The Truth About Weight Training

I hear a lot of girls say they don’t want to lift weights because they don’t want to get bulky, to which I usually just roll my eyes.

What I think they mean to say is that they don’t want to gain too much muscle, and just want to look toned. 

Which is completely possible with the right knowledge, starting with what exactly weight training is.

Weight training is a high intensity anaerobic exercise that uses glucose, a source of energy in your body, to fuel your muscles during a short period of time.

Instead of using carbs to generate energy, it uses fat.

There are two variations of weight training, one focused on toning and slowly building muscle while the other focuses on strength and building a lot of muscle mass. 

To tone and gradually build muscle you want to focus on high repetition of low weight. To gain muscle mass and strength you would do the opposite, low repetition of high weights. 

A repetition is how many times you can lift X amount of weight. 

High intensity workouts usually include supersets which are two or three exercises done in a row, 3-4 times for 8-10 repetitions.

Example:

Superset #1 8-10 x3:

Bicep curl

Tricep dip

In the above you would do 8-10 curls then immediately after do 8-10 dips, take a small break, then do the cycle twice more.

That, in a nutshell, is weight training and how you can tweak it to get the results you want. The right combination of cardio and weight lifting will get you toned by summer, and what girl doesn’t want that!

You’ll try new beauty products, so why not try lifting some weights. Good luck!

• cmich health