Exercise Makes Me Happy

Benefits of a Regular Exercise Routine:

1.  Allows you to feel more confident with your body
2.  Improves your sex life
3.  Improves circulation
4.  Boosts your mood
5.  Prevents bone loss
6.  Helps you sleep better by falling asleep faster and sleeping more soundly
7.  Prevents and manages high blood pressure and cholesterol levels
8.  Helps manage stress by boosting good endorphins and regulating hormones
9.  Helps with pain management
10.  Increases muscle strength
11.  Helps in the battle to quit smoking
12.  Reduces risk of stroke and coronary artery disease
13.  Delays the aging process and maintains quality of life
14.  Allows seniors to maintain their independence longer
15.  Provides a way to share activities with family and friends
16.  Counters anxiety and depression
17.  Releases tension
18.  Improves memory and brain function
19.  Stabilizes blood sugar levels
20.  Burns fat and calories
21.  Improves learning
22.  Keeps Alzheimer's at bay
23.  Improves the complexion of your skin
24.  Lowers your resting heart rate
25.  Aids in weight loss
26.  Boosts the immune system
27.  Enhanced sport performance
28.  Reduce risk of some cancers
29.  Improves self esteem
30.  Allows you to meet new people
31.  Brings you to new places and locations
32.  Provides you with opportunity to explore
33.  You are able to try new activities
34.  It allows you to push your body to the limit
35.  Exercise makes you happy :)

Exercise gives you endorphins, endorphins make you happy... happy people just don't shoot their husbands.  -Elle Woods, Legally Blonde

Big & Bulky | Women Lifting Weights

I'm going to make a bold statement and say one of the biggest misconceptions in women's fitness is that we should NOT be lifting heavy weights.  It is not uncommon to walk into any gym and see females lifting tiny dumbbells and doing lots of cardio.

Why?  Well that's the simple part - Media has put it into their heads that lifting heavy weights is reserved for the boys and if they do as they do, they will look that way.

That's where we go wrong!  Just because we don't want to look like men, doesn't mean we should clearly do the opposite.

Although lifting heavy weights, combined with a hearty diet is the key to make males pack on size and muscle mass, it is NOT the same for females.  The main reason?  Hormones.  The hormonal profiles of men and women are very different.

In fact, a female produces only a fraction of the testosterone that a male does.  Testosterone is the main determinant of the ability to grow in size and strength, so it only makes sense that women will never achieve the same size and results as men.  Unless of course exogenous use of testosterone and anabolic compounds are used (known otherwise as steriods), you will NOT get BIG and BULKY.

This type of misinformation is all over the media and is in fact keeping ladies from their physique goals.  It is keeping women on the elliptical and lifting the little dumbbells on the end, with no results to show from it.

Check out these pictures that grab at a women's attention:

I mean, who doesn't want to walk away your weight with 4 lb weights, look and train like Jillian Michaels, or even better yet... "Get Flat Abs in 3 minutes".  Guess what? I bet Jillian lifts weights heavier than 8 pounds!

Strength training should be a must in any female's fitness routine who wishes to alter her body composition for the better.  Let me guess your goal is to maintain a lean, toned figure, then you are going to have to pick up a weight. 

My goal today is to tell you that marketing with play a huge role in your decisions.  Let me tell you though, most of the models and celebrities gracing the covers of magazines are doing A LOT more than the occasional 3 minute abs to tone their tummies.  I would go so far to say that they are most likely busting their tails a minimum of 4-5 days a week in the gym to achieve that awesome physique; It's the work of a progressive strength training routine.

My advice is to put down the magazine and find a personal trainer who is willing to help you work toward your goals.  Put in the hard work and find what works for you!