Weight training for fitness, health

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Tania Reid
  • 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
MacDill AFB, Fla --  Sticking to a workout plan in the summer can be a challenge. Being in the gym to avoid battling the intense heat can cause some to become weary. 

Doing the same elliptical workout followed by a circuit of the same weight machines may prevent you from achieving your fitness goals. If you're not getting positive results right away, don't get discouraged, here are some changes you can make to get results before the summer ends. 

The Get Fit This Summer website recommends the following workout tips to help jumpstart or support any fitness plan. 

Lift Heavier Weights
Switch up the weights every time you work out. Challenge your muscles with heavier weights than what you've been using because the body adapts quickly to stresses placed on it. Trying different exercises or types of equipment will produce change in the body. 

Sometimes women fear lifting heavier weights, concerned heavier weights will cause their muscles to bulk up. This is simply not going to happen. Building a little muscle mass is a good thing. You'll appear leaner, firmer, and more toned---not bigger---and add great definition. Also, adding a few pounds of muscle means a slight bump in your metabolism: more calories burned per day, even when you're resting. This will allow you to better maintain your weight loss over time. 

Add Interval Training to Your Cardio Routine
Avoid following common practice. Resist gravitating toward a single type of cardio equipment, pressing start, and exercising for 45 minutes or more at a preselected level of intensity speed on the treadmill, or resistance on the elliptical. As a result your body gets used to the routine fast and sabotages the results altogether. The result, your weight loss may slow or stop all together. 

Additionally, this type of workout doesn't encourage you to increase the intensity as it becomes less challenging.
If you typically do a long (40 minutes or more), moderate-intensity cardio workout, consider high-intensity interval training. Here you'll alternate intervals of work at a high intensity---think an 8 or 9 on a difficulty scale of 1 to 10---with moderate-intensity "recovery" periods (about a 6). An example would be running on the treadmill followed by brisk walking. While there's no set formula, a 1:3 ratio of high-intensity work to recovery is a good place to start: try alternating 30 seconds of work with 90 seconds of recovery for 20 minutes. Include a lower intensity warm-up and cool-down for up to five minutes each, and you've got a 30-minute workout that will shock your system into burning more calories than it would with a longer, lower intensity routine. 

Also as your workout intensifies don't forget to hydrate. Water cleanses the body and allows your body to function more efficiently. Make sure you are drinking about 16 ounces every 30 minutes, before, during, and after exercise. Some sports drinks such as PowerAde and Gatorade have special ingredients that help replenish fluids to prevent dehydration. Equally important is breathing correctly. When exercising, there is a proper way to breath that will allow adequate amounts of oxygen into the system and providing better endurance. For example, marathon runners will tell you that they use a rhythm when running that allows them to run longer and healthier than normal breathing. 

A fitness plan this summer doesn't have to be a challenge. Alternate the weights used in your workout and the machines used at the gym to see results. Additionally, don't forget to hydrate and practice proper breathing to allow sufficient oxygen to the body and provide endurance.