Hey there. I hope you had a great weekend. It’s Monday. Hopefully you don’t have a case of the Monday’s. Working as a personal trainer I hear just about every single excuse you can think of including a case of the Mondays. If you have seen Office Space I should get my ass kicked for just saying that. Some of these excuses can be just ridiculous. This must be what it is like when kids tell their teachers why they couldn’t do their homework.

I understand that sometimes there are more important things than exercise, but you need to admit that your health should be one of your very top priorities. For every excuse that you can think of for not working out, I am sure I can match you and think of at least one reason why you should. There was old Nike commercial that I loved. You may have seen it before but it is worth another look. This brings “Just Do It” to a whole new level.

If you think you don’t have time, a gym, equipment, or any other excuse you should try my Free Featured Workout this week. This workout requires no equipment. I won’t lie it is a very tough workout and is not for beginners. If you think you are up for a challenge you can this quick workout. The Killer Body Weight Workout.

Enjoy the workout and the video.

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
My Workout Creator

Hi there. I hope you are doing great with your workouts. I know many of the readers of this blog have a variety of workout goals. From losing weight to gaining muscle, I get a number of different questions on the best techniques to reach their goals. Regardless of what your goal is one major aspect of your program should be to build muscle.

Building muscle has so many benefits. From increasing your metabolism, improving strength, enhancing daily living, and aesthetic appeal. There are numerous different techniques to help build more muscle. There are a few hormones that the body produces to build more muscle. One of these anabolic hormones is Growth Hormone. This hormone has a bad reputation because of its abuse in professional sports. This is a naturally occuring hormone in the body though and it is completely necessary for increasing muscle mass. There are a different things you could do to increase your growth hormone levels without illegal substances.

There is one very simple, very natual way to do this. The amount of time that you rest during your workout will have a big impact on your growth hormone levels. A recent study in the Journal of Strength of Condition looked at this specific thing. They found that shorter rest periods (in this case 60 seconds) was more effective than longer rest periods (120 seconds). This means that if you want to increase your growth hormone levels you need to take shorter rest periods in between sets. This means you shouldn’t complete a set then just hang out and talk with friends. You need to be very specific with your rest intervals. If you are looking to increase muscle size you do not want to be fully recovered between sets. This means your strength will probably decrease from set to set. If strength is your primary goal than you will want to rest longer between sets. Training for muscle mass and training for strength are actually not the same thing and should not be trained the same way.

For your next workout give it a try. Bring a stopwatch so you can see how long you are actually resting. Many are surprised with how long they are actually resting in between sets. A minute rest sounds long but when you are working hard it will just fly by. Even if you are training for fat loss, remember this is a good thing for you too. More muscle means you will burn more calories working out and at rest.

Have a great workout!

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
My Workout Creator

Hey there,

I hope you are doing great. Hopefully you are a picking up your workouts and reversing some of the damage from the holiday weekend. I have 3 more weeks until I have to travel again so I am trying to really push it in my workouts. If you are looking for ways to increase your workout results than here are some great tips for you.

If you are not seeing the results you are hoping for in the weight room one thing you may have to look at is your intensity. Whether you are trying to burn fat, build muscle, or both – you need to increase your intensity. I read an article in July 2010 issue of Fitness RX about how to increase your intensity during your workout. While these methods are not for everyone, they are great ways to boost your workout intensity and see some serious results.

1. Train to Failure:

Most people are just not doing this. If you are not training to failure every now and then you are missing out on some huge gains. We need to train our muscle as hard as possible in order for them to adapt and get stronger. Whenever training to failure you must keep of few safety tips in mind though. You MUST be able to keep form the entire time. As we start to struggle with a heavier weight, that is when our form tends to break and we can get hurt. You also MUST listen to your body. If you are feeling pain that should not be there then stop lifting immediately. And finally, DO NOT train to failure all the time. Our nervous system plays a huge role in exercise. When you train to failure you are significantly stressing your nervous system. If you do this too much you could see a decrease in performance and it may lead to overtraining.

2. Perform Forced Repetitions:

Once you master training to fatigue you can then try forced repetitions. This is where you have a spotter help you achieve more reps than you could get on your own. You must have a trained person help you with this. Once you perform all the reps you can achieve you have someone assist you to finish the last few reps.

