Training

| Weight Training |

While cardiovascular exercise is a great way of burning the fat, adding a little strength training to your workouts will earn you extra calories every day. You'll even be burning extra calories while you're sleeping and also repairing the muscle takes a great deal of energy.

Aerobic exercise may burn a few hundred extra calories for dinner, but for every additional pound of muscle you gain, your body burns around 50 extra calories every day of the week.

Research has shown that regular resistance training can increase your BMR by up to 15%. So for someone burning 2000 calories per day, that's a potential 300 extra calories burned every single day.

Do not be disheartened if initially you seem to be staying at the same weight or gaining slightly.

Muscle weighs more per square inch than fat, so whilst your weight might not be dropping very quickly, your clothes are feeling baggier and you are seeing a healthier, slimmer and better toned you in the mirror. That's far more important than anything those nasty scales have to say, any time.

Weight training is just as suitable for women as it is for men. Many women are wary of taking it up for fear that increased muscle means increased masculinity, this is not the case.

Testosterone is a very important factor in the development of muscle shape, so as women have very low levels of this hormone their muscles develop differently, meaning a little resistance training will not lead to a bulky, butch physique.

Weight training is an excellent way of combating several symptoms we all face as we get a little older. Resistance exercise can reduce bone deterioration and build bone mass, preventing osteoporosis. Working your muscles can also inhibit the affects of sarcopenia, the age related loss of muscle mass, strength and function. After the age of thirty there is a loss of 3-5% of muscle mass per decade, making day to day tasks gradually harder to perform and slowing down metabolism - increasing the risk of weight gain.

"How can weight training make me healthier?"

Recent research has shown that weight (or resistance) training can greatly reduce a number of health risks. It has been proven to have a positive affect on insulin resistance, resting metabolism, blood pressure, body fat and gastrointestinal transit time, factors that are linked to illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

"Why am I still reading this and not starting my new stronger, fitter, healthier and happier life right now?"

Good point. Research shows that just two 15-20 minute sessions a week is enough to gain all the potential health benefits of strength training. It is important and should be a portion of your weekly routine.

Get Downsized approves Weight Training!!