As any fitness expert will tell you, losing weight comes down to two main factors: consuming less calories and exercising. This is so true that if someone significantly increases the amount of exercise they do but maintains the same caloric intake, they will almost certainly lose weight anyway. Forget all that you’ve heard about fad dieting – the safest and smartest way to lose weight is through combining diet with exercise.

One of the best forms of exercise to perform if you are trying to lose weight is strength training. Contrary to what you may think, strength training may be more important than aerobic exercise for weight loss because although it increases muscle tissue, strength training burns more fat than aerobic exercise. Of course, this is not to say that people who are overweight should not perform aerobic exercise – as aerobic exercise has its place in any exercise routine. However, strength training should also be included in your routine as well.

Many people – particularly women, shy away from strength training exercise as they think that strength training will cause them to “bulk up” and look unnatural. The image that many people have about strength training is probably an unrealistic one for most people. Unless you are a serious bodybuilder, you will probably not gain the amount of muscles mass that most bodybuilders have. It is important to emphasize, therefore, that if you are trying to lose weight, strength training exercise will help you to maintain the lean muscle mass that you already have underneath your body fat while you are in the process of losing weight. In the end what you will have is a greater proportion of lean body mass to body fat. This means you will be thinner but you will have the muscle and strength that you had when you were overweight.

Unfortunately, many people who go on rapid weight loss programs will usually lose a good deal of their muscle mass along with the fat they lose. It’s important to note that a significant loss of muscle mass can lead not only to lowered metabolism and a loss of bone density as well.

Conversely, strength training exercise will not only speed up the rate at which you lose weight, it has numerous other health benefits as well, including:

1. Builds and strengthens your bones – which protects you from osteoporosis
2. Increases your endurance – giving you more energy for your activities
3. Tones and sculpts your muscles – giving you a better looking physique
4. Increases your self-confidence – the better you look the better you feel!

If you are considering beginning a strength training program, don’t think, however, that you need to workout in a gym for hours at a time to get the benefit that strength training offers. Significant benefits can be gotten with consistent workouts lasting about 30 minutes each time and performed 2 -3 times per week. An easy way to begin is to train with simple weights in your home.

The most important thing you will need to keep in mind about weight loss is if you want to lose weight effectively and keep it off, including some form of strength training exercise in your routine is essential not only to your overall weight loss program but also to your general health and well-being and the way that you age as well.

Furthermore, by combining strength training exercise and taking full control of your eating habits, you will begin to lose weight the best way possible – safely and steadily.

Tip 1: Just get started
The biggest step is to just get started as this is often the hardest thing for most people especially those that have never been on a weight training program before. Join a local gym nearby or buy a good piece of weight training equipment and go through a workout routine.

Tip 2: Do not weight train too much
Weight training is very stressful on your body and it is designed to be stressful so as to trigger new muscle growth or maintain what you already have. If you get over enthusiastic and start lifting almost every day then that can be very bad for your overall health and will definitely not help you to lose weight.

Weight training helps to add muscle to your body which is critical since muscle burns calories continuously. This is important for weight loss purposes since if you can raise your overall metabolism then burning fat becomes a lot easier as it is very difficult and actually potentially dangerous to go on very strict low calorie diets.

Do not even bother trying those starvation diets as again they are very risky for your overall health and well being. It is not necessary to give up your favorite foods, you may need to lower quantities and portion sizes but if you like a food then go ahead and keep eating it and monitor your weight closely and make adjustments accordingly.

Tip 3: Train heavy for short periods
The whole point of a weight training workout is to trigger new muscle growth and not to spend hours and hours in the gym. A good workout routine can simply consist of 3 sets where the first 2 sets are light sets just to warm up and the third set is your heavy set where you lift the most weight you can for 5 to 8 repetitions.

The key point is to lift heavy enough weights to trigger new muscle growth. This does not mean you need to do a ton of reps or do reps until your muscles hurt. Just lift a heavy load for a few reps and that should be enough. Also know when to draw the line and know that you have built enough muscle and then focus on maintenance. Weight training can really make a big difference in helping anyone lose weight and stay fit so make it a regular part of your life. Follow some of these tips to help you get in better shape more quickly.

