Week 5: Hit the Weights!

Its time to hit the weights and get into some serious resistance training and stretching! These two go together like peanut butter and jelly (organic natural peanut butter and sugar free jelly, of course). 

A few days ago, a dear friend of mine, and an amazing nutrition coach who works with my personal training clients, called me up with a worried voice. She told me that since she started weight training with her trainer six weeks ago, she was actually feeling bigger and had experienced no significant weight loss. “Am I doing the right thing, why is this not working?”

In the beginning of an aggressive resistance program, the muscle fibers break (the tiny little sheeth which surrounds the muscle fibers) and that is one of the reasons why we get sore. In order for the body to build up again, we of course have to take in the right nutrition (which was week 2 of the challenge!) and another thing that happens is water retention since the body is in a state of healing. A “feeling” of being bloated is present for a while, and then with proper hydration, rest and stretching, the muscles slowly heal, and the body gets used to the added force, and there we are, tadaaaaa: results! That experience of a period of  bloating and weight gain is something I hear from most women I train with, and we all know how that can confuse our minds, and invite Criticism and Judgement over for dinner.

But the fact is that combined right, and implemented slowly, resistance training for muscle endurance and mass is the MOST effective investment in your healthy body! Building a dense muscle, will make your body into a calorie burning machine, and soon you will reap the benefits of strength, metabolism, and having a body you can go outside and experience adventures with. I am recommending a slow start with the resistance: begin with getting my Total Body Cross Trainer or Balance Ball Core DVDS, implement it twice per week, and rotate with a Yoga for Athletes by Rodney Yee. When you feel that you have gained strength and endurance, within about 4-8 weeks, change your workout up, and really reap the benefits of your new body.

Many new sensations are going to find their way into your world, or as another new client exclaimed to me the other day: “I cannot believe I waited so long to start moving! Not only do I feel like I have endless energy, but my husband sends his love and says thank you!” 

Please let me know how it goes and Live Life Loud!

Tanja