Common Strength Training Questions Answered

I get a lot of these questions from people about strength training, so I thought I would answer a few...

1. Is it best to split muscle groups and work different muscle groups on different days?
For most people (probably about 90% of the population) that just want to lose body fat, firm up, and strengthen and tone their muscles, the answer is NO. The most common mistake people make here is they REST TOO MUCH in between sets because they're only working 1-2 muscle groups. How efficient is that? The only people that benefit from these kind of workouts are body builders! Plus, how many calories are you really burning (keeping your heart rate up) when you split muscle groups like this. A total body workout is the best way to go.

When you combine all the muscles (esp major muscles such as legs, back, torso, etc), you are going to burn more calories=burn more fat AND you will still see the same results as far as toning and strengthening the muscle groups. Essentially, you're getting strength training AND cardio when you workout this way!


2. How often do I need to strength train?
If you do the above workout with little to no rest, EFFICIENTLY, combining muscle groups and moving quickly from one exercise to another, you really only need to do this 2-3Xweek (for most people twice/week is plenty). Committ a good hour too and make sure you rest 2 days in between strength workouts.

3. If I'm trying to tone up my abdominal muscles, should I do those everyday and how many repititions?
No, just like every other muscle group, abdominals need rest days too. They need to recover and rebuild in order to see improvement. 3 days/week is good, and make sure to always mix it up by doing different exercises, at different angles, with different resistance levels, etc. I don't think there's really a good "goal number" of reps and sets to reach, because it's more about efficiency, HOW you do the exercise, HOW LONG you hold each repitition, and the kind of exercise. You should work them until failure (until you can't do anymore).

4. Am I going to bulk up if I lift heavy weights?
This a common misconception in women when it comes to strength training. The answer is NO, and the reason is without high levels of testerone, or human growth hormone (like men, or women who take these as supplements), it's nearly impossible to increase muscle mass like our male counterparts. Women who think they're bulking up are deceived by the extra "fat layer" on top of the muscle they need to shed to see real definition!

5. What is best, machine weights or free weights?
Really, machines are a waste of time, a wasted workout, and do little for you. Why? One, machine weights only work one muscle at a time (and usually seated, how does that raise the heart rate to burn calories?), and two, they only work the muscle in a limited range of motion. Real life isn't in one plane of motion, so we need to challenge our bodies and muscles (and balance) in different ranges of motion!

On the other hand, free weights, which consists of dumbbells, bars, cables, stability balls, BOSU balls, rubberbands, etc are awesome because they will challenge you in different planes of motion (you have to balance and maintain good posture), there is more variety, and the most importantly, you can combine an endless number of exercises (and muscle groups) to get an efficient workout (and kill two birds with one stone).

Stay tuned for next weeks' post-I'm going to give you a SAMPLE WORKOUT that will do ALL of these things. It will be hard if done correctly and with no rest, and you will feel a DIFFERENCE! Keep in mind, you won't want to do this everytime because you need to always change it up to challenge the body, but for those of you out there lacking the knowledge, experience, and/or creativity, this will be a good start. Pictures included!

OH, and please leave me comments and questions, I will be more motivated to post more if I know I have readers out there (hence part of the reason for my slacking lately!)