It seems to be many a man’s dream to have big, bulky muscles. So why is it that men, whose bodies naturally contain much greater amounts of testosterone and growth hormones, can lift weights, yet never achieve those “Terminator” like muscles? Well, unless they are supplementing with dangerous and unhealthful steroids or similar substances, most men do not naturally bulk up by lifting weights, and neither will most women. The idea that women get big, ugly muscles from weight training is a misconception.

The fact of the matter is that women must lift weights in order to achieve the lean, sculpted bodies they desire. If a woman does happen to have the genetic disposition to bulk up quickly, there are easy ways to alter a workout to prevent too much muscle gain, while still increasing strength and rapidly burning fat.

The idea that weightlifting causes insanely huge muscle buildup is largely a creation of the media. It’s true that some female weightlifters take steroids, and these hormones do make them look very masculine, and women who take performance-enhancing drugs should expect to develop deeper voices and more masculine bodies, because these are the known side-effects, after all anabolic steroids contain elevated amounts of testosterone, the male hormone.

The average woman who weight trains, however, will simply achieve a slim, healthy body without adding unwanted muscle mass. In fact, this is how boxers, wrestlers, and other athletes who need a lot of strength without a lot of extra weight (muscle mass) train to stay in shape.

The process of weight training involves controlled lifting and working out with weights. Two basic terms related to weightlifting are “reps” and “sets”. A rep describes the complete act of raising and lowering a weight during a single act of exercise. A set describes the number of times a particular rep is performed. For example, when a person does five reps of a squat, they squat down and stand up five times, continuously, before stopping and either moving on to another exercise or finishing their workout. Those five squats would equal one set. A balanced weight-training session will include several sets of different exercises.

A more advanced weight-training method would be to perform exercises of only 6 or fewer reps, per exercise. This would make the time under tension very short and primarily train your nervous system, which would allow you to gain strength without building much muscle. This technique should be done using the maximal weight you can lift without losing perfect form for no more than 6 repetitions. Doing more than 6 reps allows for greater muscle development, presumably something women generally do not want to achieve.

Another method that has been around for a long time is performing as many repetitions as possible, with the idea of toning your muscles. Well, like a lot of uninformed ideas, this concept is false. You will build stamina and endurance within a muscle through multiple repetitions, but it will not shape or tone your muscles. If your goal is to build stamina without gaining muscle mass, perform anywhere from 15 to 30-plus repetitions of a single exercise.

These two solid principles will help you benefit from weight training without bulking up. Although, as stated in the beginning, chances are that no matter how much weight you lift, you will never have the problem of building too much muscle mass. It is always possible for you to gain fat, and with it a little additional muscle, so you will feel bigger, but remember, that is mostly the result of the fat, and I guarantee that once you lose the fat, you also will lose the feeling of bulkiness.

Ladies, I encourage you: Let go of your preconceived ideas about weight training. Do not fear it. Embrace your weightlifting potential! Your body and overall health will benefit so much more from it than from spending hours on the treadmill.

Strength training can prevent injuries, promote stamina and increase self confidence. It is easy to learn, and does not take as much time as you might think. Thirty minutes of workout time three times a week can bring you the sculpted and toned body that you have dreamed about.

As free weights and strength training machines have made their way out of the gyms and into recreation centers, fitness centers and even basements, weight training for women has gained momentum.

Starlets like Marilyn Monroe and Madonna have stuck with a regular strength training regimen to maximize their assets. Other women are finding the benefits of weight training as well. Bulking up is not always the goal, but weight training can simply mean toning muscles and ridding the body of unwanted fat. Swimsuit season seems to be just around the corner! Are you ready for a woman weight training program?
The Warm-up

Before beginning a program, it is important to find a personal trainer or fitness expert that can show you the right methods for strength training. Using the wrong form on machines or with the free weights can result in pain and injury, so start out on the right foot by enlisting the help of a professional who can properly teach you.

