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If you're reading this article, then we're going to assume that you already know you need anaerobic exercise (resistance training) to be truly fit for life. You're not the average woman. You're concerned about fitness and you're probably a member of a health club. More than likely, you hit the gym pretty hard at least three times each week, using all of the fitness equipment and working on your curves.

But are you achieving your weight loss goals? Are you the sexy woman you want to be? You know that maintaining your health and fitness is the surest path to being a beautiful woman, but are you happy with the progress you've made so far?

Maybe the problem is that you've been doing the wrong exercises the wrong way. As they say, knowledge is power, and if you're going to achieve true lifetime fitness it's important to understand exactly what type of resistance (weight) training is best for a woman, how many repetitions (reps) you should do, how many sets you should complete and how often you should exercise.

The purpose of this article is to help you understand that HOW you exercise is critical to your overall physical fitness. In other words, just being on a fitness program will not turn you into Wonder Woman. But being on the RIGHT fitness program will.

Some Women's Fitness Definitions:

Resistance (weight) training is extremely important for women. Without it, you'll never be the fitness girl you want to be. Before we continue with this discussion, it's important for us to pause and define some resistance exercise terms:
1. Resistance Training: Exercise that utilizes progressive resistance movements to build strength.
2. Repetition: An individually completed exercise movement. Repetitions are usually done in multiples. Commonly referred to as a rep.
3. Set: A group of repetitions of an exercise movement done consecutively, without rest, until a given number (or momentary exhaustion) is reached.
4. 1RM: One Repetition Maximum. The maximum resistance with which a person can execute one repetition of an exercise movement.

Example: If you are doing dumbbell arm curls to work your biceps, you start with the dumbbells in each hand and your arms fully extended downward. Keeping your elbows locked at your side, you lift each dumbbell upward by contracting your biceps. When your biceps have lifted the dumbbells as high as they can, your hands will be up close to your chin. This is called the 'top' of the movement. To complete the repetition, lower the dumbbells slowly to the starting position. That's one repetition of dumbbell curls. Resistance training is commonly done in sets of repetitions. In this example, perhaps you'd do three sets of ten repetitions so you would fully complete thirty dumbbell arm curls.

We know that women need to resistance train, and we also have some working knowledge of exactly what resistance training means. With that information fresh in our minds, let's take a look at the reason why most women don't train this way.

I Don't Want To Look Like Arnold!

Many women fear that resistance training (or weight lifting) will make them 'get big' or appear bulky. Well, fear not! Engaging in resistance exercise will not make you big or bulky, ladies. Let's take a look at why.

First and foremost, most women do not have enough testosterone in their system to get huge muscles. That's the bottom line, and that's the top reason why you will not ever get huge muscles no matter how much you resistance train. Just about the only way for a woman to get large muscles like a man is to alter her hormonal balance through the use of anabolic steroids that mimic the action of testosterone. If you're not doing anabolic steroids, you have nothing to worry about.

Secondly, even if you wanted to get huge Arnold-like muscles it would be next to impossible. Right now, this very moment, I can guarantee you that there are millions of men trying to get huge muscles. Very few of them are successful, and men have all the testosterone.

The third reason why resistance training (weight lifting) will not give women big, huge muscles is that women rarely perform lifts that will give them large muscles. There are several different ways to weight train, and most people have no idea how to train to achieve their goals.

If your goal is to have lean, toned muscle without a lot of size, then you should be doing high repetitions with a relatively low amount of weight (resistance). You can lift this way all day long and you will not develop huge muscles. This approach to resistance training will accomplish two things: burn fat and tone muscle. That's it.

If your goal is to increase muscle size, then you should be lifting relatively heavy weights (resistance) about 6-8 times per set. The weight selected should be about 80% of your 1RM. For example, if the most you could ever bench press once is 100 lbs. (your 1RM), then to gain size you would want to be bench pressing about 80 lbs. 6-8 times per set. Compare this to the training of someone who wants to burn fat and tone muscle. The person who wants to gain muscle size keeps the weight much higher and does fewer repetitions.

Finally, perhaps your goal is to gain extreme strength. An example of this would be a powerlifter. Resistance training to gain strength would require you to lift as much weight as possible, but only one time (one repetition). Obviously, this method will not burn as much fat. It will also not create HUGE muscles, but it will result in some muscle growth above and beyond what most women find appealing.

To summarize, there are three different ways to resistance train and the vast majority of women do not train in such a way that they will end up building huge Arnold-like muscles. Even if you wanted to build large muscles, it is extremely unlikely that you would be able to do so (unless you're taking anabolic steroids!) because women simply don't have the same body chemistry as men.

Okay, so let's summarize the reasons why resistance training will not make women big or bulky:
1. Most women do not have enough testosterone in their system to get huge muscles.
2. Even if you wanted to get huge Arnold-like muscles it would be next to impossible because building huge muscles is not easy.
3. Women rarely perform lifts that will give them large muscles.

