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Dear Latter-day-Athlete
For such a short letter your request
requires quite an answer in several parts. First, you don’t
just tell your body to burn fat and it does it. It’s already
trained to store fat. Some fat is good. A woman's body
should never fall below 18%. Less than 18% and her
reproductive cycle and ability to conceive are highly
compromised. This leads to other health problems as
well.
To burn fat
effectively as a female you need to
train your body by teaching it some new tricks. I've
found with my female students sometimes it's easier for a
woman to think of her body as a dog. This eliminates the
personal excuses and gives you the ability to see it separate
from your emotions. It also seems to put the focus on
caring for something else, which women do well. What many
women don't do well is take care of themselves. Everyone
and everything seems to come before her. So, rather than going
for a power walk, she says to herself, "I need to walk the
dog." Yes, it's silly but it seems to work and several
of my students have a lot of fun with the idea.
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The Basics
When you are working out, you are
training your dog. Your body is the dog, and your mind is the
trainer. The first thing you need is to have a good rapport
between trainer (mind) and your dog (body). You do this by
letting your dog have the things it needs to be healthy. Rest
when it’s tired, food when it’s hungry, and water when it’s
thirsty. Start by doing these small things and your dog will
have more energy and become more playful.
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Rest: put you dog to bed at a
reasonable time each night and he will quickly learn to use
his energy during waking hours, and not keep you up at
night.
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Food: if your dog doesn’t get fed
when he’s hungry he’ll start storing food (and not letting
it go). Feed him when he’s hungry and he will stop
protecting his holdings.
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Water: if your dog doesn’t drink
enough water he’ll become lethargic and not respond very
well no matter what else you do.
Many people sleep without sleeping
and are awake without being awake. Put all you energy into
one or the other. When you’re awake act as if you’re awake,
that will help you sleep as if you’re asleep. In other words
instead of having slight energy during the day and restless
energy at night you will have a lot of energy during the day
and restful sleep at night.
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Basic diet arrangement will help
your body balance what your already feeding it. Don’t eat
just before you go to bed, your body doesn’t use very much
energy sleeping and so a majority of your intake goes to fat.
Especially try not to eat carbohydrate rich food right before
bed (unless your going to run a race in the morning). Three
hours is a safe amount of time to wait. If you’re going to
eat unhealthy foods, the morning is a good time to eat them;
that way you’ve got most of the day for your body to burn off
the calories.
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Types of Exercise
You have two
types of exercises:
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Aerobic: with oxygen
(example: high impact aerobics class, running, sex)
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Anaerobic: without oxygen
(example: low impact aerobics, weight lifting, circuit
training, swimming and walking.)
The easiest way to understand the
difference is that if you’re breathing hard then it’s an
aerobic exercise (with oxygen). Aerobic exercise builds
cardiovascular stamina (your lungs). If you’re not breathing
hard and you can still talk then it’s an anaerobic exercise
(without oxygen). This burns fat and builds skeletal muscular
strength (your muscles).
One of the
undisputed best ways of burning fat is swimming because it
uses your entire body,
As soon as your chest is submerged
in the water your heart rate is lowered substantially compared
to the activity that you’re performing, this increases the
anaerobic effect on the body.
The idea behind burning fat is to
keep your heartbeat at a relatively low rate but still
elevated, about 110 to 130 beats per minute
for a maximum of 45
minutes.
Why no longer than 45 minutes?
After that your body decreases the
amount of fat cells it is burning and starts to digests
muscle. Doing an anaerobic type of exercise as little as 3
days a week you’ll begin to slowly and naturally raise your
metabolism as your body learns a new way of being.
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If you burn
fat with a low heart rate like walking, what happens with a
high heart like sprinting?
Your body has what we know as a
“fight or flight response” this is where your adrenalin kicks
into over drive to help you either put up a short fight, or
make a mad dash for the hills. When this happens you need
quick energy. And what works best for that is sugar. Your body
stores an extra amount in your liver and muscles. Now you may
not have the same psychological motivation as you would in a
life or death situation but your body uses the same type fuel
for both types of situations. So
when you’re running,
playing basketball, or doing anything that requires you to
have ultra high energy and hard breathing your actually not
effectively burning fat but instead you’re
strengthening your lungs, burning the sugar in your body, and
increasing your overall stamina.
The idea of exercise is to shape
your body into what you want it to be. Unfortunately this
seems to be a hard concept to grasp. What works for one may
work differently for another.
