5 Reasons Women Should Lift Weights

I'm sure you've heard the rumors. Lifting weights makes women big and bulky. Lifting weights keeps women from being lean and toned. It's too dangerous. Lifting can make you look like a dude. Well here's the truth. All of those rumors are complete garbage and they keep too many women from hitting the weight floor to experience the many benefits of weight training. 

It turns out that the fitness goals you have might not be reached by hitting the boutique yoga studio, or stepping sideways up the stair master. In my opinion, weight training is the most effective method to use in order to achieve almost any goal. 

So ladies, drop those mats and hop off the treadmill. It's time to prioritize those weights!

1. BOOST YOUR CONFIDENCE

Do you remember the first time you tried something? I'd be willing to bet that you were nervous. Take flying for example. Were you nervous as soon as the plane took off? Or perhaps the first time you felt turbulence? It's the same with lifting weights. I completely understand the feeling of being intimidated and nervous for the first few times. But after a few weeks, I felt like a pro. And guess what. It's not because I'm a guy. It's because I put fear aside, and realized that everyone there had been in the same shoes at some point in their life. You don't need to be a guy to know what you're doing in the gym. You just need some experience under your belt and it all starts with one lift!

Once you've been at it for a while, people will start complimenting you constantly outside of the gym. Do you know what they WON'T ask you? "Oh my gosh you look great! Do you do yoga?" "Wow, I can't believe your transformation! Did you step sideways up a stair master?" Instead, all they'll ask is "You look amazing! What do you do to look like that?" and all you'll say is "Oh why thank you, I lift." Boom. You lift. Because you're strong, lean, and sexy. Not because you do hot yoga on the weekend.

2. MORE EFFECTIVE FAT BURNING

Doing cardio for 30 minutes per day is nice. It's good to get some physical activity and burn some extra calories. Do you know what's even better? Burning fat on a consistent basis while you're working out AND resting. How do you do that? By building lean muscle tissue. The more muscle tissue you build, the more fat you can burn while you train, rest, and sleep. Who could say no to that?!

3. FOR THE RIGHT CURVES

Positively changing your shape can effect the way you fit into your clothes as well as highlight all the right curves. You know that toned shape you've always been yearning for? The one that apparently only comes from lifting light weights? Well it comes from a well constructed weight program that highlights strength training and muscle building. Yoga and cardio alone can't do that as well as weight training can. Cardio and yoga are great, but are only best for your goals when incorporated within a weight program.  

4. INCREASED ENERGY

Feelings of being sluggish often come from a sedentary lifestyle. A study done by the National Institute of Health concluded that resistance training showed increases in energy expenditure, fat oxidation, as well as metabolism during rest and sleep (Kirk et al.). Instead of mo' money mo' problems, you'll be saying mo' muscle no fat.

5. STRESS RELIEF

We've all heard that exercise is a great way to manage stress. So what makes resistance training so great for stress relief? On a fact-based level, people who lift on a regular basis have been shown to handle situations more positively than those who don't (Stone, Sands, and S.). On a Poehlmann Fitness based level, I am a firm believer in the correlation between weights and attitude. It isn't proven through research and studies that I've come across, but I've found in myself and others that lifting weights and sticking to a routine allows us to attack life with more of a tenacious attitude. Whether it's earning a promotion, or finishing a book, I believe resistance training can improve our determination to succeed outside of the gym.

LIFT SOME WEIGHTS!

Ladies, lifting weights does NOT make you bulky. You don't have enough testosterone in your system to react to weight training the same way guys do. But, you have the best balance of hormones in your body that can allow you to be fit, lean, sexy, and healthy while sticking to a program that fits your goals.

Have some questions about weight training and/or finding the right program for you? Send an email to adam@poehlmannfitness.com and I'll be in touch!

For some more tips that can help you explore the world of weights, find me on:

Thanks for reading!

REFERENCES

Kirk, Erik P., et al. “Minimal Resistance Training Improves Daily Energy Expenditure and Fat Oxidation.” 41.5 (n.d.): n.pag. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.

Stone, Michael H., William A Sands, and William S. Principles and Practice of Resistance Training. Leeds: Human Kinetics Publishers, 2007. Print.

