Woman and Weights: Santa Monica Fitness Instructors Debunk 8 Myths That Could Be Keeping You From Your Goals, PART 3

Welcome to the third installment of our four-part article series on the myths surrounding women and weights. Could your reluctance to incorporate weight lifting into your circuit training routine be keeping you from achieving maximum results at the gym? “Probably,” say many Los Angeles Gyms instructors.

Previously, in Part 2, we debunked the following myths:

3.  Weight lifting leaves you stiff and inflexible: If you warm up, stretch, exercise correctly and perform the weight lifting movements as shown to you by your instructor, it should actually increase muscular flexibility.

4.  Stopping weight lifting can allow muscle to turn into fat: Definitely not. Fat and muscle are two different kinds of tissue. One cannot become the other. If you stop exercising and increase your intake of calories, you will likely increase your body fat percentage.

Let’s take a look at some more myths:

Women and Weight Lifting Myth # 5: You Can Eat Anything You Like, So Long As You Train With Weights

    The ability to eat anything you want, when you want, has far more to do with your unique metabolism than it does with exercise. There are some people who can literally eat chocolate cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner and still be as skinny as a rail, although they won’t be healthy. Then there are other people who have to exercise every day and eat a calorie-controlled diet in order to prevent themselves from putting on weight.

    The rate at which the body burns calories when at rest is something that varies from person to person and will have a far greater bearing on how liberal you can be with your diet. Working out at the gym and doing exercises such as circuit training and Interval Training do help you to burn off a lot more calories, thereby making it possible for you to eat more without putting on weight. But to say that weight training allows you to eat what you want is a dangerous myth that, while it may work for you, may not work for others with a lower metabolism.

Women and Weight Lifting Myth # 6: Women Only Really Require Cardio Exercises and Very Light Weights to Stay Fit and in Shape.

 

    “Cardiovascular exercise is necessary for both men and women; it’s what makes our bodies fit and our hearts healthy,” explains a Los Angeles gym instructor. “But to say that women only require cardio exercise is absolute nonsense. Weight training builds muscle mass and compels the body to burn fat, while cardio tends to burn both fat AND muscle. Following a circuit training routine therefore increases fitness, burns fat and strengthens and builds muscle throughout the body.”

     As for using lighter weights, again, this is a myth. Your muscles respond to resistance. The heavier the weights, the more the muscle fibers have to tense and strain to lift it (and the more calories you’ll burn), which explains why people with bulging muscles are strong. If you only make use of light weights, your muscles won’t really need to do much work to lift them and your body won’t change because it’s not being challenged.

     “Remember, women don’t produce enough testosterone to build the kind of muscle bulk that men can, so you don’t need to worry about looking masculine if you incorporate weight training into your circuit training routine,” says a female personal trainer in Los Angeles.

Stay Tuned for Part 4, Coming Next Week!

We’ll be exploring the following final myths:

# 7: It’s Dangerous For Women to Lift Weights

# 8: Being Lean is the Ultimate Goal of Exercise

Los Angeles Gym Instructors Answer Your FAQs about Circuit Training, PART 2

Welcome to the second installment of this four-part article series on circuit training; a form of exercise that is taking LosAngeles Gyms by storm. In Part 1, we took a look at what circuit training is and how it differs from interval training; another exercise system it is commonly confused with. We still have many questions for our personal trainers, so let’s get started!

Just to briefly recap what we discussed in Part 1: circuit training is a form of exercise that, every one minute, sees you alternating between cardiovascular and weight (resistance) training. Now we want to know why. What’s the point of this kind of gym training?

Answer: “This alternating between cardiovascular and resistance training is really the secret to the success behind circuit training as an excellent way to get fit and lose weight,” say Los Angeles gym instructors. “In order to really understand how it works, you need to come to grips with the underlying biology. Your body has two different energy expenditure modes or settings. The one is reserved for short bursts of activity and offers lots of power and the other is reserved for steady, repetitive motions like jogging. So the first is engaged when you lift weights and perform the resistance exercises in the circuit, while the second is engaged when you get on the treadmill or bicycle and do your minute of cardio.”

“By rapidly switching between resistance and cardiovascular exercise, you prevent your body from comfortably slipping in to a conservative energy expenditure mode and this forces your body to burn calories like crazy,” explain instructors for Gyms in Los Angeles. “You see, when you work out, the last thing you want is for your body to burn calories conservatively. No, you want your body to TORCH those calories. That’s what helps you lose fat and stay trim. In fact, circuit training combined with interval training can help you burn up to 500% more calories than any other form gym exercise. THAT’S why it’s so effective!”

Doesn’t this also mean that your clients find themselves exhausted after a session?

Answer: “We don’t find our clients to be any more exhausted than they’d be after a normal gym session, even though they’re burning way more calories. In fact, many return home or to work feeling greatly energized and motivated! This is because they’re not plodding away on the treadmill for 30 minutes, getting horribly bored in the process. Rather, we have our clients engaged in a fast-paced and intensive group class. Every member gets the individualized attention, encouragement and advice they need to get the most out of their circuit training. The only exhaustion you’ll feel is the healthy kind that’ll enable you to get an excellent night’s sleep!”

How long is the average circuit training class?

 

Answer: “All of our circuit training classes are a neat one hour long. That’s yet another great benefit of this mode of exercise,” say Los Angeles gym instructors. “You’re getting such a fantastic whole-body workout, that one hour is totally sufficient. So many people waste an hour-and-a-half or even two hours trying to get a decent workout and keep their body in peak physical condition, when circuit training can get you there in just one hour.”

Stay Tuned for Part 3

To read more about Circuit Training and how it works to provide Los Angeles residents with an incredible work out, stay tuned for the third installment of this four-part article series.