Looking to drop body fat in the most efficient and effective way possible? It’s time to hop off the treadmill, drop the 5 lb dumbbells, and begin strength training.
Weights are a girls best friend!
Strength training is going to take your workout and body to the next level. More lean muscle mass equals a higher basal metabolic rate which means you are maximizing your body’s fat burning potential.
While cardio may help you drop a couple of pounds, it’s never going to give you the strong, sculpted look you are going for. It is impossible to reshape a body with cardio. Strength training is really going to allow you to focus on specific areas (like booty or arms) and “tone” your overall body.
Lifting heavy will increase your basal metabolism which means you burn more calories simply by being alive. You even burn more calories while sleeping. More calories burned means your overall body fat is reduced.
Lifting heavy will get you better overall coordination, balance, control, and wellness. You will see noticeable changes in strength and agility.
Adding just TWO lifting session per week can reduce body fat by 7%. Remember: light weights don’t sculpt. If you are not tired by your 10th rep then you need to lift heavier. Start increasing your weight by 5 lbs at a time.
14 million Americans are currently living with type 2 diabetes. It has been shown that strength training will help prevent obesity, arthritis, diabetes, and depression as well as balance glucose levels. Strength training is also the perfect way to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and blood pressure.
Strength training can not only prevent bone and muscle loss, but it can also reverse it! Lifting weights regularly will increase bone density, which starts to decrease in women after the age of 30.
60% of people who weight train get an average of 7 hours or more of sleep per night. Better sleep means better overall health.
Picking up the weights is a natural antidepressant and works by increasing endorphins. You will get a natural boost of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin (or “feel good” hormones!)
Strength training is the perfect way to gain confidence, self esteem, and independence. You know that furniture you need moved? Now you can do it yourself. Strong girls exude a certain confidence that is intoxicating.
There are 650+ muscles in the human body. By working them all in different ways you can achieve the sexy, sculpted, toned look you are striving for.
Macronutrients are very basic nutritional components of any diet and include fat, carbohydrates, and protein. Eating the proper ratio of macronutrients is important for maintaining optimal health. The proper ratio is 100% dependent on body type, composition, weight, height, and goals. There is no magic number or one size fits all when it comes to macros.
Carbohydrates are the primary source of energy for body and brain function – which is exactly why low carb diets can be detrimental to overall body function if followed for too long. Carbohydrates do a bit of everything from aiding in digestion to fueling you through an intense workout.
Fats provide your body with a slow and steady supply of energy and are important for proper hormone production and function. They nourish the brain and aid in muscle growth.
There is a lot of controversy surrounding macronutrients or “counting macros.” This particular dieting theory is most commonly called “If It Fits Your Macros” or IIFYM. The basic philosophy behind IIFYM is “Eat what you want and still lose fat.” Essentially, as long as you are sticking to your personalized macros (ex: 30% carb, 40% protein, 30% fat) you will lose weight.
When it comes down to sheer math, this is absolutely correct. The science behind macros and calorie counting is concrete. You absolutely MUST burn more calories or macros than you consume in order to lose weight. Plain and simple math and science. As long as you are hitting your macros and not going over, you are going to lose weight.
What is Carb Cycling?
If you are counting macros then you have a certain number of grams of carbohydrates that you are eating each day.
Carb cycling is simply eating more carbs on one day and less on another, instead of the same exact number of carbs each day.
Disclaimer - "You don't like it, don't do it!" 😉
“Reverse dieting,” simply put, is the slow addition of calories into your daily caloric intake in order to restore your metabolism after a phase of dieting, or to maximize your metabolic capacity with minimal body fat gain. In short, the goal is to increase your body’s ability to process calories and energy. It is a slow process that requires consistency and patience over time. By adding in these calories slowly, you give your body time to adjust to them with the goal being as minimal body fat gain as possible.
These “calories”, that you add in while reverse dieting generally come in the form of carbohydrate and/or fat grams. Generally speaking, amounts of 5-10g of carbohydrates and 1-3g of fat per week are added. However, it does vary for everyone. People respond to reverse dieting differently. Just in case you are unaware of how macronutrients translate into calories:
For every 1 gram of protein = 4 calories
For every 1 gram of carbohydrate = 4 calories
