Good Reasons For Weight Training!

Maddy · 09-12-2003, 09:59 AM

From time to time I see posters who worry that because we have more testosterone weight training might simply increase "bulk".

Here are some good reasons to add it to your routine:

(article taken from e-diets.com)

Tighten Flabby Skin (It Only Takes 6 Minutes!)
by Kim Droze
eDiets Managing Editor

You're well on your way to shedding your excess weight, but there's a new problem sprouting -- you are now plagued by loose, unsightly skin! Your flabby flesh is here... it's there... heck, it seems to be everywhere! You can see it sitting around your belly, giving you that bowl-full-of-jelly Santa effect. Maybe it’s sagging from your thighs or dangling from your arms, like surrender flags in the breeze.

You wonder to yourself, "Can life really be this cruel!?"

After all, what’s the point in losing weight if you can’t firm up your figure at the same time! It's also maddening that Joe Schmoe has dropped the same amount of weight as you, yet he doesn't flash an ounce of flabby flesh. So what separates the haves from the have-nots? According to fitness guru Joyce Vedral, the difference can be lifting weights.

“There is the myth that you get bigger than you are if you lift weights when you’re overweight,” Vedral tells eDiets. “People imagine huge weights. But that’s not what we’re talking about. You’re going to be making mini muscle by lifting weights as light as 5 pounds or as heavy as 15 pounds.

“Muscles cause the skin to adhere to them and not sag. Without muscle the skin has nowhere to go but down. That’s how you get that unattractive, flabby skin.”

Vedral says weight training will also boost your weight loss efforts. As you’re working out with the weight, the skin naturally accommodates the muscles being made. Your skin also adheres to the new muscles. Weight training kicks your metabolism up by 15 percent -- this means you burn fat around the clock!

Although aerobic exercise may help you blast that fat, it doesn’t remedy the loose skin effect. A cardio workout won’t tone or reshape the body -- it simply burns fat overall. This is why strength training is a must.

Even if you aren’t overweight, you’re still at risk for sagging skin. After the age of 30, you lose half a pound of muscle a year UNLESS you’re working out properly with weights. After 40, the muscles atrophy and the skin starts to sag whether you’re heavy or not. The good news: if you’re already afflicted with loose skin there are things you can do to go from flab to fab. The most obvious is adopting an effective weight-training regimen. ...

“Even if you didn’t lift weights when you were dieting, don’t worry about it," Vedral says. "It takes a little longer. You’re going to develop mini muscles now and the skin will adhere to those muscles. Although it’s easier to firm up while you’re losing, it can still be done after the fact.

“If you have a lot of hanging skin it might take six months to transform the upper body, although you’ll start seeing changes within three weeks.”

Vedral insists you don’t have to spend hours in the gym to see the fruits of your labors. You can make great strides by setting aside 6 minutes a day, every other day.

In this eDiets exclusive, Vedral shares an effective regimen that targets the unsightly skin under the arms, the skin around the back and the skin under the armpit area. With three effective exercises you can work the entire upper body.

Allow for 48 hours between each workout. If you’re a beginner, start with lighter weights. When it gets too easy, increase the amount of weight you’re using. The muscle must be challenged or it won’t develop.

Perform 10 repetitions of each exercise with no rests between sets. After you’ve completed the entire set, rest 15 seconds. Repeat each exercise with no rests. Rest 15 seconds. Repeat the entire set one more time with no rests between exercises.

SEATED DOUBLE ARM DUMBBELL PRESS
Targets the sagging triceps.

Sit at the edge of a chair or bench, holding a dumbbell at either end with one hand at each end, palms facing forward. Hold the dumbbell straight up with your elbows nearly, but not quite locked.
Movement: flexing your triceps muscles as you go, lower the dumbbell behind you until you cannot go any further. Give your triceps muscles another hard flex and return to start position. Do this movement 10 times and move to the next exercise.

REVERSE SHOULDER PRESS
Targets sagging skin around the back armpit area and upper back. Also tones shoulders.

With your arms straight up and your elbows slightly bent, hold a dumbbell in each hand, palms upward and facing each other. Let the dumbbells be about four inches apart. Your feet should be a natural width apart.
Movement: extend your arms outward and downward until your elbows are at approximate waist height, flexing your shoulder and back muscles throughout the movement. Repeat this movement until you have done 10 repetitions and move to the next exercise

LYING BICEPS TRICEPS CURL
Targets the bulge under the arm and sagging biceps and triceps.

Lie on a flat exercise bench with a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing upward, your arms about 10 inches below the bench.
Movement: flexing your biceps and triceps muscles as you work, and feeling the flex in your rear armpit area, raise the dumbbells simultaneously until you cannot go any further. Give your muscles an extra hard flex and return to start. Repeat the movement until you have completed 10 repetitions.

FOR A COMPLETE BODY WEIGHTS WORKOUT YOU HAVE A LOOK AT THE FOLLOWING LINK - IT HAS AN EXERCISE FOR EVERY BODY PART YOU HAVE
http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

Japan · 09-12-2003, 10:56 AM

Maddy,

thanks for posting this interesting article. I'll be sure to add some light weight training to me exercise. Be gone, flabby fat and extra skin!

christyz · 09-12-2003, 04:39 PM

That title is misleading..you can't shrink or strengthen skin, but you can eliminate that hammock under your arm (also known as "bingo arm") by strengthening the tricep muscle. When the triceps are out of shape, gravity brings it, and the fat that likes to deposit itself behind your arm, down.

