Cardio: Cardio training is probably one of the most popular forms of exercise to lose weight, especially for women. A cardio workout can be anything from running to biking to kickboxing (a little Turbo Jam anyone?) to dancing to interval training and on the list goes. Doing cardio at least 3 days a week does a lot of good for a person's body. It strengthens the heart, increases energy, burns calories, relieves stress and so much more!! My personal favorite form of cardio is kickboxing w/ Turbo Jam but anything that gets your heart rate up that you enjoy is good.
Weight-Training: When many people hear the words "weight training" they automatically think big muscular body builders and the like. Other people have a flawed idea that they will use cardio to lose weight and THEN start doing strength training to tone up. But here's some really great news: weight lifting is the best way to lose weight because the more lean muscle you have the more fat you burn!! Beachbody has a new program out, called ChaLean Extreme, that capitalizes on that very fact! And ladies, don't be afraid to lift heavy weights! I certainly don't want to get all bulky but, luckily, being a woman means that I don't have enough testosterone to get bulky. Woo hoo! Seriously though, lifting heavy weights will make your muscles smaller and tighter and more dense which means, your metabolism, yeah it's going to skyrocket and you'll burn major calories even while at rest. While lifting heavy is the most effective way to work your muscles, any weight training is beneficial.
Ab work: Talk to almost anyone improving their fitness and what do they all want: a 6 pack! In our society having great abs tends to be the standard by which we judge our fitness. Here's why it's important other than having the coveted 6-pack: Having strong core muscles (abs, back, hip flexors) helps almost all areas of your fitness, reduces the chance of injury, and makes life easier. But your abs are muscles, just like any other muscle group, yet people tend to train them totally different then the rest of your body. You DON'T, I repeat, DON'T need to work your abs every day! You don't work your biceps everyday so why would you do your abs everyday? They need time to rest too you know! So, if you're going to specifically work your abs, do it 3 or 4 times a week giving yourself a day between to rest. Oh, and that 6-pack you want so much? You wont' see it by doing endless crunches, you need to reduce your body fat by eating right and working out before those abs can shine through!
Flexibility: This is perhaps the most under-emphasized part of fitness. Flexibility increases your ability to get stronger, quickens the time it takes to heal from a workout, and reduces soreness. Yoga is a great way to increase your flexibility, as is stretching in any form. When it comes to stretching remember: never stretch cold muscles, warm up a bit first or you will tear your muscles. When stretching, you should stretch to the point where you feel uncomfortable but not pain. Post-cardio is a great time to do extra stretching because your body is nice and warm. It's also important to stretch post strength training to prevent soreness.
Here's how I incorporate these 4 elements of fitness into my routine:
Weight lifting w/ ChaLean Extreme (CE): Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays
Cardio Intervals and kickboxing w/ CE and Turbo Jam: Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Ab work: following cardio on Wednesday always and some extra on some Mondays or whenever I have the time (but I give myself a day of rest in between!!)
Flexibility: Stretching after every workout plus doing a 20 min stretch video (stretching and yoga) on Friday.
My goal for '09 is to try new things so I plan to give yoga and Pilates a try this year and maybe try rock climbing? Mixing it up is always a good thing ;)
Your friend in health and fitness,
Sam
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