Hi there, hope you’re doing awesome!
Let me ask you a question: If you wanted to lose weight and just “tone up” a bit, what kind of workouts would you be doing? What kind of weights would you be lifting?
Now if you’re like most people, and specifically most women, you would say that using light weights and doing lots of weight will tone your muscle without adding bulk, right? Its common sense that the big bodybuilder guys use the big weights and the slim tones women use those little cute pink ones. Well that notion is dead wrong.
Will this cause the change in your body that you're after?
The New York Times recently took a look at this same question and guess what they found? Women who used weights heavy enough that they could only lift them 8 times burned more energy and had a greater metabolic effect from their workouts than their counterparts who used lighter weights and did 15 repetitions.
They then link to another study that was published last year that followed a group of women of six years! They found the same thing: the women that took part in strength training lost the most weight and body fat
She's lifting weights and ... is that a six pack?!
So how come the little weights don’t work and the strength training does? The easiest way to put it is that weight loss, and much more specifically, fat loss is created by creating different demands on your body and forcing your body to adapt to them. Which of the above pictures will create a bigger demand on the body?
You know that “bulkiness” that most women dread? That’s called fat. Don’t say that lifting weights will “bulk you up” because it takes a serious amount of weight lifting and a surplus of calories to build significant muscle.
You know that “toned look” that most women are after? That’s called muscle. There are three things that can add shape to a body: bone, muscle, and fat. If there are toned curves your’e after then its muscle you want! Take a look at these figure competitors
They lift weights, where's the bulkiness?!
These women will often go through a weight lifting routine that doesn’t differ much from a bodybuilder’s. So why aren’t they big and bulky? Instead I see flat mid-sections and nicely toned arms, legs and butts. The idea of women adding muscle like men on steroids is just a myth!
Now go and lift some real weight and reap all the benefits that are waiting for you!
Let me know if you have any questions about this in the comments below or feel free to email me directly at davepeterson (at) ymail (dot) com
Until next time!