3. Perform Negative Reps:

Negative reps refer to the eccentric contraction of a muscle. This is when the muscle is lengthening or stretching. For example in a push up when you lower to the floor you are performing a negative or eccentric contraction. When you perform a negative rep you are emphasizing the negative part of the lift. Using the push up example again you can perform a negative push up by lowering to the floor very slowly then pushing up fast. Or if you were performing a bench press you can increase the load to more than you normally can lift and lower it slowly. Then you have a spotter help you lift the weight up. We are much stronger with negative contractions and will be able to handle more load. Training this way is a great method from busting through training plateaus.

4. Rest-Pause

With this training method you again use a weight that is higher than you normally can do. You perform as many reps as you can with the higher weight. Then you rest 10 seconds or so and get a few more reps and repeat. This way you are training to failure in a given set 3-4 times. For example, say I can normally squat 300lbs for 5 reps. Then I rest for a few seconds and get 3 more reps, and then rest and get 2 more. This is a tough but very effective training method.

5. Drop Sets

This is a pretty popular training method. Here you perform a set at a given weight for 8-12 reps. Then drop the weight by around 30-40% and get as many reps as you can. This is a great way to train all different motor units and muscle fibers. Another great way to perform this type of training is using bands. You can combine bands with any type of other resistance. Perform a set using both pieces of equipment then remove the band and finish the set. For example you can perform DB Bicep Curls holding onto a band in each hand. Perform as many reps as you can with both then drop the band and continue with just the DB’s. This is surprisingly difficult.

6. Pre-Exhaust Muscles

Be very careful if you perform this training method. This technique involves stressing a muscle out in isolation before a compound movement. For example you would perform leg extensions before you perform squats. One common problem with this method is that you fatigue a muscle too much and it can increase your chance for injury. If you are an experienced lifter you can try this method out but just take proper precautions.

Try some of the methods in your next program but use them sparingly. As I stated in the beginning you do not want to be using these techniques in every workout. You can pick one or two per week. Make sure you allow for proper recovery between workouts. These are advance training styles so you need to be an experienced lifter to try them. If you have never used any of these before you will probably notice an increase in muscle soreness. That will happen though when you step up the intensity. Remember if you really want to see improvements in your workouts and changes in your body you need to increase your training intensity. Just do it safely.

Good luck and have a great workout.

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
My Workout Creator

Hey there. I hope those of you in the US had a great 4th of July Weekend. For everyone else I hope it was just a great weekend. If you are like me you are ready to hit the gym hard this week after all of the food this weekend. Last time I explained how you train for stability and then move to mobility. If you missed the article check it out here:

http://www.myworkoutcreator.com/20100627/stabilize-before-you-mobilize/

Once you have developed a strong, stable core you can begin to perform more advanced training methods to help shape up your six pack. If you are on this mailing list then you most likely are looking for tips on how to get a flatter stomach or more defined 6 pack. This is a goal that I see with my clients, friends, and family more than anything else. It is a very difficult goal to achieve, but it is attainable. You just have to be willing to work very hard and commit to a good program. If you truly want to see serious results on your abdominals you first have to commit to a solid nutrition plan. If you are not following a good diet program it won’t matter how well you are training. The nutrition aspect of ab training we will save for another post. This post is going to explain what you NEED to consider for a better 6 packs.

One of the biggest mistakes I see with ab training is that people will just try and kill their abs. I hear people tell me that they do 100 crunches a day or some other crazy number. What most people don’t seem to realize is that your abdominal muscles are the same tissue that is in the rest of your body. Would you want to do 100 squats everyday or bicep curls? Hopefully not. The most important thing you can do for abdominal training is to place proper overload your ab muscles.

There was a study in the October 2009 issue of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning that looked at traditional ab exercises and their effect on strength. They used exercises like curl ups and bicycle crunches for the study. They performed what most people will do for an ab workout, which is 3 sets of 20 repetitions. What they found that this type of workout had no significant effect on abdominal strength levels. This is an issue most people suffer from with there entire exercise program. There is not significant overload. If you want to see your ab muscles you need to create an increase in size in the muscle. This sounds scary to some but it is something you really need to do for a flatter and more defined stomach.

To increase size and strength of muscle fibers you need to be providing proper overload onto the muscle. For some this means performing harder exercises and for others it might mean you have to add external resistance, such as a medicine ball or resistance band. To create this overload on the muscle we need to train our ab muscles just like we would train any other muscle. Try finding exercises where you fatigue after 8-12 reps for 3-4 sets. This type of training will be much more effective for abdominal training.

