Why weights work wonders

While aerobic exercise helps you to burn calories, weight training helps to build toned muscles and sculpts the body. A pound of muscle is smaller, firmer and more shapely than a pound of fat.

Aesthetically, muscle looks better than fat. Fat hangs from the body, while muscle, which is harder, hugs the body and provides a more shapely appearance.

According to Miriam Nelson, Ph.D., a research scientist at the Exercise Physiology Research Center at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston, "large muscle" mass helps burn calories, too. That’s because muscle requires more oxygen and more calories to sustain itself than fat does. Strength training is more effective than aerobic exercise at building and maintaining muscle. So you burn more calories, all day and all week long.

I have been weight training for the past six years. From what I have learned from my trainers, and from what worked for me, I’d like to share with you some tips in lifting weights.

But of course when you do, please consult the fitness experts because they will be able to guide you and make sure the execution of the exercises are proper and safe for you.

• You may lift weights once a week. But you’ll get quicker results if you do it at least three times a week.

• I lift weights thrice a week. The other days I do my cardio-vascular workout like going on the treadmill or bike. It gives my muscles a chance to recuperate. You may take every other day off.

• Warm up. This is a must. Our muscles need to be warm enough so they are ready for your workout.

I warm up for 15 to 30 minutes. I go on the treadmill or I jog. If you are a beginner, or depending on your fitness level, you adjust your warm up time. You may start with a five- to 10-minute walk. Warming up will grease your joints and tendons so that movements are easier to do and you don’t injure anything when you start your weight workout.

Stretch after warming up, then you may proceed to weight lifting.

• Take breaks. After each exercise, you may rest for up to two minutes before moving on to the next exercise. Rest breaks give your muscles a chance to recuperate and prepare for further effort.

When you first begin to work out, you may need to rest for a full two minutes before you feel able to do the next exercise. As time passes, as you get stronger, you’ll be able to shorten the rest time.

It is advisable, though, not to make rest periods too long that your muscles already get cold.

• Hydrate yourself. Drink as much water as you need throughout your workout.

• Start light. For the first two or three weeks, lift at about 50 percent of the weight you can lift. This is to prevent injury. We need to start slowly, allowing our muscles to adjust to the weight we are lifting. As you get stronger, you will be able to lift heavier weights. Ask a trainer at the gym to make a program for you.

• Breathe. Exhale while you lift the weight — during exertion — and inhale as you lower it.

• Stretch after your workout. In the course of lifting weight, muscles contract and shorten, making them less flexible. Stretch after lifting, while muscles are still warm to restore muscle strength and to keep them flexible. In the beginning, stretch only as far as you can go. If five to 10 seconds is what’s comfortable for you, then that’s alright. As you go along, your body will dictate if you can hold the stretch longer.

I started with five to 10 seconds. Now I can hold each stretch for 30 to 40 seconds. We go at our own pace. What’s important is to always begin with what you can do. It is safer and safe is best.

• Listen to your body. Our body will tell us when we are too tired, weak or when we need to rest. We need to listen. We need to take care of it.

When you’ve had very little sleep, it’s best to rest and work out the next day.

• Try not to measure your success by what you see on the scale. Since muscle is heavier than fat, you may even weigh more than when you started. Do not get frustrated. What matters is the inches you’ve lost, how you fit into your clothes.

I do not weigh myself everyday. Once in a while I do. I go with how my clothes fit, how my body feels.

• Always consult the fitness experts before starting your weight routine. If you are not sure how to execute any exercise, always ask for assistance.

In my six years of weight training, even if I know more than what I used to, I still always ask my trainer if I am not sure of an exercise. I allow myself to be guided because that is their expertise, not mine.

Here’s a bonus for those who don’t have dumbbells or don’t have the time to go to the gym and lift weights.

You can strengthen and tone your muscles during your daily activities.

• Squeeze. While standing in line or sitting in a waiting room or washing the dishes, squeeze your buttocks, thighs and abdominals. These will give your muscles a workout.

• Give yourself a raise. While washing dishes or waiting to pay your groceries, do toe raises to work your calves.

• Do leg raises while sitting or watching TV. Lift each leg only as high as you can. Squeeze your muscles in your thighs and contract the muscles in your abdomen.

That’s it for this week. If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail me at babyjackster@hotmail.com or write to Philippine STAR. Till next Sunday!