It is also very important to warm up your muscles before beginning a weight training session. This can be accomplished with a few laps around the track of your fitness center, or a few minutes of work on the treadmill or the bike. Keep in mind that a warm-up does not mean a quick sprint, a ten minutes of easy walking or pedaling will do the trick.
How Many Repetitions, and How Much Weight?

While a personal trainer can get you started on the right path in your womans weight training regimen, the answers to these questions will depend a lot on you and what you can lift. The key is to find the weight amount that will tire you at the end of twelve repetitions. The final lift or curl should be as challenging as you can handle, but the rest of the reps should be quite doable. If you are working out with the proper weight amount, one set of twelve repetitions should be enough. However many women weight trainers prefer to finish two or three sets with a slightly lower weight amount, to ensure that toning is occurring without adding too much muscle bulk.

A weight training program for female should include two or three sessions every week that last about 30 minutes each. It is very important to spend a day after a session resting the muscles that were used. You can either do a full workout every other day, or do shorter daily sessions where you work your legs one day and your arms and upper body the next. The great thing about weight training for women is that you can tailor your program to your individual needs and schedule limitations.

Weight training for women offers many benefits, including increased strength and stamina, increased flexibility and better weight management. As people age, muscle mass decreases and will be replaced with fat if something is not done. Weight training can control that process, assisting with weight management as you age.

It is also a good way to ward off osteoporosis, since regular strength training will increase bone density. Osteoporosis is a big health concern with women of menopausal age, so weight training for women becomes even more important as a woman reaches mid-life.

Myth #1: Weightlifting will get rid of my unsightly bulges. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as “spot reduction.” Lifting weights alone will not get rid of that bra overhang or jiggle under your arms. The truth is you must reduce fat all over to see results in your trouble zones. The best way to do this is by combining cardio and strength training. Regular aerobic exercise burns calories and helps melt away the pounds. Strength training (using free weights or weight machines) will build muscle mass. Those muscles will burn more calories for you. It’s estimated that you need 50-60 extra calories per day to maintain each pound of muscle you add to your body.

Myth #2: If you lift weights, you have to eat a lot more protein. Supermarket shelves are filled with protein bars, powders, supplements and drinks. We have been programmed to think eat protein, eat protein. But an average 130 pound woman only needs 47-60 grams of protein a day. If you consume too much protein, you strain your kidneys and liver. Protein, healthy carbs and fat are all necessary for muscle growth.

Myth #3: The more repetitions, the better. You want to keep the number of repetitions down to about 8-12 repetitions. By the time you get to your 10th rep or so, your muscle should feel fatigued. This strain is necessary to build up your muscles. If you just do endless reps with light weights, you might as well spend your time doing cardio.

When you exercise with weights, you build muscle and maximize your time. If you’re going to spend 5 minutes doing squats, grab a pair of dumbbells and hold them while you’re doing the squats. You’re spending the same amount of time exercising but your body is getting a more effective workout. Incorporating strength training a few times every week will help you get to your goal weight faster!

A great way to get started is to slowly ease your way into it. Often times if you jump right in and do too much too quickly, you will be so sore after you finish your workout you will not want to go the next day. We want you to stick with it and make it a lifestyle, and not get discouraged right off the bat. So, if you are just a beginner, find a work out tape that is for beginners and start slow. Consider doing 2 to 3 sets of 5 to 10 repetitions and move up from there depending on how your work outs are going.

Make sure you are having fun. If you begin doing something you hate, it will not last long, you will quit as fast as you started. Find something that is more interesting to you that you could do for long periods of time and enjoy, this way you will always look forward to working out and see life long lasting results. Everyone has things that they enjoy, for example, some love to work out in the morning, others at night, find what best fits you.

Combine healthy eating habits as you are working out or else you will not see the results you are really looking for. Diet is actually 80% of looking and feeling good. You can beat your head in at the Gym day in and day out and not lose one pound because your diet is still no good. Trust me, I know, I did this for about two years until I figured out if I wanted to really lose the weight that I wanted to lose and feel a certain way I had to have more discipline in my eating habits and make it a lifestyle, not just a fad.

