Stuck in a Rut? Try Lifting Heavy Weights

Lift Heavy?  No way.  I don’t want to….(enter false stereotype here).  When I talk about getting stronger or lifting to get stronger, many women (who I work with more than men, not necessarily a preference, just the way it happened), get this fear all through their bodies that I’m going to make them look big and bulky, even to the point of looking ‘manly’.  However, this could not be further from the truth.

Lifting heavy for the purpose of getting stronger is something not a lot of people do, especially women.  However, in order to see real changes in strength, practicing strength training (heavy) is essential to seeing not only gains in strength but also in reaching the physical changes in your body such as fat loss, lean muscle gain, and an overall healthy body. Two exercises before your metabolic fat burning workout will be enough to see the changes and keep variety in your workouts to see continued results.

Exercises like squats, deadlifts, dumbbell incline chest press, 1 Arm dumbbell rows are key exercises in developing a strong body.  By performing one or two of these exercises before your typical fat loss workout, you change it up enough for the body to force it to adapt to a new stress.  This is a good thing.  Start with strength training then finish your workout with a 15-20 minute ‘bootcamp style’ workout so that you can get the best of both worlds.  You add muscle and lose fat.

All of those world class athletes with chiseled bodies practice heavy weight training AND metabolic circuits.  For toned, defined muscles heavy strength training (challenging your muscles) is a must.  The difference between what I’m referring to and the big, bulky men and women you may have in your head is that I’m asking you to do 1-2 exercises at the beginning of your workout, not your entire workout 6 days a week.  By adding metabolic training after your strength sessions, you get stronger AND leaner at the same time.