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Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Strength Training is Essential to a Leaner You

Strength Training is Essential to a Leaner You

Ever say to yourself, "I am doing three days per week of cardiovascular exercise and eating the same, but I'm still gaining weight!" Keep reading to see how you can get the results you are looking for.

The key to leaning out is to increase your metabolism and firm up. Most people think, "If I just sweat through cardiovascular exercise, I will melt the fat off." Not so fast. You will definitely improve your cardiovascular fitness and burn calories, but this alone will not give you a toned and sculpted body.

You need strength training to increase your muscle to fat percentage. This can only be done through resistance conditioning. Through moderate weight training 2-3 times a week, you can expect to increase your strength by 30 to 50 percent!

Everyone needs to understand some of the basic benefits of strength training:

1. Burn calories
2. Increase lean muscle (Which burns calories all day and takes us less space then fat.)
3. Help your body fight gravity by exhibiting good posture.

It is a fact that every pound of muscle on your body burns between 30 and 50 calories a day - even when you're sleeping. Every pound of fat burns only 2 to 5 calories.

Researchers at Tufts University in Massachusetts found that people who strength trained for 12 weeks and increased their muscle mass by just 3 pounds could eat 15 percent more calories - that's about 300 calories a day for an average woman - without gaining an ounce. They also lost fat pounds in the process. Over time, these muscle-metabolism gains can add up to major fat losses.

Also important to understand is that muscle weighs more than fat tissue. If you don't have a lot of weight to lose but need to firm up, you may not see much of a decrease in scale weight (if any). The weight loss is more of a factor in the individuals that are 20+ pounds overweight. You will look and feel better, with others noting how you "look different, younger, and more healthy."

How Can Train Boston Help?

The easy solution is to start a safe, effective strength conditioning program right here at Train Boston. We offer the area's leading training system, in a cost-effective group training program, called Total Body Conditioning or simply TBC. With TBC you will participate in a program that will give you a full body work out in a six day rotation. You'll firm up, lean out, and recapture that youthful feeling.

Train Smart - Train Boston

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