The benefits of weight training on a regular basis are numerous! Some of them are:
1. Weight training makes you strong. Strength gives you confidence and makes daily activities easier.
2. Weight training makes you less prone to low-back injuries.
3. Weight training tones your muscles which looks
great and raises your basal metabolism.. which
causes you to burn more calories 24 hours-a-day.
You'll even burn more calories while you're sleeping.
4. Weight training can *reverse* the natural decline
in your metabolism which begins around age 30.
5. Weight training decreases your risk of developing
adult onset diabetes.
6. Weight training decreases your gastrointestinal
transit time, reducing your risk for developing colon
cancer.
7. Weight training increases your blood level of
HDL cholesterol (the good type).
8. Weight training improves your posture..
and the list goes on.
Weight training is obviously very important
if your goal is to lose weight and maintain
that loss. However, I realize that there
are many people, who for a variety of
reasons, can't or won't weight train.
If you're one of those people, I have
several recommendations for your aerobic
exercise sessions. Since you don't weight
train, it's important that you use some
aerobic exercises that involve most of
the body's major muscle groups. These
won't tone your individual muscles as
well as weight training will, but they
will give you overall toning, aerobic
conditioning, caloric expenditure, and
a boost in your metabolism.
I have four specific recommendations
that I've seen work well for people;
1. Rowing uses most of your major
muscle groups and is an exercise that
most people enjoy doing. As with any
exercise, start slowly and gradually
increase the length and intensity of
your workouts - especially if you have
a history of back problems. There are
several good rowers on the market, but
my favorite is the Concept II Rower
. It's very
well designed and very smooth to use
because it uses air resistance. The
harder you pull, the more resistance
you get.
2. Stationary cycling with a cycle that
also allows you to use your upper body
muscles to push / pull handles. An example
of this is the Schwinn Airdyne Cycle
, but there
are several others available that also
use air resistance.
3. Do your walking exercise using small
(one to three pound hand weights). Keep
in mind that this is not as effective as
weight training and may slightly decrease the
aerobic conditioning effect of your walking.
However, if you move your arms in a variety
of directions while walking, this is a
good overall toning and aerobic
conditioning exercise.
4. Swimming, or a variety of movements in
the water. Water provides a great, low
impact environment for exercise. If you
have access to a pool, this is another good
option for aerobic conditioning and
overall toning.
So, if you're not a weight trainer, or
perhaps you're taking a break from weight
training, these are great exercises to
help you incorporate overall muscle toning
exercises into your aerobic workouts.
Get movin'!