Check out this weeks free featured workout the Core Mobility Workout. This is an example of a workout that uses tough exercises and added external resistance to create a challenge ab workout to help you get closer to that six pack. Remember to view the workout you must sign up for a free account.

Have a great workout!

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS

When it comes to ab training, most people want to jump right in and kill their ab muscles with tough ab workouts. This can be a huge mistake and potentially lead to serious injuries. Ab or core training is just like anything else we do. We have to learn how to walk before we run. The main function of our core is to protect and stabilize the lumber spine and hips. Most individuals who suffer from low back pain have some type of core instability or disfunction. When they hear that a stronger core may help with back pain they hit the gym and start doing crunches and sit ups to get it stronger.

This will most likely lead to even more back pain. Whether you want to train your ab muscles so they look better, function better, or to help reduce back pain your plan should be similar. The first step you want to take is to train your abs the way they were designed to work. Our ab muscle were not designed to work in isolation. They work with our limbs to provide stability in our core. If we don’t have this stability you will not be able to train your abdominals to their full potential.

Fitness professionals often use the phase, “stabilize before you mobilize.” We use this phrase for all types of training. Not just core training. If you can’t control movement you shouldn’t be doing it. This is one of the biggest mistakes I see individuals make at the gym when they train their abs. They jump right in to some of the hardest ab exercises because they want to feel that burn. It is likely if they keep it up they are going to feel more than just burning in their stomach.

If you are worried that a core stability workout will be too easy than think again. These types of exercises usually incorporate more body parts than traditional ab training. This means they will be much tougher and burn more calories. If you don’t believe me you can try our latest Free Featured Workout The Core Stability Workout. Remember you need to sign up for a free account to view this workout. This is a great stability workout. You will never actually move your abdominal muscles in any of the exercises. The goal of each exercise to to prevent any movement in the hips and lumbar spine. Give it a try and see how you can do. If this workout is easy for your than you may be ready for a mobilization workout.

Have a great workout!

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS

Hi there. I hope you had a great weekend. I just got back from Vegas last night. I have a feeling I am going to be paying for it this week though. I went to Vegas a few years back for the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s National Personal Trainer Conference. One of the presenters was Juan Carlos Santana, a very well known fitness professional, who works with many professional athletes. I will never forget something he said during his presentation. He asked how many from the audience went out the night before. Only a handful actually raised there hands. It is possible that some just didn’t want to admit it. His response was, “If you are going to do Vegas, then do Vegas.” Many people get so obsessed with fitness they forget to enjoy life. When I go on vacations or trips, I really don’t want to think about my fitness program. I may workout on a trip, but it isn’t the focus of my trip. I workout hard all year round and stick to a very healthy diet 80-90% of the time. I do this for many reasons, but one is so that during certain times of the year I can enjoy myself and not be upset if I gain a few pounds because I ate too much.

Whenever I do have a bad week or weekend I immediately forget about it. Luckily it can be easy to forget (or maybe just not remember) about a weekend in Vegas….. But seriously, there is nothing you can do about what damage you already caused. Instead, you forget about it and continue to move right on with your program. Before I left for this trip I wanted to plan what I would do for my fitness program when I returned. Most people would assume that since I didn’t have a great weekend that I would workout like crazy this week and not eat much to get back on track. This is the process that most people go through. They get really motivated for a week or two then drop off and quit their program because it was too hard to stick with. Instead I looked at my program before my trip. Really what I had been doing was training really hard the month or so before the trip. Instead of going right back to training really hard again I am using this week as a recovery week. This is something most people just do not do enough. If you have ever just felt run down and not seeing anymore improvement in your workouts you might be on your way to overtraining. A simple solution is trying a recovery week.

Now this doesn’t mean I am telling you to take a week off and you will see a dramatic increase in results. What I am saying is if you strategically plan for active rest weeks you will see much better results than going as hard as you can each week and never taking any breaks. Most people that are trying to lose weight or build muscle will kill themselves with their fitness program all year round. Most people think they are building muscle when they workout or seeing the pounds just drop off. The workout is just the stimulus for the results. We see real gains in between our workouts if you are getting enough recovery, sleep, and proper nutrition. That is the key to a successful program. Focus on what you do from one workout to the next.