The bottom line is that for women to get big and bulky, they would need to very consciously TRY to get big and bulky. It would require a certain type of lifting, a tremendous amount of effort, a certain type of equipment and probably regular doses of steroids. So you see, there really is no danger that any of us will turn into Arnold or Rocky Balboa.

A Positive And Negative Fitness Workout:

There are two movements in any resistance training (weight lifting) exercise. These are called the concentric and the eccentric parts of the exercise, also commonly referred to as the 'positive' and 'negative'.

The concentric (positive) part of the resistance training movement is defined as "Muscle action in which the muscle is shortening under its own power" (Source: Fitness, The Complete Guide; ISSA 2001). Examples would be pushing the bar away from you on a bench press, or lifting the bar towards your chin on a biceps curl.

The eccentric (negative) part of the resistance training movement is defined as "Muscle action in which the muscle resists while it is forced to lengthen" (Source: Fitness, The Complete Guide; ISSA 2001). Examples would be lowering the bar on a bench press, or lowering the bar away from your chin on a biceps curl.

The point to be made here is that the eccentric part of the resistance training movement is the component that will lead to extensive muscle growth. The eccentric (negative) is what actually causes the vast majority of the muscle growth in resistance training. The concentric (positive) tones the muscle.

Female Fitness Tips:

Armed with that background knowledge on the three different ways to resistance train and the two different movements in any resistance training activity, we're ready to examine how a woman should approach her gym workout. You deserve the best weight loss program possible, and the goal is to help you get the most out of your gym membership.

For women to experience fast weight loss, they must engage in resistance training designed to accomplish that goal. You should be lifting relatively light weight and doing high repetitions. By high, we don't mean 10-12 either. We're talking about 60-75 repetitions total, completed in three sets of 20-25 reps per set. Higher repetitions with lower resistance will burn fat and tone muscle, but will not lead to extreme muscle growth.

Women should train often enough to achieve their weight loss goals, which generally means at least three times per week. However, many women want to get into the health club more often than that in order to accelerate their results. The only reason to resistance train less often than every day is concern about muscle damage that can occur with use of free weights or weight stacks. As we already discovered in our discussion of eccentric (negative) and concentric (positive) resistance training movements, it is possible to damage muscle tissue when using free weights or weight stacks.

So when it comes to training frequency, women who are using free weights or weight stacks should keep their resistance training to every other day at most. This will allow the muscle time to recover between workouts and minimize the risk of injury.

To summarize, women on a fitness quest should remember these health club tips:
1. Use relatively low weight, maybe 50% of your 1RM.
2. Do high repetitions. 20-25 reps per set should be about right.
3. Perform at least three sets of each resistance training exercise.
4. If you're using free weights or weight stacks, train every other day at the most.

Following these suggestions will help you lose weight and tone up without any risk of turning into a muscle woman so huge your kids won't recognize you.

Tracie Johanson

Victoria, I am so confused... I have no idea what to eat any more. With all the diet information out there right now, I don't know what to do. I just want to know what to eat to burn fat fast?
- Caroline R.

Caroline, I am so excited about your question. If you have ever struggled with dimply junk on the back of your legs and butt, then just take your time and soak up every word in this article. There are many gems that you can take away and begin today to start smoothing out that rocky road.

Your question reminded me of the time when I was getting ready for a fitness championship and I had a total melt down. I was looking good, so I thought. I was so excited because I had been posing at home in my bathroom mirror and I just could not wait to see how my much better the definition in my muscles would be under "posing lights" at the gym. Posing lights are special lights that ar
best fat burning foods

e designed to make your muscles look more cut, defined and striated. Those are bodybuilding terms for looking "HOT and BUFF"!

I gathered up my swimsuit, posing oil and a scrunchie to pull back my hair so that it would not cover up one beautiful striation of hard earned muscle.

I went to the gym I was training at that had a perfect set of posing lights installed by the head trainer, a NPC Body Building champion.

Ok, I get to the gym, run in the women's locker room, put on my skimpy competition posing suit and oiled myself up. I slipped into a comfy robe to cover myself as I walked across the gym to the room we used for posing. I confidently took off my robe and gracefully walked across the room as if I was walking on stage. I believe that we should always be "on" and rehearsing in our mind and with our body what we want to be.

I walked to center stage, did a customary quarter turn to face the mirror, which was my private audience, and stood in prejudging form. My first reaction was, "sweet, I look awesome". I hit some poses and did a few dance moves to try out my suit. Then I did my rear lat spread facing the back of the room. In this room you could see yourself from every angle because it had a three way mirror effect and that's when the horror hit me.

AAAAHHHHH! I was so lean, so cut and so perfectly symmetrical in every direction and at every angle except when I turned around there were these horrific little dimply dents, cellulite, as we women have come to refer to it, on MY PERFECT BODY!

