Strength training for women

New month which means time to set my new monthly goals.

I found that I get bored every 4-6 weeks. For me, boredom leads to be uninterested and unmotivated physical activity.
Every month I find a new fitness challenge or goal to seek after. Staying healthy and active as we get older is key to longevity. Mixing up the routines can keep us going.
​The fitness goal I tend to go for is to drop some weight. I have been able to maintain this through COVID. Of course, I have the ups and downs of that water weight fluctuations.
I reflected on my fitness numbers from the last month. On the days I did weight lift, I closed my Apple Watch circle. I burned more calories on those days than the cardio-only days.
I usually do 2-3 days a week of training and cardio daily. I decided to reverse that. I had to make a plan. For my idea to be successful, a plan was needed. I mapped out my days for nutrition, strength, and cardiovascular training.

Nutrition Plan
I kept it simple. Eat whole foods, don't count calories, and cook all fresh foods. Staying hydrated is important especially during a workout so I increased my water. My meal consists of a vegetable and a protein.
On my lifting days, I had extra protein. This provided natural muscle recovery to be able to lift the next day. I skip the starch because it bloats me BUT if it doesn’t bother you I would go for the whole grain stuff. Whole grain rice, whole grain pasta, or a sweet potato minus the sugar to provide you with a good protein and fiber combination.

Workout plan
I read a six months study on strength training. 11 minutes of focused strength training exercise three days a week helped participants burn an additional 125 calories per day, on average, and increased resting metabolic rate by 7.4%!
Wow, who would have thought you don’t have to spend hours in the gym. You can be efficient as little as 11 minutes a day. I was willing to test the theory. I increased my strength training from 2-3 times a week (30-40 min) to 4-5 times a week (20-30 min). Check out my Free Guide to building strength at home.
Lastly, I added stretching. With the increase in lifting, I wasn't sure how my body would react. With the aging bones, joints, and ligaments over time, it is important to stretch. Stretch as little as 5 mins to a simple yoga flow of 30 minutes. I didn’t change my dailyn20-30 minute cardio routine.
Now some women may have reservations about lifting. It is a known fact that women can’t bulk up without taking supplements. Strength training can provide a positive influence on bone density, and helps prevent osteoporosis in us as we become aging adults. That’s right: strong muscles often lead to strong bones. It can also help you resist the deterioration of bone mass that comes with age. If that isn't convincing, there are reports, that states you can dramatically lower your blood pressure with less than an hour of resistance exercise.

Change is hard
Change is hard but when our body has the same routine it gets comfortable. Mixing it up helps keep the body guessing. There are two different kinds of people, baby steps or all at once.
Baby step approach I would recommend increasing the number of lifting days by once a week until you are comfortable with your routine. That way the body can adjust slowly. If you want to jump right in then I say grab your favorite notebook or planner and layout the plan.
Now that I have my plan I took the next 2-3 months to execute it. I left some room in there for nutrition or workout adjustments. Besides, it takes an average of 4-6 weeks to see a change in yourself.

Outcome
I found being consistent with my plan allowed me to increase my strength. I even saw some definition in my arms. The scale increased since muscle weighs more than fat. However, the inches were dropping. I was wearing the same size when I was 20lbs lighter. After just 4 weeks I was feeling great and see my hard work was paying off. Between the 8th-12th week, my family and friends noticed a difference
I know some of you may be empowered and want to run right away to get started on this new plan. For that, you can reach out to me for a free consultation and We can jump-start together.
Then there is the rest of you who are still not convinced by my personal experience. For you, I have some hard facts and then you can contact me for your free consultation for additional resources on how to get started.

Hard Facts
The definition of strength training uses resistance to build muscle strength, increase endurance, and maintain flexibility.
Strength training isn’t about body-building or bulging muscles. Strength training focuses on building functional strength, which means strengthening your muscles, connective tissues, and bones to handle a variety of moves, whether it’s lifting, pushing, or pulling and training your central nervous system to recruit muscles effectively.
Not all strength training equals strong. It’s been shown to decrease the risk of heart attack and stroke, lower blood pressure and improve glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity.
As we move into our 40s and beyond, we naturally lose a little bit of muscle mass year over year. Matter of fact about 20% of adults lose their muscle mass. And if you’re in any of the stages of peri or post-menopause, the woes of a slowing metabolism will be even more pronounced. I read an interesting article on menopause.
With our current state of the pandemic, we all need a natural mood stabilizer. Strength training can help with our Wellness and mental state Improving low mood, loss of interest in activities, and feelings of worthlessness is key to longevity.
I was struggling with depression and because of strength training, it has been easy to maintain. The act of exercise produces mood-improving neurotransmitters such as endorphins, dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin.
Plus, women who strength train commonly report feeling more confident and capable as a result of their program, all important factors in fighting depression. I know I did.

This change during this trying time the world is in has been great. I felt a sense of control in the middle of chaos. Reimagine me to be a better ME it is key for me. Renew my mind, body, and soul has been so rewarding.

Reach out to me if you feel the sense of needing a Re-Set.