If there’s one thing that’s impossible not to notice when you walk into a gym for the first time, it’s the division along gender lines between the cardio area and the weights. Why this separation? Perhaps it’s because social expectations for men and women to look a certain way extend into the fitness arena: While men typically think that to be fitter is to be bigger and buffer, women feel significant pressure to be thin. And when you compare the apparent benefits of strength training to those of a cardio workout, the obvious choice for most women is to focus on the cardio and, in some cases, to avoid strength training altogether.  Here are the weight training benefits for women:

Weight training increases resting metabolic rate

While it’s true that you can burn more calories during a high-intensity cardio workout lasting 45 minutes or more than you can during a strength workout of the same duration, women who ignore the benefits of resistance training do so at their peril. Women with a weight-loss goal need to bear in mind that most calories are not burned through exercise; they’re burned in order to power everyday activities as simple as breathing, using your brain and sitting upright in a chair. Regular strength training helps to preserve lean tissue (which includes bone, muscle and everything except fat), and the more lean tissue you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate will be and the more calories you will burn outside of the time you spend at the gym or on your yoga mat.  And weight training for women doesn’t usually result in bulky muscles, since muscle size is more closely linked to testosterone levels than the amount of weight training you do.

Weight training = injury prevention and treatment

Another major consideration is the potential for injury. Most cardio exercises, no matter how efficient they may be for burning calories and helping to shed pounds, simply do not provide a balanced workout in terms of muscle groups worked. To use running as an example, many people who run all the time but never lift weights or cross-train find themselves plagued by injury due to strength imbalances between the hamstrings, which do most of the work of propelling the body forward, and the quads, which contribute very little to forward movement. Over time, this weakness in the quads can cause the kneecap to start slipping out of place and pinching the cartilage that covers the end of the femur. This painful “runner’s knee” condition can turn into arthritis if it is not properly treated by – you guessed it – strength training to whip the quads into shape.

Simply put, there’s more to fitness and looking good than how many calories you burn per workout. If you live in the Fort Lauderdale area, local personal trainer Joe Kozma is here to help you carry out a strength training program that will help you meet your fitness goals. For more information, contact us today.

Long distance running is popular form of endurance exercise people interested in having a healthier body and losing weight. The reason long distance a popular choice for weight loss is due to the fact that a lot of people enjoy the “runner’s high” – a rush of endorphins released by the body after a certain period of consistent running. Running addicts take great pleasure in long runs. Although studies do show that a higher intensity / shorter duration may burn calories faster, more people tend to follow through with a plan that lets them run at there own pace, even if it is for longer periods of time. The truth is you need a bit of both in order to lose fat. It is important that you build enough endurance to last through a running session that is a little faster than your comfortable pace. Below are a few tips to improve your endurance.

Endurance Tip #1: Warming Up
This isn’t so much a tip as it is more of a necessity. Warming up your muscles and getting the blood flowing will allow your body to perform at its best condition. By getting blood in the muscles you allow the muscles to take more impact thus letting you run a bit longer than normal. This can be done either by stretching or by jogging slower than normal. Cooling down is just as important. A cool down will stabilize your blood flow and muscles which will help prevent the possibility of injury.

Endurance Tip #2: Resistance Training
Cardio alone is not enough to build up your endurance and lose weight, so it is important to add strength training exercises to your routine even if it is only a little bit. The idea here is to train your body to get used to pushing itself beyond its limits. Overcoming different obstacles will help the body build endurance overall. Weight loss is sure to come to those who keep pushing their limits and work out intensively.

Endurance Tip #3: Distance Running and Hill Climbing
One of the most obvious way to build endurance and lose fat is too run a bit farther every session, even if it’s only a tenth of a mile. Slowly but surely you’ll be able to last a bit longer each time you work out. When hill training, it’s best to see how long you can run and be sure not to compare it to normal running. Hill running is entirely different in that you will get tired ten times faster than normal.

Building endurance can be quite easy after you start seeing your first bit of improvements. Following the advice above will help, but following the guidance of a personal trainer specializing in weight loss in Fort Lauderdale will be an investment far greater than it is worth. With Joe’s help you will lose weight quickly and improve your endurance and general health.

Fort Lauderdale Personal Training

Times have changed, and 40 isn’t “old” anymore; in fact, when you’re over 40, fitness is essential to staying healthy.

The three main components of staying fit at any age are cardiovascular (aerobic) exercise, strength training, and maintaining a healthy diet. For example, because we lose muscle mass as we get older, it’s important to eat enough protein to combat this. Osteoporosis is another concern as we age; not only is it important to get enough calcium, regular weight-bearing exercises can help slow loss of bone density. As we age, flexibility decreases, so it’s important to continue to stretch on a regular basis. Our metabolism slows, making weight loss more of a challenge.

If you’re returning to exercise after an extended time off, it’s important to start slowly in order to avoid injury. As we get older, not only do we become more prone to injury, those injuries take longer to heal. Talk to your doctor to prior to beginning any exercise program.

Working with a personal trainer is a great option for staying fit. Your personal trainer will have the experience and knowledge needed to adapt your workout to your strengths and weaknesses. Your trainer can help keep you from injuring yourself by making sure you use good form and don’t push yourself too hard.

Once you get in shape, maintenance is the next step; it’s important to keep exercising regularly. Setting goals is one important step towards fitness. Keeping those goals is another. As you set your fitness goals, it’s important to make sure they’re realistic. Our bodies change as we age, and what was easily attainable at 20 may less so at 40. Motivate yourself to keep working on your goals by celebrating your successes, and give yourself added accountability by working out with a friend or trainer.

Contact us to learn more how Joe Kozma, a top personal trainer in Fort Lauderdale, can help you in developing your fitness and nutrition plan to stay healthy at over 40.