Weight loss plateau? Add in some strength training!

January 5, 2016 Ashley 0 Comments

When the phrase “strength training” comes to mind, many of us get the wrong idea.

Especially those of us who wanna achieve a look of lean and petite.

Not John Cena.

(Or the Governator, for that matter.)

However, experts argue that – much like the picture of Ah’nold doing ballet above – this line of thinking is a contradiction. A contradiction to the reality of how strength training works. And it’s actually one that’s detrimental to our diet, weight loss, and dreams of lean and taut bodies. I’ve long been guilty of this practice myself. Aside from a few tone-up-the-triceps dumbbell wielding routines, I’ve namely neglected stuff like the heavy lifting and pushups for most of my active life. It wasn’t until more recently (when I started working for this site and thus actually researching the fitness facts for both’a our sakes), that I began to “get it”. Strength training’s not the enemy. It’s actually cardio’s trusty teammate – passing an assist so you can slam dunk that final weight goal you’re after. (Or dress size goal. Or only-have-to-buy-one-plane-seat-ticket-from-now-on goal.) In fact, per Lance Dalleck, Ph.D., an assistant professor of exercise and sport science at Western Colorado State University, doing biweekly (at least) strength training does a couple of super crucial things for you. Firstly, it boosts your metabolism – and, simultaneously, it supercharges your calorie burning engine so you can set flames to the fat you’ve acquired playing food Hoover over the holidays.

So, what exactly can you do?

Well, there’s disc training, Tabata work, or even fun n’ simple Youtube videos to follow like this:

(Mmmkay. Maybe “simple” wasn’t the right adjective just now…)

Or – if you wanna make friends and money’s no object – maybe join a Barre or kickboxing class.

The nice thing about strength training is that you only have to do it a couple’ve times a week and it gives you a bit of a vacay away from your hours of pounding the pavement, Soul Cycling, or whatever else is quickly becoming monotonous to you. And, instead of feeling like you’re “missing out” on your usual cardio, you can know that on these days, you’re doing something that’s an investment now toward a long term hard body. And, for you fellow regular cardio addicts (like me) who love running best of all? This stuff’ll both strengthen your game and augment your typical gym grind the way fine wine paired with store pasta can make it taste like Wolfgang Puck’s. To really hit that target you’re aiming for? The pro’s propose you do the strength training two to three days every week. And in between that? Back to the cardio, as mentioned. For optimal results, they suggest supplementing your strength training each week with three to five goes of cardio that burn anywhere from 250 to 400 calories a piece.

Oh, and as for morphing into Schwarzenegger overnight?

Let’s jettison this myth. Bodybuilders like the ones on the left spend hours in the gym lifting god knows what (Schoolbuses, probably.) And they have to keep special diets that consist of god knows what. (Schoolbuses, probably… with the children inside.) But can we all agree chick on the right’s not too massive to be fitspo for us? And that she’s an excellent testament to strength training?

Good.

Now, go forth and muscle-fy.