I was so upset, I broke out into tears, grabbed my robe, ran back into the locker room and threw on my sweats I wore on the way over to the gym. I did not even bother to take off all the oil I had on and my sweats became an oily mess which then made my car seats a spotted mess. I did not care one bit about my clothes or my car. I could buy some more sweats and I could buy a new car if I wanted to, but I had to do something fast to get those dimples off the back of my thighs and butt. I only had two weeks to get contest ready.

I called an associate I knew and asked her for help. She gave me a referral to a nutrition scientist in Arizona. I made a distress call immediately and he promptly began to tell me about certain foods that help your body go into a positive fat burning state and he also told me how some of the foods would act as a diuretic and help me lose trapped body water under my skin to make my body appear more lean and less dimply.

YES, there is a God in Heaven and He answers prayers I thought. I took copious notes and then... do you know that he actually sent me a mini diet plan written on a piece of notebook paper. Not a science manual, not a registered FDA document, or a two hundred page book like most people sell today. It was almost illegible because like many scientists and health professionals they scribble when they write.

Well the plan not only worked, it was amazing how fast my body responded to the foods I began eating and I ended up winning my competition!

So... that plan that I received years ago, that worked wonders for me, is what I am going to share with you today.

Now keep in mind, I am not a scientist. I am a published author, professional trainer of certification programs for fitness trainers and a top selling DVD Celebrity Fitness Personality. I am all of the above but the most important attribute I am teaching you with today is, I am an ex-fat person who was over sixty pounds heavier who had cottage cheese thighs and dimply butt... and now it's gone! I bring you today my personal experience as I share with you what I have found.

FOODS THAT HELP BURN FAT FAST

Thermic Effect Principle

Foods have a thermic effect. The term "thermic effect of food" is used to describe the energy expended by our bodies in order to eat and process (digest, transport, metabolize and store) food. We expend energy by living which is metabolic functioning, breathing, working, exercising and anything else that uses muscular contractions. This is what causes your body to burn calories. Excess fat in your body is actually stored energy, whether it is on your belly or on your legs and butt. It's fat, energy, and it has to be burned and removed in order to remove those dimples. So remember, your not fat, you just have a lot of extra energy!

This is so amazing! Processing protein requires the greatest amount of energy. Estimates range as high as 30% above your resting metabolic rate. Dietary fat, on the other hand, is so easily processed and turned into body fat that there is little thermic effect, perhaps only 2 or 3% above your resting metabolic rate. The amount of energy required to process carbohydrates falls between that of protein and fat. A range of around 10% is usually used to account for the thermic effect of food you eat.

Most of us have never heard about thermic effect of food so we just grab whatever is convenient when we are hungry

Protein causes your body to burn hotter which helps you burn more calories. So now that we know that, we have to choose the best protein sources to keep our furnace burning hot and strong all day long.

Choose low-fat protein sources

Meat, poultry and fish along with egg whites and egg substitutes are some of your best sources of protein. But be careful to choose lower fat options, such as grilled or baked, not fried or breaded. Choose milk such as skim milk rather than whole milk and always select skinless chicken breasts rather than fried chicken patties.

Fish is another good alternative to high-fat meats. Some types of fish - such as cod, tuna and halibut - have less total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol than do meat and poultry. And certain types of fish are heart healthy because they're rich in omega-3 fatty acids. These fats may help lower blood fats called triglycerides and may reduce your risk of sudden cardiac death. Omega-3 fats are most abundant in fatty, cold-water fish, such as salmon, mackerel and herring.

Catabolic Foods

Catabolic foods burn up more calories than they supply. Catabolic foods are the opposite of Anabolic foods. For example a medium sized apple (which is catabolic), would provide an average of 85 calories, however your metabolism would require an additional 99 more calories to metabolize it. As a result, you burn more calories than you are ingesting for a overall net loss.

To help maintain your weight it is helpful to eat a minimum of ten servings of catabolic foods each day. In addition to catabolic foods you can eat proteins and other carbohydrates in moderation without gaining weight.

High grade catabolic foods are more effective than others. It is best to spread the consumption of your catabolic foods over the course of the whole day. You can eat these items to your heart's delight. You don't have to go around counting calories or skimping on volume and quantity with theses catabolic foods. I like to combine my proteins from my list above with the vegetables listed below for my meals and then for my snacks I go to town on the fruits and vegetables listed below. I also drink two to three quarts of water per day to keep flushing my system.

HIGH GRADE CATABOLIC FOODS

FRUIT:
Black/Blueberries
Grapefruit
Oranges
Plums
Strawberries
Lemons
Raspberries
Limes
Pineapple
Cantaloupe
Oranges
Watermelon
Pears-Bartlett

VEGETABLES:
Artichokes
Parsley leaves
Asparagus
Cucumbers
Peppers
Tomato
Broccoli
Eggplant
Celery
Sweet Potato
Radishes
Zucchini
Brussels Sprouts
Leeks - cooked
Spinach
Carrots
Lettuce

There you go, this is the beginning of the entire process that can help you burn fast faster. It is enough to get you started today on your journey to a whole new you.

God Bless and make it the Best Week Ever!

Victoria

Victoria Johnson