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GET FIT!
Jump start your fitness plan...
Reduce unsightly cellute... Eat
less and still feel full... Fitness
expert Brad Schonfeld shares
8 key stratgies that workâreally!
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AB: What is the most common misconception about women's fitness?
BS: The biggest issue for most women is
the fear of getting too big or too muscular
from weight training, which should be the
least of their worries. As a rule, women
have approximately a twentieth to a fiftieth
testosterone level in contrast to men, and without a significant amount of testosterone, which is the primary anabolic hormone (anabolic means to build up) it's impossible
to get very big from lifting— and you're not
going to look like a shemale. Because of
this, most women will train with weights that
are way too light for their abilities, and don't
burn the necessary calories to lose weight
and develop muscle tone and so their
bodies don't change at all.
Really, the essence of it all is that a woman
needs to lift weights. And she needs to do
so, with weights that are challenging to her
body. In the same vain, a lot of times
women gravitate towards cardio rather than lifting weights to lose weight, because they're afraid that if they lift before they get down
to their desired weight, they're going to look
bulky. Again, this is a misguided strategy. Weight training is probably more affective
and certainly as affective, as cardiovascular exercise. Not only does it promote weight
loss, but more importantly lasting weight
loss. If you don't lift weights while you're
exercising, your body cannibalizes its own muscle tissue. This leads to a suppression
of metabolism that makes it harder to con-
tinue losing weight so you end up reaching
a plateau. Also, it becomes harder in the
end because you end up yo-yoing and your body gains more weight. In the end this constant yo-yoing effect makes it harder
to lose weight in successive bouts of dieting.
AB: At the gym, it seems that most men refrain from cardio exercise. What are
some of the drawbacks to this approach?
BS: When you abstain from cardiovascular exercise you're not going to be as effective
in reducing body fat. Generally, men are pre-
disposed to storing fat, especially around their
mid-section but more importantly,
there's a health implication to it. The fat stored around your mid-section tends to be more lethal. It
is associated with both a greater incidence
of morbidity and mortality. Reducing belly
fat, will certainly help to improve cardiac
function,
a lot more than strength training
does. So from a guy's perspective, cardio
not only provides a significant health bene-
fit, but is also an effective aesthetic supple-
ment in reaching your desired fitness goal.
AB: For those wishing to jump start a weight loss program, what initial steps should they take to get tangible results
and prevent the urge to quit?
BS: Well, the first thing you need to do is
have a game plan. You don't just want to go into the gym and say, "I wanna do a little weights, a little cardio" and expect that that's going to work. You need to have a real under-
standing of what you're going to do when
you're in the gym. That means, planning out your workouts in advance. If it's going to be
20 minutes of steady state cardio and a total bodyweight workout, whatever that is, what
I recommend is that you write down every-
thing you're going to do in advance before going to the gym. Charting what you are
doing, will help to keep you focus and allow
you to make adjustments as time goes on— which is very effective in terms of getting results. Secondly, set goals. Goal setting should involve getting S.M.A.R.T. goals,
that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. Make sure that your
goals can be achieved in a short enough
time frame. As soon as you achieve those goals make new ones. Having these goals
in place will keep you focused on what
you're trying to do and then by having the game plan, you will focus on what you
should do to achieve success.
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