Here is how you can set up recovery weeks to boost your performance and your results. Create a workout program that will be challenging for you and that will fit your goals. Track that workout or workouts for 6-8 weeks trying to improve each workout. Then after about two months or when you start to see a drop in improvement take 1 week of recovery. Then you can create an new program after you are fully recovered and repeat. You will see a dramatic improvement in your workouts after you have had a planned week off. It can be hard sometimes to do this, especially if you enjoy working out.

This doesn’t mean you don’t do anything though. Here are some guidelines you can follow for your week of recovery.
1. Try more recreational activities instead of structured workout. For example play racquetball or volleyball a few days a week to keep active but not overloading your body.
2. Focus on soft tissue work. This is a great week to treat yourself to massage. If you strength training there is a good chance you have caused soft tissue damage. Stretching will only help so much. A good deep tissue massage will do wonders for muscle repair and recovery.
3. Work to improve posture with corrective exercises. Just about every person I have ever trained had multiple muscle imbalances. For many of them they were making it worse with their old fitness routine. Muscle imbalances are causes by certain muscle being worked too much and other muscles not being worked enough. We usually do exercises that we enjoy doing. If we enjoy doing it then we are probably pretty good at it. Those muscles are already strong enough. If you know of an exercise you hate doing then you probably have a weakness there. When you determine that you have certain muscle imbalances you can perform exercises and stretches that will help correct them. You may need a professional to help you assess what imbalances you may have.
4. At least focus on stretching. Most people just flat out ignore flexibility and stretching. This should be a huge part of our programs but people just don’t do it enough. To make up for it devote everyday in your recovery week to stretching.

Check out this weeks Free Featured Workout to see the program I will be doing for my recovery week. Click here to try it out. Remember you must have a free account in order to view the workout.

Remember you plan in your recovery weeks. Don’t just decide one week you are not going to workout because you don’t feel like it. These are strategic manipulations to help improve your workouts and results.

Have a great workout!

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
My Workout Creator

So this weekend I was in Dallas at a Fitness Conference for Exercise Etc. You can check out the ab workout I put the participants through in our premade workout section. It is actually this weeks Free Featured Workout. Check it out here.

It was a long weekend and we covered a ton of information on the current fitness trends and methods. One area that we covered that I always enjoy talking about is periodization. This is a systematic process for manipulating change in your program. This sounds confusing but it is really simple. We just change our program every few weeks to avoid plateaus and adaptation.

I usually see two major mistakes with people’s workout programs. They either change their routine up too much or not enough. If we are always changing our exercises we can’t really get the adaptations we need from the exercise. There is a variety of variables we can change each workout. If we never change our program then we will eventually adapt and you will not see the same benefits as when you first started. The key to a proper program is learning when to change and when to not change. The basic rule we can use is to use a program until you are not seeing the same gains anymore.

Exercise selection is not the only this we can change in our program. There are number of difference variables we can look at without changing the exercise and still see major progress. The first one to focus on should be your rep range. Most people stay with the same set and rep range for years. Most people are scared to lower their rep range because they are afraid they will bulk up or get hurt.

Well, first off, if we are limiting our caloric intake to under what we burn you WILL NOT bulk up. To avoid injury you just need to make sure you are always keeping good form and staying within your limits. Never sacrifice form for lifting more weight. Working in different rep ranges will train different muscle fibers. I won’t bore you with muscle physiology, but we have two muscle fiber types. Type I or slow twitch and Type II or fast twitch. Slow twitch muscle fibers are used for more endurance type exercise, for example when we perform higher rep exercise. Fast twitch muscle fibers are used for more power and strength exercise, so our lower reps heavy resistance. Most people stay in the higher range only training the slow twitch and ignoring their fast twitch. If you are interested in building more lean mass to try and boost your metabolism I highly recommend training your fast twitch fibers often.

Program design and periodization can be very difficult to fully understand. The main points to take away are:

1. Once a workout stop working it is time to change. (This amount of time usually range from 2-8 weeks depending on your experience.
2. Log your workout to see if you are continuing to progress.
3. First change your rep range and load, then change the actual exercises.
4. Plan for recovery weeks to make sure you are not overtraining.

If you are still looking for help you can check out our 26 week progress plan on My Workout Creator for our members. This program shows you which workouts you choose each week. You start with the basic Weight Loss I program and progress to the Muscle Building workouts. Depending on your goals you may stay with certain workouts for longer periods of time but regardless of your goal you want to go through all the progressions.