In your strength training exercises, add some protein to your diet especially if you are looking to build muscle. This will get you closer to your goals.

Remember, when you are exercising, always balance your work outs between strength training, cardiovascular, and flexibility exercises and combine that with healthy eating habits you are fully on your way to a fantastic body and feeling great!

A restrictive diet combined with the wrong type of exercise will make excess body fat loss very difficult if not impossible long term. This combination works against the body not with it and will only lead to frustration and disappointing results.

Loss of muscle tissue is an important factor in weight gain as we get older. Muscle tissue demands eight times the calories that fat requires so, if we lose muscle mass, we lower our metabolism (the rate the body burns fuel). This can happen even if the weight on the bathroom scale does not change.

Someone who is overweight has an unhealthy body composition (muscle/fat ratio) and restricting food intake without proper exercise will only make this worse. The focus must be on correcting this underlying problem right at the source. Building back the muscle tone will increase the metabolism which is the body?s engine so it burns more calories.

Some people especially women think that they have this genetic curse of “bulking up” overnight if they even look at a weight. But that is not correct, lets repeat it “proper strength training will trim your body not bulk it up”. Adding muscle tissue to the body is not easy, especially for women as they have approximately 18% the testosterone levels of men, the primary hormone related to muscle building. These levels drop in men and women as they age, an additional reason that muscle mass drops naturally with age unless you work to keep it.

For excess body fat loss any program that does not include strength training exercise will cause muscle loss and a subsequent reduction of metabolism. Ultimately, the dieter cannot sustain the lower calorie intake and thus slowly gains the weight back and usually adds some extra as well.

But is doesn’t have to be this way. The solution is two fold – a proper exercise program that contains strength training exercise and a balanced food intake that contains enough food to prevent hunger and enough energy to be able to perform the exercise program with enough intensity (degree of difficulty) to product results.

If you are new to exercise it is important that you seek the help of a fitness professional to set up your program and teach you correct exercise technique. This could save you months if not years of wasted time and effort.

The reason for all this weight gain in our population, however, is not an aging metabolism – it can be attributed mainly to our lifestyle activity levels or rather the lack of them. Inactivity results in loss of muscle, and a loss of muscle, not an aging metabolism, is the primary cause of creeping obesity that has become epidemic in our population. The muscle tissue that remains on a person is as metabolically active as ever, but in the majority of people as they get older they simply have less of it.

A well planned and executed exercise program set up by a fitness professional can be a virtual fountain of youth. There aren’t any tricks or short cuts, but the benefits are numerous including, decreased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, cancer and metabolic conditions.

You can feel better, look better, and have better control of your body weight and your health by making fitness a part of your life. It is never too late to start, but the sooner you start the sooner you can reap the benefits.

To lose weight you need to have caloric deficit. There are two ways how you can do that. One is to decrease the amount of calories you consume (eat less). The other is to increase the amount of calories you burn (exercise more). Increasing the amount of calories you burn is much more beneficial for several reasons.

• Exercise increases your metabolism.
• Exercise creates a caloric deficit without triggering starvation mode.
• Exercise helps you sleep better and manage stress better.
• Exercise (strength training) tells your body to keep the muscle. Dieting causes muscle loss.
• Exercise increases bone density.
• Exercise helps prevent diabetes, control blood sugar, and improve insulin sensitivity.
• Exercise improves cardiovascular health.
• Exercise improves mood, helps relieve depression and increases self esteem
• Exercise increases mobility and quality of life as you get older
• Exercise helps you keep the weight off long term.

The reason why most diets say you do not have to exercise to lose weight is that, people want to lose weight without hard work. People are just lazy and they hope that some new weight loss product or pill will help you lose weight easily. That is exactly what they want. They want you to buy those “new and effective” pills, so they can get the money. It is a business.

