Getting fit can be difficult, particularly if you've spent
the last few years (or decades!) putting off fitness until
tomorrow. Well, your fitness is not something that can keep
waiting. Your health depends on it.
Staying fit doesn't require you to run 6 miles each day. It
only requires that your lungs are healthy and your heart is
strong. There are benefits for the rest of your body too,
such as losing that extra weight that somehow settled on
your tummy.
Is there a fast track way to losing weight and getting fit?
Surely hours on the everyday is not the only way?
Doing cardio work (running, cycling etc) is vital for heart
health, but you can speed up your fitness and weight loss
progress by undertaking a weightlifting fitness program.
Before you panic, don't for a second think that you are
going to turn into the incredible hulk! Lifting weights is a
proven beneficial exercise that has multiple benefits:
- As you build muscle and lose fat, you'll get rid of
weight much quicker.
- Bones become stronger.
- Your body will strengthen and you'll be more energetic.
There's no need to go to a gym if you don't want to.
Weightlifting fitness can be accomplished at home too. All
you'll need is a simple set of dumbbells to start with and
progress from there.
Start out with light, easy weight lifting and then progress
from there to more heavier weights. Within a few weeks you
will notice your muscle definition and your overall body
shape changing for the better.
Weight lifting brings about faster weight loss results than
just doing running or walking. However that does not mean
you should give up the cardio altogether: your body still
needs it. The ideal balance is 50% cardio and 50% weight
work.
A great routine to get into is to do your cardio work in the
morning (say 30 minutes of fast walking) and then weights in
the afternoon. But never work the same muscle with weights 2
days in a row: they must recover first. In fact, training
the same muscle group just twice per week is fine as the
muscle actually grows when you are recovering from a
workout.
