Strength Training: How to Get Great Results in Less Time
If you've been reading this newsletter for a while, chances are you already know about the benefits of strength training. Strength training can help you lose body fat while adding calorie-burning muscle. But the benefits of strength training actually go way beyond that.
Strength exercise can increase bone density, improve glucose metabolism, decrease resting blood pressure, reduce low back pain, decrease arthritic discomfort, and improve your blood lipid profile. And the good news, according to fitness expert Wayne Wescott, PhD, is that it only takes two or three 1/2 hour workouts a week to notice a difference.
That's not much. Even coupled with three of four sessions of short burst interval training like the kind I described above, you can still get in pretty good shape in only a couple hours a week.
According to Wescott, one set of 8-12 repetitions is pretty much as productive as three sets in terms of overall effectiveness. They key to the effectiveness is to use 75% of your maximum weight. So if you could do a bench press for one rep with 60 pounds, do 8-12 reps at 45 pounds. If you're able to easily do more than 12 reps, it's time to raise the weight. If, on the other hand, you can't quite manage 8 reps, lower the weight a bit till you can.
The goal is to stress the muscles just enough to create new muscle without any injury.
Best of all, you don't have to buy any expensive equipment, or even go to a gym to do it. (And doing this at home is starting to look even more attractive as gas inches up to 5 bucks a gallon!) Just buy yourself a couple of plastic water containers, or use some empty gallon jars of Clorox. Then fill them up with just enough water or sand to create a weight that challenges your muscles for the required 8-12 reps.
Since different weights will be required for different exercises (you'll be able to do leg exercises with way more weight than you'll be able to do bicep curls), get a few sets of those empty jugs so you don't have to keep pouring and emptying for each exercise.
If you need another reason to exercise (besides weight loss and heart health), don't forget to listen to my interview with Dan Buettner about the healthiest longest lived people in the world. Exercising on a regular (almost daily) basis is one of the habits that the healthiest, longest lived people in the world all have in common.
I want you to live a long, healthy, happy and productive life.
So if you're not already exercising, start today!
As always, let me know what you think,
Warmly
jb
Strength exercise can increase bone density, improve glucose metabolism, decrease resting blood pressure, reduce low back pain, decrease arthritic discomfort, and improve your blood lipid profile. And the good news, according to fitness expert Wayne Wescott, PhD, is that it only takes two or three 1/2 hour workouts a week to notice a difference.
That's not much. Even coupled with three of four sessions of short burst interval training like the kind I described above, you can still get in pretty good shape in only a couple hours a week.
According to Wescott, one set of 8-12 repetitions is pretty much as productive as three sets in terms of overall effectiveness. They key to the effectiveness is to use 75% of your maximum weight. So if you could do a bench press for one rep with 60 pounds, do 8-12 reps at 45 pounds. If you're able to easily do more than 12 reps, it's time to raise the weight. If, on the other hand, you can't quite manage 8 reps, lower the weight a bit till you can.
The goal is to stress the muscles just enough to create new muscle without any injury.
Best of all, you don't have to buy any expensive equipment, or even go to a gym to do it. (And doing this at home is starting to look even more attractive as gas inches up to 5 bucks a gallon!) Just buy yourself a couple of plastic water containers, or use some empty gallon jars of Clorox. Then fill them up with just enough water or sand to create a weight that challenges your muscles for the required 8-12 reps.
Since different weights will be required for different exercises (you'll be able to do leg exercises with way more weight than you'll be able to do bicep curls), get a few sets of those empty jugs so you don't have to keep pouring and emptying for each exercise.
If you need another reason to exercise (besides weight loss and heart health), don't forget to listen to my interview with Dan Buettner about the healthiest longest lived people in the world. Exercising on a regular (almost daily) basis is one of the habits that the healthiest, longest lived people in the world all have in common.
I want you to live a long, healthy, happy and productive life.
So if you're not already exercising, start today!
As always, let me know what you think,
Warmly
jb
Jonny Bowden, PhD, C.N.S. is a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition and health and is the author of several best-selling books.
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