Where being strong is a lifestyle
Like a lot of women, even though I’d strength trained for years I was still afraid of using creatine. I’m careful about what I put in my body and had more than a few questions: Would this “natural” supplement cause my already sensitive stomach to balloon? Would it turn me into the Incredible Hulk? Was it even safe? After some research, I decided to give creatine a try to see just how far it could take me with my muscle-building {Read More…}
I often hear people say they want to “maximize” their strength-training workouts. The translation of this statement is usually “my workouts aren’t giving me what I want.” If this is you, you’re smart to think you should be doing something differently to build muscle or lose fat. But what is that “something?” You can improve your workouts – and your body composition– by changing an almost endless array of variables. Here are just three ways to start seeing better progress immediately. Avoid Ineffective {Read More…}
You might be surprised how useful calorie tracking software can be for goals other than weight loss. Check out these reasons to use MyFitnessPal (my personal favorite) or another tool such as Lose It!. 1. You Want to Build Muscle As a small-boned person who has to work extra hard to put on muscle, I’m interested in whether I’m eating enough. I track my food intake once every five or six months for one week (that’s as long as my {Read More…}
As I look back on my earlier weightlifting days when I wasn’t making significant progress, I can see my mistakes so clearly. Somewhat predictably, I realize now that it wasn’t until I became a personal trainer that I finally started seeing real results. I became educated about what works from an evidence-based perspective and began following through with that knowledge. Today, I see people doing exactly what I did: spinning their wheels, frustrated that they never see the results they {Read More…}
Have you ever browsed through a fitness forum and felt overwhelmed by all the opinions and speculation? Even when all the commenters are following the same one-size-fits all program, they’re often getting their answers from their own personal experience or the same prepackaged program. You can certainly find free workouts on the Internet and plenty of advice as well. But when I see these programs or workouts, I wonder: What if I have an old injury I have to be careful {Read More…}
Congrats to April Sorrow (@AprilS_2010), the winner of the giveaway! Thanks to everyone who entered. Now that you’re thinking about intervals, let’s see how you can use them to achieve your goals! _____________________ For people wanting to lose weight and/or increase stamina while retaining muscle, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) really does live up to its promises. It’s a proven way to (1) increase your metabolic rate, (2) torch the same number of calories in much less time than conventional cardio, and {Read More…}