Click here to see our 26 Week Program Guide.

Following a structured program like this and changing your routine at the right time will lead to incredible results and limit your risk of overtraining or hitting plateaus.

Have a great workout!

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
My Workout Creator

Specificity is not just a hard word to pronounce. It is a crucial component to any workout program. If you have never heard of this concept before you might be holding yourself back in your workouts big time.

This weekend I was in NY for a basketball tournament. No I didn’t win, but I had a great time playing with some old friends. For this tournament we played 10 minute games of 3 –on-3. When I heard this I really didn’t think it would be a big deal. Unfortunately for me I was beat after the first game. I train hard most days of the week but felt like I had never worked out before. How could I be in such good shape, but feel like I was going to die playing basketball?

Specificity is the reason. When I workout I mostly do strength training. I do some Olympic lifting and plyometrics which will help with certain basketball skills but I cannot rely on them. I didn’t train for playing basketball so my body was not use to it. There is a principle in the strength and conditioning industry referred to as the SAID principle. This stands for Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands. This means that our body will adapt to the demands that are placed on them. For example, I work with many runners. They have great conditioning for running. In fact some can run for an hour straight and it is not a big deal. However, when they come to see me for the first time I have them begging for mercy in a few minutes. This is not because I am mean, it is just because their bodies are not use to the demand that I am putting on them. They are use to the stress of running, not necessarily the stress from strength training.

How does this relate to your workouts? It is simple. Make sure your training is reflecting your goal. If you are training to run a 5k, 10K, or marathon then your training should be working towards that goal. You need to first make sure you are running the appropriate amount, and your strength training should focus more on endurance training. If you are training to lose weight you want to train so your body becomes better at burning more calories. This means you need to train to build more lean muscle and perform workouts that burn more calories.

You goals can continue to change. In fact this is very recommended to do. Eventually your body will adapt to the specific type of training you are doing. If you do not change your program periodically then two things will happen. You will see less of a retain in performance and results from your workout and you are more likely to get injured.

Take some time to evaluate your program. Is your strength and cardio routine reflecting your goals. If not it is time to start over and come up with a better workout program.

Have a great workout!

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS

PS. Don’t forget to check out this week Free Featured Workout The DB Complex.

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day. Long weekends are always welcomed. But along with the holiday weekend comes the BBQ’s and beer. Memorial Day always seems to be the unofficial start of the summer. Although you still have time to get ready to fit back into your bathing suits, summer is just about here. The 4th of July is 5 weeks away. That is plenty of time to make significant changes in your body. Whether you want to lose stubborn fat or gain more muscle mass you have time to see great results this summer and I am going to help you every step of the way.

On to the updates…..Even though the challenge isn’t for another few weeks that doesn’t mean you can’t get started now. If you are looking for sexier legs you will love our Free Featured Workout. This workout will get your legs looking great. They will probably feel like jello though after the workout.

Beach Ready Leg Workout

For our members you can give our Beach God/Goddess Workout a try. This workout will help develop your muscles that will make you want to take your shirt off at the beach this summer. Check it out if you are ready for a challenge.

Beach God/Goddess Workout

3 Unusual Tips For A Flatter Stomach:

I had a request to answer the million dollar fitness question, “how do I get a thinner abdomen?” This question just comes up more than any other questions I get. I wish I had an easy answer for you, but unfortunately there is no one thing that you can do for a thinner and sexier stomach. This is a very challenging goal to have but it is very attainable for just about everyone. First we just need to look at what kind of shape you are currently in. If you want to see any definition in your stomach you need to have a body fat percentage of at least under 20% but probably even lower than that. If you are not close to under 20% then your goal should simplybe to lose as much fat as possible. Don’t concentrate on losing stomach fat. Just do the right things to lose as much fat off of your body as possible. Once you start getting closer to under 20% then you can focus on some advanced abdominal training methods. If you truly want a flatter stomach here are 3 steps you can take to get you closer to 6 pack abs.

