Weight Bearing Exercise (Part II)

Three health goals that can be achieved via weight bearing exercise include physical strength, strong bones and burning fat.  If you are a woman who is planning to get pregnant, for example, strengthening abdominal and back muscles may be a good idea to help your body carry and deliver the baby.  It will also help your body to recover more quickly after delivery in many ways including weight loss.  Weight bearing exercise will also promote bone strength.  When one does weight bearing exercise, his/her bones will be forced to utilize more calcium.  This is part of the reason why people who lift weights, greatly lower their chances of ever having to suffer from osteoporosis.  In my experience as a trainer, however, the number one reason why people do weight bearing exercise is to burn fat to aid weight loss or weight maintenance.  Because the body can benefit in so many ways from weight bearing exercise, I highly advise people to include it in their weight loss regimen.

If you want to start a weight bearing exercise program, it may be prudent to check with your doctor and work with a certified personal trainer.  If there are some exercises that you insist on doing on your own, please take a few tips.

1.    Warm up and stretch the muscle groups you will work before you begin.
2.    Exercise in sets.  Do 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps, stretching between sets or do the antagonist muscle (the opposite muscle) between sets.  In other words, do biceps curls and stretch, or do biceps curls followed by triceps extensions before doing the second set of biceps curls.
3.    Make sure there is a good 48 hours between working specific muscle groups.  For example, if on Monday you worked your biceps, triceps, chest and upper back, then on Tuesday you do different muscle groups such as abdominals and lower back.  You could also do the desired muscle groups every other day and take a break from weight lifting on alternate days.

For some, weight bearing exercise can be tedious and for others it can even be boring.  Put on music or have a friend join you on your new journey to a healthier lifestyle.  No matter how you do it, I feel that it's very important to have fun with it.  Make it a great workout and make it a great day!