So many of us want to lose weight, don’t we? Yet, if we make that the focus, we actually make weight loss in the future all the more difficult. Here’s why:
In order to lose weight, most people go by the common prescribed method: decrease calories and do tons of cardio. And you are right; you will lose weight this way. Unfortunately, however, when you lose weight this way what you actually do is lose muscle, and this is the last thing you want to do. Many people, mostly women, also say, “I’ll lose weight first, then lift weights.” This is the opposite of what you want to do, especially if you are over 35 years old.
After the age of 35, unless you do some good resistance training, you will loss approximately 3% to 5% of muscle mass each decade. That means by the time you reach 50, you’ve lost 6 to 10% muscle. You may ask, “Then why haven’t I lost weight?” The answer is simple; your body has replaced that muscle with something else- FAT! That’s right! So if you are 45 and weigh the same as you did when you were 35, not only do you not look the same, it’s because you have swapped that muscle for fat!
This is bad for so many reasons, so I’m going to break them down.
You need muscle to burn fat. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest, when you’re not exercising! The less muscle you have, the easier it is to continue storing fat because you have nothing to burn it with.
Muscle is metabolically active. It works at keeping you trim even when you’re sleeping!
Have you ever heard the expression “muscle weighs more than fat”? Well, that’s a lie. Five pound of fat weighs the same as 5 pounds of muscle, but they look VERY different, as seen in the picture below:
If you do nothing to build muscle, what will naturally occur is that fat will eventually replace almost all your muscle. This will not only make you LOOK bad, but, even worse, you will become very weak, unable to do regular household chores and tasks like carrying groceries in and out of the house, taking out the trash, climbing stairs, opening jars, and much more.
In order to prevent this muscle loss, you MUST do muscle-building exercise. I know what you are thinking: “But if I build muscle, I’ll get big and bulky looking.” Nothing could be further from the truth, unless you actually train and diet to bulk up. Women especially will not get big because we don’t naturally have as much testosterone or muscle mass as men. When women lift weights, they firm and tighten up areas that tend to sag, like abdominals, thighs, hips and upper arms.
Another benefit of weight training is it prevents osteoporosis! Yes! Weight training helps you keep your bone density, as well! This is REALLY important, as most hip fractures don’t happen as a result of a fall, but are actually the CAUSE of the fall! When hips fracture, you can’t hold yourself up any more and down you go!
DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU! It’s in your power to prevent these health problems, starting today!
Like, I said, if you do nothing, you WILL lose muscle and bone density as time goes on. The ONLY way to prevent this is to do weight bearing exercise. There is NO time like TODAY to get started!
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