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Lets deal with
the female body
and how to reduce body fat.
As a woman you’re fighting against
your body’s basic desire to maintain a higher body fat
percentage (compared to men). You can find a personal trainer
that can help you put together a program, but remember you
want someone who understands how the female body reacts.
Unfortunately most woman are taught an exercise program
designed for men. There is a difference. Women generally want
to create lean muscle, smooth lines and accentuate their
feminine shape. Most exercises are developed for men and
bulk up the areas men are interested in. You've seen the
results of a woman doing a man's workout. She's the woman
that can squat her body weight plus. Her chest no longer
looks like a woman's and most of the hip, waist and buttock
curves are gone. Her body looks and feels more masculine
when undressed than feminine. When she started working it was
to lose weight but she gave up on her legs getting any smaller
and started focusing on leg strength because she’s good at
it. She ends up with hard curves, but not necessarily where
or how she wanted them. Some women want this. Some do
not. For those that don't, you need a trainer that
understands the differences between how women and men process
energy, store fat and develop muscles.
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The Right Female
Workout
What makes
the bulking muscles happen and how can you avoid acquiring a
male-like body and keep your curves working out?
After you workout any part of your
body, the muscle is broken down; it needs nourishment to help
rebuild itself. The muscle gets nourishment from the fat or
stored adipose tissue. Women generally carry a higher
concentration of fat in their legs than men. This helps feed
the muscle and increases it in size, strength but not
necessarily in stamina. It also does not decrease the amount
of fat in your thighs. What you end up with is strong legs
snuggly enveloped in a hog heaven of nutrient rich fat.
Obviously you need to change the dog's diet. How to do
this we'll cover further down.
The concept of being in shape
is rather elusive. Some people are in shape but they don’t
know it; some are not but act as if they are. Others treat it
like a lottery: one day it may happen to them.
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Exercise Misconceptions
Choose your favorite urban legend
about exercise like, “No pain no gain.” Lets take a
moment for this one. This saying is true for increasing
muscle size or density, the desired results for body builders.
But it won't help you burn fat and it’s pretty well accepted
that a majority of people workout to lose weight, fat
specifically. This is where the saying leads people in the
wrong direction (especially women). For women, (unless you
want to be Mrs. Universe), pain = gain and provides your
muscles with a feast in hog heaven. Any time you feel
the need to go for the major burn, picture a "pig in a
blanket"...a hotdog surrounded by a soft fluffy buttermilk
wrap that keeps puffing up. What you want is repetition, not
muscle strain. You don't want puff.
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Here are a few
more misconceptions:
You have to go burn out or until
muscle fatigue.
If you’re trying to increase the size of the muscle or its
density then you’re right on. However keep in mind that a
strong muscle can still be hidden under fat.
If it’s too easy then it’s too
light.
You’re back to the same point. Build strength and size
(heavy) or burn and tone (light).
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Fitness
Roadblocks
This is where thinking of your body
as a dog comes in handy. Along with the misconceptions
stated, people create their own roadblocks that keep them from
working out. Think about it, if your child refused to
car for the family pet with one of these excuses, would you
let her get away with it?
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Excuse 1: I just
don’t have the time to go to the gym.
When at the gym if you can cut out
the time it takes you to decide what your going to do next,
(i.e. develop a game plan,) you’ll not only take less time but
you’ll get a better workout.
Excuse 2: I just
don’t have the energy to exercise.
Exercise helps you get energy, just
stop waiting and start doing.
Excuse 3: I’m too
out of shape to go to the gym.
Believe it or not this is a common
excuse that I used to hear when I trained people at their
homes, just remember you’re there for business not for show.
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Excuse 4: I can’t
afford to pay
for the membership at the gym.
The only reason for a person to go
to the gym is for the machines that can isolate parts of the
body easier than you can do at your home. At home walking,
biking, and swimming, along with jumping jacks, push up’s, and
sit ups can be a full workout. If you still want a machine
there are plenty of places that sell used equipment for a lot
less then buying a membership like Play-it-Again Sports,
different thrift shops may even have a stationary bike or two.
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Excuse 5: There
are no gyms close to me.
This has the same answer, but when
in doubt check the phone book you never know, one might be
closer then you think.
Excuse 6: And of
course you have the “if only”.
The truth is, you can find plenty of
excuses not to do just about anything, but only one to do it.
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If you are serious about working
out, keep reading. On the next page
I outline the fitness routine.
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