Why Do You Train So Hard?

 I get this question a lot. It usually comes after one of those sideways looks, the one with the curled lip and just a hint of disgust, and always from someone at least slightly overweight. I’ll admit I’m in very good shape for a thirty-something mother of 4. What people don’t seem to understand is why I’m still in the gym 5-6 days a week when I already have a slim, toned body. So I’m setting the record straight.

First of all, I swear I’m not doing it to make the rest of the world (at least the people carrying around some extra pounds) look bad. While I’ll readily admit there’s at least a hint of vanity behind my workout and nutrition regimen, (Hey. I’m human. I want to be hot.) it’s definitely not the main reason I’m so vigilant.

Nor is weight loss my reason for exercising in the first place. There’s a problem with a goal of losing some arbitrary number of pounds. What happens when you reach your goal? Do you go back to life as usual, eating whatever you feel like and rarely going to the gym? Remember, that lifestyle got you in your predicament to begin with. Statistics show people are more likely to stick with a fitness and nutrition lifestyle change if their overall goal isn’t weight loss, but health.

I train because I want to maintain a healthy body, one that I’m comfortable in, one that isn’t prone to sickness or injury. I don’t ever want to feel winded going up a flight of stairs. I don’t ever want to hurt when I bend over to tie my shoes. I want to be able to run and bend and stretch. Having a healthy fit body is very freeing.

Do I like to work out? Not particularly. I’d much rather lay on the couch and watch late night television while munching on potato chips. But after years of consistent exercise, it’s really just part of my routine now. Something I do almost without thinking. But I do feel good about myself when I leave the gym. There’s something that boosts your self confidence and your self-esteem when you know you’ve done something good and right even when you didn’t want to.

Even though I may look pretty good in a bathing suit, I haven’t reached all of my fitness goals. There are yoga poses I still struggle with. I want to be able to do 10 pull-ups. (I’m at 5 right now.) I want to be able to bench press 100 pounds. I want to be able to throw an awesome round kick in karate. They may be small goals, but they keep me climbing, striving, moving forward. But when I reach these goals, I’ll just set new ones, because in the words of a possibly cheesy Miley Cyrus song, “It ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side. It’s the climb.”

Don't Be Afraid of the Free Weights

 Our gym seems to have a funny way of splitting up couples. Husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends walk through the front door together , and then they go their separate ways. The men head for the back of the gym, straight for the free weights, where they spend the next hour or so pumping iron and building muscle. It’s straight for the cardio equipment for the women. They tend to spend the same hour or so sweating away on the elliptical trainers or tread mills.

Besides myself, I’ve seen one other woman in the free-weight section of our gym. Why? Women are generally afraid that weight training will make them “bulk up”. They are afraid pumping iron will make them look like the overly muscular female bodybuilders. You know, the freakish women with large biceps and deep voices? The ones most men wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley? Most of those super-muscular women got their bulk with the assistance of anabolic steroids. Women cannot naturally produce as much testosterone as men, and therefore aren’t able to gain huge amounts of muscle mass just by lifting weights at the local gym.

By only plugging away on the cardio equipment, a woman is doing her body a huge disservice. By only doing cardio (especially at a low to moderate, steady pace), the body burns both fat AND muscle tissue for fuel. Lifting weights helps prevent the loss of muscle tissue that occurs during most cardio workouts. Consistent weight training also helps increase the body’s resting metabolic rate since muscle requires more calories to maintain than fat. Basically, weight training will help a woman achieve a lean toned body. What woman doesn’t desire that?

So don’t be afraid to head on back to the free-weight section of the gym right along with your husband or boyfriend. Hitting the weights won’t make you look bulky, it will only help you on your way to having a more beautiful feminine body.

For some guidelines on scheduling your weight training and cardio workouts, check out Keith’s article, “When Do I Do Cardio? When Do I Lift Weights?”

Making The Scale Work For You

The scale. It’s like an evil monster straight out of most women’s nightmares. Just seeing it there lurking in the shadows of the bathroom corner can make you quake with fear. Is that creepy horror movie music I hear?

The scale can be scary because most of us don’t like to think about how heavy we really are. As long as that number representing our weight isn’t glaring up at us we can waltz along in our happy little world, thinking we are much healthier than we probably are. But, like it or not, the scale can be a helpful tool in helping us manage our weight, at least if you know how to use it.

In his article, Measuring Fat-Loss Progress, Keith discusses using the scale along with other factors (such as how you feel or how well your clothes are fitting) to help measure progress toward weight loss goals. As he points out, it’s important to use the scale under the same circumstances each time you weigh yourself. For instance, weighing yourself as soon as you get up in the morning while wearing your underwear is easy to duplicate. It ensures that you aren’t measuring heavier because you’re stepping on the scale in your snow boots and goose down parka. You also have the benefit of an empty stomach when you weigh first thing in the morning.

But weighing in every morning just isn’t a good idea, especially for women. While weight variations over the course of the day is normal for most people, women also have the hassle of dealing with sometimes significant weight fluctuations over the course of a month. Some women find their weight increases several days before menstruation begins. It could be due to water retention, an increase in appetite, or the extra large chocolate milk shake you ate to help cope with those nasty PMS symptoms. I personally weigh about five pounds heavier the day before I start my period. I know first-hand how disheartening that can be. I’ve found that weighing myself once a month works well, and I choose to weigh myself at the same point in my menstrual cycle rather than the same date on the calendar. The day after my period tends to be when I weigh the least, so psychologically that it makes me feel better. I can better track how much weight I’ve lost (or gained. Oh no!) over the course of twenty eight days. And over twenty eight days a person is likely to see more significant weight loss than they would see over a the course of just one week. Seeing a much smaller number on the scale than you saw previously just might be the boost you need to keep going with your nutrition and exercise plan. Working out for a week, but only losing a pound can be discouraging, but seeing a weight loss of 5 pounds seems like a much greater accomplishment, even if it takes place over an entire month.

So resist the temptation to jump on the scale every few days just to “see how you’re doing”. Try checking in just once each month to check progress. Make it the same day of your monthly menstrual cycle and you’re more likely to get a fair assessment. But also remember that that number on the scale is just one way to measure fitness progress. If you’ve been able to pick up the pace on the treadmill, or walk up the stairs without getting winded, if you are less tired and your clothes fit less snuggly, those are much better things to focus on than a number on the bathroom scale.

Weighting On 40 for Women

Recently, my husband, Keith asked me to bring a woman’s perspective on health, exercise, and nutrition to Weighting On 40. I thought, “Why not?” I am a woman, after all (my first and most important qualification), not to mention an information sponge when it comes to all things health and fitness related (qualification number 2), plus I’ve had my own struggles and victories when it comes to fitness (that would by my third qualification).

I’m excited to share the information and experience I’ve gathered over the years. As women, we face different challenges and situations in life, especially when it comes to weight loss and fitness. We are biologically, hormonally, and emotionally different than men, like it or not. Men don’t have to deal with PMS, or pregnancy, or losing the extra weight that hangs around after childbirth. They also don’t have to deal with as many hang-ups when it comes to body image. There is far more pressure on females in our culture to be thin, and glamorous, and perfect. Because of that, we just aren’t as nice to ourselves when we look in the mirror.

As a 35 year-old working mother of four fabulous children, I think I bring a unique perspective to Weighting on 40. I work hard in and out of the gym to maintain and improve a healthy, attractive body that I can feel comfortable in. In this blog I’ll be sharing what I know and continue to learn about issues specifically related to women's health and fitness. So look for all kinds of cool new stuff coming to Wo40. I promise it will be cool. I mean, it’s about women, right?