Another gym myth I hear too often. The only thing thats going to transform is the look on your face when you see you're not getting the results you expected. Now look... if all you did was cardio and you stay away from weight training, then both muscle and fat would be burned for fuel. What's wrong with that you ask? Well.. we should all aim to lose fat and prevent muscle loss at all costs.. as it is our muscles that give our bodies the 'shape' we all so badly desire and the toned look that everyone seems to want so badly. If you lose both, then you're only going to look like a miniature version of your existing self... and not an 'improved' version instead.
You need to do weights in order to get the muscle building effect going, which prevents any loss of muscle tissue. There are people, majority women, that only concentrate on cardio but then realise that they have a very hard time achieving the look that they want. Why am I not surprised....? While it's true that you would indeed lose weight over time... what you want is to actually lose fat and retain as much muscle as possible. That's the only way you can look good.
As for the belief of sticking to light weights if you want to 'tone' or 'lose weight'... well this is just more nonsense if you ask me. The reason your body grew in the first place and adapted to be bigger and fitter.. was because you challenged it with weights. So what makes you think that you would benefit by reducing the resistance?
Our muscles respond to resistance... it is this resistance that will 'tell' your body that it needs to change/adapt to cope with this new challenge it's facing. This is the basic understanding you need to get in your head if you wish to transform your body. Transformation is more that fat loss.. it's all about looking the best you can be. If you ask me, that is what gives you the ultimate satisfaction from a healthy lifestyle. That is what drives me.. I just want to look good. After all, who doesn't? ;)
If you insisit on sticking with resistance/weights that is too light, what reason is there for your body to change? None. The same way your thumbs don't get fit by flipping the channels on TV aimlessly, your body too will not get significantly fitter if you don't provide a challenge.
So.. if you want to look good - don't be afraid to pick up the weights and lift hard!
Josh Stone, also known as DM, is the author behind the site http://www.dailymuscle.com which offers the author's personal views on real-life fitness, bodybuilding, sports nutrition, cardio, fat loss, training information, and on all things that surrounds fitness. | |
