Lift and Lose

Our fitness expert on the virtues of strength training.

By Kevin Valluzzi

A few days ago I saw that a friend of mine went to Planet Fitness in New Hampshire. Not surprisingly, he said there were 37 people in the "cardio" section and three people in the strength training area. Now this is not something that only happens in New Hampshire, it happens all over America.



What's wrong with that you might ask? Now don't get me wrong, cardiovascular exercise is very important and I encourage everyone to do it. My problem is that most people believe it is the best way to lose weight, which is NOT TRUE. And on top of that, most people are doing long, slow cardio. This in my opinion is a complete waste of time -- unless of course you are training for a marathon.

So what is the best thing for you to do to lose weight and change your body? I'm sure you can guess by now that the answer to that is strength training. Changing your body really comes down to getting rid of fat and replacing it with muscle. You WILL NOT get that by only doing cardio. In order to stimulate your muscles, you need to train them with resistance. And on top of that, to get the results you really want, you need to exert yourself more and more with each workout.

What makes strength training the best choice overall is that you can also turn it into a cardiovascular workout by doing a circuit style program. Which means you would do anywhere from 3 to 5 exercises in a row with no rest in between. Then you would rest briefly (30 secs.) and repeat the routine again. No matter how you slice it, you can't make a cardiovascular workout a strength training workout though.

So do yourself a favor and start doing some strength training. And remember, if you only have time to do one thing, get the best of both worlds and start doing some circuit training.

Kevin Valluzzi is a fitness professional and is the author of the highly successful e-book, Busy Woman Fitness