Strong Muscles are Better!

Strong Muscles are Better…

Strong muscles are better but sometimes are mistaken for making you bigger.  When it comes to shedding pounds, weight training and building muscle mass becomes a very big aid in fat loss. Today I want to de-myth concerns of getting “bulky” or too “big” from traditional weight training and help you understand the benefits.

Q: What are some benefits of lifting weights

• Strong muscles help you lose weight. Not only are you burning lots of calories from lifting weights, but muscle tissue burns as much as 15 times more calories per day than does fat tissue -- even when at rest!
•  Strong muscles are healthy for your heart. By extension, strong muscles are good for your blood pressure
• Strong muscles protect your joints and your back. More muscle power means you put less strain on joints and connective tissue when lifting or exerting. And that's important both for treating and preventing arthritis.

  

Q: How do you build stronger muscles?

Those pretty pink weights at the gym won’t do the trick. Trust me when I say its time to pick up the real weights and work your way up to lifting the big dogs! You know those scary looking, big ole pieces of iron. Those dumbbells, that for so long been designated to only the bodybuilders of the gym; well those are really what we all need to be using!

Now there are steps to take before you just start throwing around 50lb dumbbells. You have to build your strength slowly by starting small and continuing to progress in pounds lifted.  Working with a certified personal trainer to help you determine your starting weight would be a great way to know you will make progress and avoid injury. If working with a trainer is not fesable for you then start with basic exercises and light weight and make progressions depending on how you feel after each workout.

Q: What should we feel during a weight training workout?

The biggest question of all! I have been surprised over and over again by how few people know what a muscle burn should feel like! There is a huge difference between muscle aches and muscle fatigue or “burn”. During a weight training session there are reps  and sets preformed by various exercises. At the end of each set of 10-15 reps, the last 3-5 reps should be challenging and you should start to feel muscle fatigue or burn. These last few reps should be challenging, but still preformed with correct form. This holds true for newbies too! If you have never lifted weights and the pretty pinks are the only ones that don’t intimidate you then you should still rethink whether or not they are actually providing you the necessary resistance to make your muscles stronger!

STRESS & RELAXATION

Good and Bad Stress- 3 kinds of Stress

1. Physical Stress


2. Mental Stress


3. Nutritional Stress






 Physical Stress in the form of movement or exercise is beneficial.


 Helps us maintain weight by regulating our metabolic rate.


 Stress from loading muscles and bones helps build and maintain muscle and bone mass


 Physical Stress in the way of over exercising can cause immune system suppression and increase illness or injury.


 Negative physical stress can cause poor posture which, can also result in poor breathing, muscle function, joint health and circulation.






 Mental Stress is a positive thing when thinking and using your mind productively


 Setting goals and having achievable personal challenges can be positive stressors.


 Overworking, taking on more then one can manage, and negative thinking are all forms of negative mental stressors.






 Nutritional Stress is necessary and controllable


 Nutritional stress can be referred to as the stress our bodies go thru to breakdown, digest, and metabolize food.


 Negative Nutritional stress can be eating too much or wrong types of food.






How do we acknowledge and create positive stress?




Breathe, Stretch, Exercise, & Sleep


When done hand in hand you will feel Stress melt away!




Breathe using your diaphragm


• Diaphragmatic breathing is the healthiest way of breathing and is a first step in normalizing your breathing in order to manage anxiety or panic symptoms.


• Diaphragmatic breathing is also the most natural way of breathing. Observe how a very young baby breathes - they will use their diaphragm/belly with each breath.


• Years of poor posture, anxious thinking, tension and pressure will usually result in breathing patterns which are less-than-ideal and which will commonly involve


• 1. Rapid, upper chest breathing... leading to


• 2. Overbreathing... leading to


• 3. Depletion of carbon dioxide stores


• Relearning to use your diaphragm in breathing and to reduce your rate of breathing is an important first step in managing the symptoms of anxiety, anger, panic, etc.


• The principle role of breathing is, of course, to stay alive! One of the ways in which breathing does this is through seeking to maintain an optimum internal oxygen-carbon dioxide balance.


• The important thing is not how much oxygen or how much carbon dioxide you have in your system but rather the relationship between the two gases - between carbon dioxide and oxygen.


• Too much oxygen (relative to the level of carbon dioxide) and we feel agitated and jumpy. Too much carbon dioxide (again, relative to the level of oxygen) and we feel sluggish and sleepy and tired.






 Examples of Breathing and Stretches


 Crocodile Breathing


 Bikram Standing stretching


 Chair Stretches


 Back and leg stretches


 Stretches with Bands






Exercise!


Eat and Drink Right!


• Drink water! Reduce amount of coffee, soda, and alcohol intake. Dehydration is common cause of internal stress


• Avoid Stimulants- Coffee, sugar, cigarettes


• All trigger cortisol, which is a hormone that that tells your brain its time to get up and be ready for action. This occurs naturally in the morning.


• An 8 oz cup of coffee contains about 300mg of caffeine which can stay in your system up to 9 hours. Ideally you should not drink anything containing caffeine after lunch time. This way your natural cortisol production will not be affected.


• Plan and eat regular meals 4- 5 times a day.


• Pay attention to choices…you have a choice! www.Calorieking.com


• Surround yourself with positive people and activities!




Sleep!


• Be in bed by 10:30, or whatever time allows you for 8 hours of sleep!


• Sleep in a completely dark room


• Our bodies go thru a physical repair cycle during an 8 hour sleep cycle. When disrupted can lead to elevated stress levels and muscular and neurological disorders












We create the world we live in and thinking positively about what we Do want vs. what we Don’t want affecting our daily lives makes all the difference.