Your Complete Guide to Bodyweight Training

First and foremost, I want to make it known that I am a big believer in weight training. In my opinion, it is essential to have basic knowledge of weight and resistance training. It triggers a response from our muscles that can't be matched by other forms of training. BUT, there are plenty of other ways to reach our goals if we don't have access to a gym and high-end equipment. Bodyweight training is one of those ways.

        Keep it in your pants, Phyllis.

Bodyweight training involves using one's own bodyweight to provide resistance for the muscles to work against. Some of these exercises include pushups, squats, lunges, and more. One thing I love about weight training is the seemingly infinite versatility of resistance changes. Since our bodyweight doesn't fluctuate significantly in short periods of time, and we aren't using weights to adjust resistance, we must find ways to change up our routine. Some methods include tempo, angles, and believe it or not, equipment. 

1. TEMPO

Usually, tempo is discussed in a three point model (#-#-#). The first number represents the number of seconds spent on the way down (eccentric movement). The number in the middle represents the time spent at the end of the eccentric movement, like the bottom of a squat. The final number represents the time spent on the muscle contraction (concentric) movement. Let's go through a pushup with a 2-1-3 tempo. From the initial pushup position, we'd take two seconds to go down, spend one second at the bottom, and three seconds on the way up. So why do we do this? 

Since we don't have weights to resist the work our muscles are putting forward, changing the tempo can ramp up the intensity, and increase the time that our muscles are under tension. The purpose, to increase lactate formation as well as hormone production. Both have been shown to increase muscle strength and growth. One way to work up to more time under tension is by following this guide:

Week 1: 2-3 Sets, 12-15 Reps, 1-1-2 Tempo
Week 2: 3-4 Sets, 10-12 Reps, 1-1-3 Tempo
Week 3: 3-4 Sets, 8-10 Reps, 2-1-4 Tempo
Week 4: 4-5 Sets, 6-8 Reps, 2-1-5 Tempo

ANGLES

Similar to weight training, the purpose of changing the angle of our body is to target and use different muscle fibers that aren't used as much in traditional exercises. Let's relate the bench press to the pushup. A flat bench press will target the middle fibers of the chest the most. If we sit at an angled bench, say 45 degrees, we will contract more of our upper fibers of our chest. The pushup is similar. A regular pushup will target the middle fibers, whereas a pushup with our feet on an elevated platform will cause us to use our upper chest. Another example of this is a pull up. A traditional wide-grip pull up will command the muscle fibers in the outer lats to contract, but if we change to a neutral grip, stick our chest out, and pull our stomach up to the bar rather than our chin, we will command our lower lats and rhomboids (depending on the angle) to contract. Changing the angle in any exercise is a great way to challenge other muscle fibers as well as challenge your overall strength. But whatever you do, don't let me catch you doing this:

  Guy, are you kiddng me? 

EQUIPMENT

Yes yes, I know that bodyweight doesn't include weights or machines. When I say "equipment", that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about playgrounds, parks, bars, benches, and TRX Bands. Pre-installed equipment is going to be your best friend when it comes to bodyweight exercises. I just finished running a bootcamp at an elementary school park, and my clients loved it. It's a great change of pace, and the versatility we had with the playground was ridiculous. They could do pull-ups with all sorts of grips, rows, elevated push-ups, split-squats, and so much more. The equipment that you have to use is what is going to allow you to change the angle of a lot of your exercises, as I discussed before. Even then, there are still some limitations and creative restrictions when given some bars and a bench. What's the solution? The TRX band.

If you haven't heard of the TRX band yet, you absolutely need to read up and get one. Created by an ex-Seal, this simple, yet innovative item has completely changed the fitness industry, and can completely change the way you workout. You can take it with you anywhere, and ramp your bodyweight workouts up to an insane level. I use them in all of my classes with my clients to work on balance, strength, angles, muscle endurance, and more.

Guys, hear this: you can still do curls, with your bodyweight, can you believe that?! Yes, you can continue your curls for the girls! The TRX band can be placed at home, or be taken to any park, branch, and supportive structure. If you're a big believer in bodyweight training, or you just want to try it out, I HIGHLY recommend getting one of these. Click the box below to get one from Amazon.

