of you to grow as
well." This page on
Bodybuilding.com
is also a great reference of where to start based on whether you want
to increase your leg size, train them for power or make them toned and
more lean!
If
you have never trained in this fashion before you could start with
exercises that use your own body weight such as squats, step ups on your
stairs or a set of bleachers, lunges & calf raises. Once you
are comfortable, if you want to purchase a few weights, my favorites are
kettle bell swings, deadlifts & thrusters for full body
workouts that target your legs!
This post is a part of Bri's Keys: Daily Improvements with Ease
look for other posts like it!
