Fitness should never be a complex string of timed workouts, counting reps, and worrying if what you’re doing is working. Women of all ages should use weights to help sculpt and tone their muscles as well as to help build and maintain bone mass. Cardiovascular activity should also be a part of everyone’s fitness regimen in order to burn fat and strengthen the heart muscle…and it shouldn’t ever be confusing!
Here’s what the experts say about exercise routines and fundamentals:
SHOULD YOU DO WEIGHTS OR CARDIO FIRST?
According to researchers at the University of Victoria in BC, subjects who strength trained within 24 hours of a rigorous cardio session were able to do more reps than their counterparts who waited for less time (about 408 hours). Further, a study done by Bringham Young University in 2005 showed that starting with cardio will get you better results when you pump iron. Lead study researcher, Pat Vehrs, Ph.D., found that subjects burned more calories after their workout when doing cardio, then weights (in that order). The other thing to consider is that when your muscles are fatigued after a weight lifting session, your cardio performance will lack. Get the cardio done first and then tackle the weights for maximum results!
IS IT BEST TO WORKOUT IN THE MORNING OR IN THE EVENING?
The Mollen Clinic out of Phoenix, AZ found in 2005 that 75% of morning workout buffs stuck with it after 12 months versus only 25% of evening and 50% of afternoon exercisers. Chief Exercise Physiologist, Cedric Bryant, Ph.D., found that study participants who stopped working out in the afternoons and evenings did so because life got in the way. Everyone can relate, I’m sure: errands, late hours at the office, homework with the kids, etc. gets in the way at the end of the day. Fitness Magazine reported in their October 2005 issue that studies done by Dr. Michael Smolensky have consistently shown that between the hours of 4 pm and 6 pm, our bodies’ core is at its warmest temperature. They go on to say that our muscle strength, reaction time, flexibility, and heart and lung functions are at their optimum. The verdict: if you can exercise in the afternoon/early evening, you’ll perform better. However, for a more consistent result, time your workouts for the mornings.
SHOULD YOU INVEST IN A GYM MEMBERSHIP OR A HOME GYM SYSTEM?
The University of Florida at Gainesville has found that women who exercise at home actually lose more pounds than those who go to the gym. It’s not that your home gym is a better-quality piece of machinery; it’s more likely that slashing the inconvenience factor of driving out to the gym has a more positive impact on whether or not we actually follow through with our workouts. Michael Perri, Ph.D., the study author, goes on to explain that having to be at the gym for a class at a certain time can simply become an obstacle to being there. On the other hand, if you are the type of person who likes to socialize at the gym, needs different types of machines to stay out of a “boredom rut”, or would like to have more classes, machines, and options…a gym membership is probably best. The other plus to going to the gym, says Dr. Cedric Bryant, is that there are less family-related distractions at the gym and therefore, there is less of a chance of walking away in the middle of the workout to do something else. Bottom line: workout at home if you need the convenience, but join the gym if you are likely to get burned out or distracted by a home workout.
These three tips will help get you on the path to better fitness and health. As women, we have lots of different people and “things” pulling at us from all sides. When we take some quality time out to focus on ourselves, our fitness and health, we receive stress relief, health benefits, and our loved ones will have us around for much longer! To better health and fitness…you go girls!
Parts 2 and 3 will be published this week…
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