[email protected] wrote:
> have only 10 to 20 lbs left to lose. What kinda exercise program would
> you start. Should one lift weights to lose weight??
No, one should lift weights to spare muscle
while losing fat.
If you haven't been lifting all during your
weight loss, which you should have been,
you should start now. And don't be surprised
if your weight loss slows because the lifting,
along with a nice low-carb diet that supplies
adequate protein, will slow or stop any muscle
loss.
Thank God (or Atkins) for low-carb diets which
tend to spare muscle even in the absence of
weight training.
> Cardio would 3
> times a week for 30 mins be a good start.
Yes. That's another thing you should have been
doing all along.
Weights twice a week, and cardio three times
a week is fine as far as frequency is concerned.
What's even more important is intensity of effort.
Start off with exercise that you're easily capable
of completing. Then, as your confidence in your
body grows, don't be afraid to make the exercise
challenging. This applies to women just as much
as men, and to cardio as well as resistance work.
When it comes to weight training be sure to include
the key multi-joint exercises (bench press, deadlift,
squat, row and overhead press). Use weights that
make 8-12 repetitions challenging. Don't overdo
the volume (number of sets or exercises). Volume
is a poor replacement for intensity of effort.
Train slowly; 2 seconds to lift the weight and 4
seconds to lower it. Train less but train harder.
An effective weight workout might only have you under
load (where you are actually supporting and moving the
weight) for 3-6 minutes (ten six second repetitions
requires one minute of time). The weight is heavy,
the work is hard, and the rest between sets is long.
Including rest between sets, the entire workout may take
30 minutes, but you were under load for 10-20 percent
of the time.
The above is a proven formula that applies to genetically
typical people (the vast majority). It's especially useful
to those who are employing a low-carb diet. In other words,
those who don't have a lot of stored glucose to power them
through higher volume workouts (which are, in reality, less
effective anyway).
I hope this helps.
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