If we don’t use our bodies and are inactive, then our bodies will break down. We are over weight and unhealthy mostly because we are inactive. Cardiovascular exercise + weight training + a small calorie reduction is vastly superior for fat loss purposes than a calorie reduction alone. Calorie restriction alone is incomplete and it takes changes in your lifestyle and habits, to make permanent changes. Healthy and physically able should do at least 3 days per week of vigorous cardiovascular exercise (jogging, brisk walking, treadmills, stair climbers, ellipticals, aerobics classes, etc), and they may increase their exercise frequency, intensity and or duration if necessary, to accelerate fat loss.

Most professionals golfers got where they are because they realized very early on that if they wanted to get anywhere in the game without serious injury then they had to look at building up their strength and increasing their flexibility. Building up the strength in your muscles is important for a golfer who wants to develop a good swing and a better drive. When you start out on golf strength training you need to consider nutrition and healthy workouts. Unless your body is getting the right kind of food, e.g. plenty of protein and green vegetables you won’t be up to strenuous exercise programs.

Everyone is different and this includes every golfer, a program that works really well for one person may be too much too soon for another, this means having some understanding of your own strengths and weaknesses. Probably the best advice is to start small but to be consistent – so you may want to limit your exercising and strength training to two or three times a week to start. Whatever you decide on just ensure that you are consistent in what you do. Little and often is a good maxim for most things in life and golf is no exception,

When you start working on golf strength training you might be a bit put off by the fact that many of these workouts involve the use of weights or dumbbells, don’t be, the reason you need these things is that in order to develop strength you need some sort of resistance. Using some sort of weight for example when you work on your golf swing means that you will be taking your body further than it wants to go because of the resistance – this will strengthen both your shoulders and your abdominal muscles.

Golf strength training involves using the lighter type of weights because you are trying to develop strength rather than build up your body. Because the weights are lighter this means that you can use them in more exercises than you would be able to if you were using heavier weights. When this sort of regular strength training is used along with stretching exercises, which are an inevitable part of a golf swing, it won’t be long before you begin to see an improvement in your game.

I recommend this strength training strategy not just to men but also to women. Too many women think that strength training is just for men. And even when women do lift weights they usually do it in a “girlie” way. Instead of lifting heavy weights for muscle they lift a small amount of weight a lot of times for this mythological thing people call “toning.”

“Toning” does not actually exist. It’s a myth. Muscle can only get bigger or smaller. It cannot get “toned.” That doesn’t actually mean anything. The top way to grow your muscle (which is the purpose of strength training) is to lift heavy weights. Why? Because the body responds to these heavy weights by growing more muscle. Lifting light weights many times is actually an awful way to go about strength training.

Yes ladies, I’m telling you that you should train like a real man. You should lift heavy weights for a small amount of reps. In fact I recommend only doing one set of about 8 reps for each muscle area. How much weight should you lift? As much as you can lift without injuring yourself! The more weight you lift the more it will stress your body and the more likely your body will respond by growing new muscle.

That new muscle is the key to your fat burning power, particularly in the long run. Most diets fail because they do nothing to speed up your metabolism. In fact most diets actually slow down your metabolism with restricted calorie intake. But by adding new muscle to your body you are actually speeding up your metabolism in a way that will make it easier to burn off fat and to keep it off! You know how everyone says that it is so difficult to maintain fat loss? That’s because most people who lose weight starve it off but don’t do anything to really change their bodies at an intrinsic level. When you add muscle to your body you are becoming fit in a much more permanent way then you are by starving fat off your body.

What about that common fear among women that they will become “too muscular.” This is a mostly nonsensical fear. It takes a lot of weight lifting to get to the stage of being muscular in a manly way for a woman. And if you do see yourself beginning to develop more muscles than you would like (as unlikely as that is) you can always begin to slow down or stop your strength training. If you get to that point then you are likely set with your muscle needs anyway. But again, these circumstances are unlikely to develop anyway. Do not let this irrational fear stop you from doing what you need to do to improve your health.

It is recommended that you choose an online diet program that includes a free strength training program. Probably the best example of that is The Day Off Diet which is includes an excellent strength training program (free of charge) with it’s diet program (which is also very effective.)