BALANCE ACT – Tele-Coaching: Life/Nutrition/Workouts

Resistance Training

What is resistance training or weight resistance training? Simply put (and with the aid of Wikipidia) “Resistance training is a form of strength training in which each effort is performed against a specific opposing force generated by resistance (i.e. resistance to being pushed, squeezed, stretched or bent). In other words, your muscles are contracting in some form against external resistance.

Weight training and resistance exercises are receiving a great deal of attention these days due to the numerous benefits that comes from this type of workout. Resistance training not only helps you shed those extra pounds, it also aids in building bone density which becomes more important as you age – especially for women.

In addition, you continue to burn calories after the workout as your body repairs itself and builds back up what you broke down. And last but not least, it gets your blood pumping, raises your heart rate,  and reminds you that you’re ALIVE!

Many people are under the misconception that weight resistance training means they need to join a gym or invest in expensive equipment.

Au contraire! Let’s break down your options into 3 basic areas and options.

1. Lifting Weights – either in the form of dumbells or machines. You can join a gym, attend community classes, or do workouts at home with the aid of dvd instruction or putting on your favorite tunes and finding some weights to lift. Let your creative child out to play and experiment with bags of groceries, bottles of wine, V-8 cans come to mind for some reason, bags of cat or dog food, combat boots . . . the list is endless and can be quite entertaining. Have fun! Go check out a few local fitness centers and ask for a free 7-day or month trial. Generally, you can also get a complimentary session with a personal trainer who can get you on the right track. You may find that the gym atmosphere provides that little extra push and motivation to work out  and it can also be a healthy social outlet – as long as you focus more on working out your body more than your mouth! I caution you not to go nuts right away on expensive equipment, training, or memberships. Take some time to see if this is a good fit for you. No need to end up bummed out and broke to boot!
2. Resistanc Bands, Medicine Balls - You can purchase bands and medicine balls fairly inexpensively ($10-$35) online or at a fitness store. They generally come with some suggested exercises and often included a DVD for home instruction. These are great if you are on a tight budget, travel often and don’t feel like carting the extra baggage, or want something portable to tuck in your laptop case or handbag for your breaks.
3. Your own body weight - or someone else’s! Sharing is caring. These include activities like pushups, numerous variations of the standard situp, pull ups, squats . . . I think you get the idea. You can certainly also combine these activities with the above which I recommend for keeping your body on its toes so to speak and keeping your workouts fresh with variety.

I hope that gives you a place to start and lays to rest any concerns or excuses that you may have regarding resistance training. It really is core to developing a solid fitness program that will help you increase metabolism, shed the extra pounds, tone up, and feel great both in body and mind.

Make it a great day!