LA fitness news

Why Weight?

May 20, 2010

If muscle is heavier than fat and I am trying to lose weight, why on earth would I want to lose fat and gain muscle? Now that’s a great question. The thing about fat is that it is a largely inert substance which we can’t shape in any way, so it just tends to sit there and wobble. Muscle on the other hand can be toned and shaped in ways that are much more pleasing to the eye. This equation is graphically illustrated by ballet dancers. Here’s how the leading ballerina Deborah Bull puts it: Because muscle is heavier than fat, dancers weigh more than you might think, but they are usually very lean [and very strong].

Stop.

Does that mean I should stop cardiovascular training and start weight training? No, when you tone muscle with a weight training programme you are setting your body up to burn calories in a way that will complement your cardio training beautifully. The way to go for most people is to combine the two in one programme and get the best of both worlds.

Gain.

So if I start weight training is there a chance that I will gain a little weight but lose inches? It’s possible that your weight will remain stable for a while but you will lose inches – funnily enough, we don’t get too many people complaining about that. Strange though it may sound, our advice to most of our members on a weight loss programme is to forget the scales for a while and measure success by the fit of your clothes, especially around your waist and hips, and the way you feel.

Tips.

Here are a couple of tips for those of you who are new to weight training: 1. Multiple joint movements like leg press or chest press tend to give you a bigger bang for your buck, so maybe start there. 2. If you work slowly to a count of two-up-four-down you will work the muscle properly and get faster results. If you would like to find out more about these tips and how weight training can enhance your weight loss programme in general, we would recommend that you talk to one of our fitness coaches, who will be happy to set you up with a programme. If you talk to them nicely, there’s every chance that they’ll start you off on less weight than the guy in the video to the right.