1. Remove processed foods from your diet.

Diet is key when trying to lose weight or tone up. If you are eating too much you just will not see the results that you want to see. The Western Diet is getting worse and worse every year. Obesity is an epidemic and our food choices are terrible. I hear every excuse there is on why people can’t eat right. That’s all they are though are excuses. I hate to sounds harsh but if you are serious about losing weight you need to make this a priority. Looks at all of the food you eat throughout the day. How much of that food can be found in nature? No there is not a snickers tree, or a twinkie bush. I would be lying if I said I ate 100% natural food, but over the years I have learn to dramatically decrease my processed foods. I have a few exceptions I make but overall it is a very healthy diet plan I follow. Just find certain foods that you can substitute with more natural choices. Eat lots of lean meats, fruits, veggies, beans, nuts, and whole grains.

2. Perform Compound Movements With Strength Training

As we spoke about last time we need to overload our muscles in order for them to adapt and change. Performing compound lifts, such as squats, deadlifts, and push ups, have been shown to increase growth hormone and burn more calories. When putting together your workout you want the majority of your exercises to involve more than one joint. For example Squats are much better than Leg Extensions since Squats involve the hip and the knee. More muscles will work which creates more of an energy need. If you are using workouts from our site than this step should be very easy.

3. Perform High Intensity Interval Training

This step should only be used if you have a good conditioning base. You should be able to perform moderate to hard cardio exercise for at least 30 minutes before attempting intervals. Most of you have probably heard of spot reducing and how you cannot do it. This is not the whole story though. Recent research has shown that high intensity interval training will burn more abdominal fat than low intensity work. Don’t expect to get a six pack just by doing intervals but it is a great step in the right direction.

Give these 3 steps a try in your weekly routine and let me know how it goes.

Have a great workout!

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
My Workout Creator

Hey guys,

I hope you had a great weekend and are ready to get some great workouts in this week. After getting sick last week. I am really looking forward to having a great week of hard workouts and good food choices. If you are looking for a kickstart to the week, check out our latest updates!

This weeks Free Featured Workout is the Back To Basics Workout. This workout is composed of some of the simplest but most effective strength training exercises. It is critical that you master this workout before trying any “crazy” exercises.

Check out the Back To Basics Workout here.

For our members you can also check out our newest workout routine the Abs Gauntlet workout. This is an awesome workout to get you beach ready this summer.

But I Don’t Want To Bulk Up!

So after last weeks post on the reason you are not getting results I got a ton of questions and responses about not bulking up. Most people (and by people I really mean women) feel that if they lift heavier weights they are going to bulk up. Here are 3 reasons why women should not worry about bulking up with strength training:

1. Women don’t have the hormones to gain a significant amount of muscle.

Testosterone is the hormone that is responsible for massive muscle growth. Sorry women, unless you are taking in extra testosterone you will just not have enough testosterone to gain a large amount of muscle.

2. If you are eating properly you will not be getting enough calories to gain muscle.

It takes extra calories, along with specific hormones to build muscle. If you are not getting enough calories in your body will not be able to produce more muscle mass. If you are trying to lose weight then you need to decrease your calories. If you are doing this your body will have a very difficult time building muscle. If you have never strength trained before you will probably see some increase muscle mass on a restrictive diet but it will not last forever.

3. You probably aren’t training hard enough anyway.

It is actually very difficult to build muscle mass. You need to train very hard and continue to overload your muscles to see increased muscle. Chances are you will not train hard enough to see this growth. It is actually the goal of many fat loss programs just to maintain your current muscle.

Now hopefully you can see that it very hard to actually bulk up. Instead you just wanted to gain as much muscle mass as you can or at least hang on to as much muscle as you can. Here are three reasons why you want to train to build muscle:

1. More muscle increases your metabolism.

Muscle is much more metabolically active. It takes your body more energy to function and to keep around. For every pound of muscle you gain you will burn about an extra 10 calories per day. This may not seem like a huge number but this is just at rest. If you are exercising you will burn even more calories than that.

2. Heavy resistance training builds bone mass.

Weight bearing exercise such as strength training has been shown to increase bone mass in men and women. If you are at all concerned with osteoporosis, and most women should be, then you need to train heavy.

3. Heavy resistance training burns more calories.

Trying to build muscle mass means you are training at a very high intensity. Training at this intensity will not only burn a ton of calories while you workout but also for hours even days after your workout is complete.

As you can see, strength training really offers only great benefits to your workout. If you are currently strength training but not at a high intensity, now is the perfect time to try! Add some more weight, do an extra set, add 5 more reps, or try a new workout to reach this goal.

Have a great workout!
Mike Deibler MS, CSCS