This has definetly been the case for me. After I lost my first 30 pounds, my skin under my arms hung down and bulged when my arms were at my sides. I started using 5 and then 10 pound hand weights to isolate my triceps, biceps, pectorals and deltoids twice a week on top of my running/blading regime. I am up to about 200 reps per session and it has made a world of difference. I am confident wearing short-sleeved shirts again, and I wore a lot of tanks this summer..a first for me. My husband loves my little 'ripp'on my arms. I didn't think strengthening muscle would make that much differince.

And keep in mind too, that the more muscle mass your body has, the more your body burns to maintain it's metabolism. Resting Calorie Burn..woohoo!

Maddy · 09-12-2003, 06:04 PM

Ah but the good thing is, in some ways you can.

If you strength train at the same time as losing weight it is widely accepted that you will have less loose skin.

PLUS apparently your skin continues to shrink for up to 18 months after losing weight! So for anyone who has lost weight and is left with extra skin it is always advisable to wait for 18 months before contemplating any surgery.

Christyz did you really say 200 reps???? That sounds like a lot.

However, like everything, different strokes for different folks.

I usually try to do 12-15 and once I can do that many I up the weight. I am not a believer in the "weights bulk up" theory, rather that if you are using a sufficiently heavy weight, it will stimulate muscle growth, which results in the definition.

There is also the "new" theory in "slow burn". 8-10, 10-15, or 15-20 reps (whichever you prefer) with a weight and the movement is a lot slower, apparently this results in a quicker strengthening and muscle growth but obviously you will probably need to use a lighter weight than usual.

christyz · 09-12-2003, 06:20 PM

I'm not trying to be difficult, but you're *not* losing the skin, you're firming the muscle underneath that keeps the skin from hanging down, so it looks like less skin. Particularly if you lose large amounts of weight, your skin loses it's elasticity. That's why so many have surgery to remove it.

And yes, i said 200.

10 sets x 20 reps. I have no muscle weakness or soreness, and I love how smooth my arm muscles look. Since it is 10 pounds, I can do strengthening without bulking up. I have pretty strong arms through. My Grandparents from the States were here last week and I got to use their Rec room at their hotel. I did 40 reps before I realized the machine was set at 40 pounds. Although every muscle in my upper body was sore the next morning.

Maddy · 09-13-2003, 07:05 AM

Now Christy, would I ever describe you as difficult

hehehe (tut tut, I'm feeling a little evil today)

Right, I take your point about the title. However, because I posted the article from another site, I thought I should post it whole. They have hundreds of articles on that site and they e-mail them to me at the rate of half a dozen a day, so they probably try to make the title as "attention grabbing" as possible. In this case it worked for me

So apart from the title, the article was actually saying that by weight training whilst you are losing weight you will be left with less loose skin that if you don't weight train. It is a fact that if you exercise whilst you are losing weight you will firm the skin. It is also saying that if you did not weight train whilst losing weight you can help loose skin by making your muscles bigger. The muscle fibres attach themselves to the skin and make it look firmer; also if your muscle grows it is taking up more skin which means less loose skin.

Also, when you lose weight, your skin does shrink to some extent; how much depends upon exercise during weight loss and genetics. However, this process continues for up to 18 months after weight loss; which is why you would not be considered for surgery to remove loose skin until 18 months after weight loss. I was not even aware of that fact myself until I did some research for the board on "losing the belly" and read through some surgical information. I personally find that fact pretty amazing! I certainly wasn't aware of it and I think it is useful to know for anyone who has a lot of weight to lose.

As for "bulking up" the reason I posted this was because I have heard a lot of people express concern that if they weight train they will "bulk up" and I was trying to allay those fears.

Unless you were working very hard for many years; as an athlete might; it would be very difficult to "bulk up".

However, everyone has different opinions/fears about this so train however you feel comfortable.

If you train with a weight and are able to do 20 reps; and you continue to do those reps with that weight your muscle will probably stay at that point, though if you were doing as many reps as Christy I would imagine it would also burn the fat around that muscle, making it even more defined. If you then start to use a larger weight it will trigger muscle growth. The more muscle growth, the better the definition, the faster your metabolism.

Point to note: you should always start with a light weight and work your way up! And Always warm up first by doing about 10 minutes of aerobic exericse and then if you peform stretching exercises first it will prevent muscle soreness (or most of it) the next day as it prevents lactic acid build up in the muscles!

nobimbo · 09-13-2003, 10:02 AM

This is a great discussion. And thanks for posting the article Maddy!

I just want to add that I heard it's best to stretch after you exercise, while muscle is warm, not before while muscle is cold.

Linda

Maddy · 09-13-2003, 12:58 PM

YES, YES, YES, YOU MUST ONLY STRETCH WHEN YOU ARE WARMED UP! But you shouldn't be doing a weights workout with a cold bod!

You should always warm up before you work with weights; 10 minutes of some aerobic activity is best and you can either stretch before your workout or after. Personally I always stretch before because I do a "cool down" 5 minutes after and then I flop! lol!

Apparently as well performing one session a week of either ballet exercises or yoga can help to elongate your muscles, thereby creating a long, defined muscle. So for anyone worried about adding "bulk" add a stretch routine/yoga/ballet video/exercise class to your routine!