If your goal is to lose weight, ask yourself, “What is the purpose of dropping the pounds?” Is it to look sexy? To feel healthy? To fit into your skinny jeans?
Take a moment to think about the steps you have taken to achieve your goal. How have these steps been working for you so far? If you’re reading this blog post, I’m going to guess they haven’t worked.
Today, you stand at a fork in the road, with two separate paths leading to weight loss. It’s time to reevaluate the path you will take to achieve your weight loss goal.
The Skinny-Fat Path
The left image is skinny-fat, the right is more toned
Follow the conventional weight loss wisdom you see in magazines or TV shows, and while the end result is getting smaller and losing weight, you develop no muscle tone.
On this path, your plan involves:
- Counting (calories, points, miles, steps taken).
- Avoidance of full-fat foods (thinking that fat-free/low-fat is better).
- Monotonous activities often for 30 minutes to an hour (running, cycling, stepping).
- Engaging in high-rep/low-weight resistance training or avoiding all weights
These activities lead to a skinny-fat body, meaning you will look thin, but have no tone. These eating and exercise strategies promote muscle loss instead of fat loss.
The Lean, Toned Path
This path may frighten you at first if you have never lifted weights before, but the end result is a flat stomach, toned arms, and sexy legs.
On this path, your plan involves:
- Eating for nourishment (the right kind of fat is healthy).
- Lifting the right amount of weight to develop a lean, strong, sexy body.
- Doing intervals to shed the fat 10x faster, with less time in the gym.
These activities force your body to release its hold on fat and reveal the toned body that you want.
I am in constant pursuit of the most efficient and effective fat loss methods. I have done this with shin splints, and I continue to do this with fat loss.
Strength Training Is The Best Way To A Toned Body!
Here’s the deal. Picking up weights—yes, heavy weights—is the #1 way to tone your arms and flatten your stomach. Believe it or not, hours of running will not do the trick.
I’m excited to see more people understanding this idea. However, many are going about it the wrong way. Their goal is toned arms and legs, but they are doing the “skinny-fat” workout. The weight they are lifting is too light. Don’t waste your precious time doing ineffective workouts!
I cringe when I hear someone say, “To bulk up you need to ‘lift heavy weights with low reps,’ and to tone up you need to ‘lift light weights with high reps.’”
This is only a partial truth and leads people in the wrong direction. To lose fat and have toned muscles start to show through, it is best to keep the rep range between 8-12 reps. This range gets our metabolism fired up and burning for nearly two days.
To build a large, muscular frame, it’s important to keep the rep range a lot lower, between 3-6 reps.
Light Weight Defined
What does light weight actually mean? I’ve heard it defined as everything from three pounds to eight pounds, but usually nothing higher than 12 pounds. The misconception is that the word “light” actually means that the weight should feel light.
That’s not true, but it also doesn’t have a set number. It is based on everyone’s individual strength and each type of exercise. Light weight means that the weight is light enough that a person can lift it 8-12 times, but heavy enough they can’t lift it more than 13 times.
For example, for Amy light is defined as:
- Bench press – 85 pounds
- Squat – 105 pounds
These weights will continue to go up as she gets stronger. Right now, she is working with 3 sets of 12 reps for most of her exercises. I know that these weights fit into her toning zone, because she can’t do any more than 12 reps. If she could, they would be too light.
How Much Should You Be Lifting?
The amount of weight you should lift for each exercise will depend on the exercise you’re doing and your level of strength. I like to find the weight you need by trial and error.
Let’s say you are going to do 3 sets of 10 reps of the dumbbell bench press. Go ahead and grab the 10-pound dumbbells. Sit back and do your first set–crank those 10 reps out. Afterward, sit back up evaluate how that felt.
On a scale of 1-10 (1 being “was I even holding anything” and 10 being “holy &%^#”), how did that feel? If you rate anything less than 8, then it was too light, and you need to grab a heavier weight. I would recommend going up to a 12 if you have access to one.
Now sit back and go for the second set. How did that feel? Again, if it is less than 8 on the scale, grab more weight.
Now here’s the real test. On the third set you are going to do as many reps as you can. Here is what I typically see: A person sits back and starts lifting… 1, 2… 6, 7… 9, 10… 15, 16… 21, 22… 24, and with a big struggle 25.
Remember, our goal is only 10 reps. If you can do nearly 25 reps, the weight is obviously is too light. Here’s the guideline: If you can do more (even 1 more) than the indicated reps, 10 in this example, then you need to pick up a heavier weight.
Ideally, you should only be able to do between 8 and 10 reps for this example. So the next time you do this exercise grab a 15-pound dumbbell and go through the same steps.
Follow this pattern every time you lift. This allows you to always know when it is time to add more weight. If you don’t do this, you will stay at the same weight forever. Why spend time and effort in the gym only to see your weight plateau? Follow these rules, and you’ll blast through your goal.
Focus On Your Goal
If your goal is to achieve a skinny-fat body, avoid weights and focus on monotonous cardio. (Warning: Strong possibility for osteoporosis in later years.)
If you want toned arms, lean legs, and a flat stomach, focus the majority of your exercise time lifting weights heavy enough to challenge you at 8-12 reps.
Was this post helpful? Do you have any questions? Speak out in the comments section below! I would also love suggestions on future topics.
