So far we’ve covered two important factors of getting a more fit lean look: 
1. Focusing on the composition of your body (percentage of fat vs. Muscle) rather than the scale alone.
Remember, if you focus just on the scale and ONLY diet and slow-go cardio to lose weight then you’ll most likely the weight you lose will be a majority of muscle and water and you’ll end up being a smaller version of your starting apple or pear shape.
2. Cardio NOT being an effective means for fat loss and how too much can be detrimental.
Today lets talk about your current routine and a quick way to improve it:
If you’re like most women who workout with some regularity you have your routine down. You know that on lunges you use 10lbs, on shoulder press 10lbs, on squats 10lbs…..you get it. Those 10lbs are your friend. And you “feel a burn” when you do your exercises so it must be heavy enough to produce change. And yet nothing IS really changing.
Just like in the last email I mentioned that sweat does not equal an effective workout, “burn” does not mean that whatever you are doing is actually doing enough to make a difference.
Your muscles grow and adapt when they are placed under more stress than they can handle. Once your body is capable of handling those 10 pounders it no longer has any reason to adapt (grow, get stronger). So while it may burn it’s not really going to make any difference in how you look.
You my friend need to get progressive!
Here’s a quick way to implement progressive lifting into your current routine:
Every few workouts when it’s time to pick your weight on a given exercise go heavier. I know you may still think the weight you used last time was heavy but trust me, you can do it. Just because one weight is heavy that does not mean that you can’t lift more. It’ll shock you, you may have doubts but you’ll get it done. It happens every day at my Booty Boot Camp.
At some point it may not be possible to go heavier so soon (like on a shoulder press, it’s a big jump from 25lbs to 30lbs, while on legs that’s not such a big jump) so instead try to push out an additional rep or two over last time. That’s called increasing the density. Do that for a few workouts and then you’ll be ready to pick up the heavier dumbbells.
THIS is what’s going to help you burn more fat and create a visual change in the shape of your body and your overall muscle definition even if the scale doesn’t move.
Yes, lifting heavier is more difficult. It’s hard work. It’s also different from what every fluffy fitness magazine and the “other ladies” at the gym are saying you
should do to “tone” but how is that advice working for you so far?
If instead you want to look like YOU should be in one of those half-naked motivational quote pictures that are floating around Facebook and pinterest every 30 seconds then it may be time to ditch what everyone else is doing and try something else.
One of my favorite quotes is: “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.” ― Thomas Jefferson
But I would be lying if I said I’ve never seen a woman lift heavy and get bulky.
It happens, but it ONLY happens for one of three reasons. Two are not likely to happen to you but one just might…..don’t miss the next blog post.
I’m going to keep saying this until it sinks in:
More muscle = higher metabolism
Higher metabolism = more calories burned at work AND at rest.
Higher metabolism = less fat on your body
Less fat = less wiggle and jiggle where you don’t want to wiggle or jiggle