TRX GO Suspension Training Kit

TRX

Buy on Amazon

Your knowledge on bodyweight training has just expanded immensely. I suggest doing some scouting in your town for great outdoor workout areas if you don't have access to a gym. Remember to change tempos and angles to continue building lean muscle tissue outside of the gym. And bring a TRX band with you for even more versatility! 

For more questions on bodyweight training, The Office, or why I can't stand Crossfit, shoot an email to adam@poehlmannfitness.com or hit me up on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

Thanks for reading!

Build Muscle or Burn Fat: Which Should Come First?

Over this past week I have been meeting with potential clients at the coffee shop close to my place. It's a great spot to build relationships and have great conversations. During those conversations, I noticed a lot of questions were shared between the various people I was speaking with. One of the most common questions asked was: "If my goal is to build lean muscle tissue, should I try to build muscle first, or lose body fat first?"

My immediate answer is this: It depends. It depends on what your ideal body is, where you're starting, and whether you're male or female. Having said that, I am going to speak for the male readers out there. Don't worry ladies, all of this applies to you as well, just round up 7-8 percentage points when I'm speaking of body fat percentage. 

Now, I want to take the time to explain how you can figure out what to do first on your fitness journey. 

Starting Points

All of our starting points are different. We have different genetics, different body compositions, and different goals. So in order to properly assess the best initial goal, we need to first figure out where we're at with our body composition. Figuring out what goal to attack first is dependent on the individuals starting body fat percentage. For the sake of the topic, I'd like to use 15% body fat as a good place for middle ground. If I'm looking to gain lean muscle tissue, I must first accept that there will most likely be a little extra fat put on during that phase, although It is possible to burn fat and build muscle at the same time, especially when you are just starting an exercise program for the first time. But for those of us out there who have been training for a while, it is an extremely hard goal unless you are counting each and every calorie, which can be hard with busy schedules, kids, travel, "lack of time", etc. 

Once we have accepted that some fat may be added to the pounds on the scale, we can now properly assess the direction we must take. If we start out at a lower body fat percentage (lower than 15%) I would strongly consider building muscle, since we won't get close to that 20% range which is what we want to avoid. Going off of that, we would aim to burn fat first if our body fat was 15% or higher because 20% body fat is not where we want to be if our goal is to be lean and healthy. 

Ultimately, it comes down to knowing what body fat percentage we currently have. There's a question that still stands, though. Why do we need to avoid 20% body fat? Why can't we just get to 20-25% and work our way down? Let me explain.

TAKE CAUTION

As I stated before, 20% body fat is what we want to avoid because it is easier to let yourself go and not worry about the additional fat gained. It's harder to see that fat gain because there isn't any initial muscle tissue to look at anyway. You could be at 30% body fat before you know it. 

LEAN DOESN'T MEAN SMALL OR SKINNY

When I started leaning out for the first time, I was absolutely terrified. I was at my biggest and strongest at that point. I had nearly 240 pounds on me and I felt great about it. I knew I had a decent amount of body fat at the time, but I wasn't concerned, really. As I got leaner and leaner, people kept saying that I was looking bigger, that my muscles looked fuller, and I was more vascular. People told me stories of others looking bigger as they leaned down and I thought it was complete garbage. How could I possibly look leaner if I was losing weight? Muscles. That's why. I began to see the muscles that I had developed over the years and they looked bigger without all of that fat around them. Now that I'm in a stage of maintenance with plenty of food and a lean composition, people are saying I look bigger and leaner than ever. I'm only 212-215 pounds on a 6'2" frame, which isn't anything jaw-dropping. 

Additionally, it's extremely difficult to gauge what we want to gain because we can't actually see what our lean muscle mass actually looks like under all of that fat. If you have 25% body fat, you may want to gain 10 pounds of lean muscle, but I am willing to bet that if you see yourself at 10-15% body fat, you'll be pretty happy with what you're workin' with. 

To conclude, burning fat first is always a good option, unless you're completely new to working out and your body can handle two things at once, or you body fat is low and you can visually see your lean muscle mass. 

If you have any questions like this, please send me an email at adam@poehlmannfitness.com, or send me a message after you "like", and follow me on the socials!

Thanks for reading!