The View from the Classroom

Hopefully you’ve been following my blogs and you’re up to speed on the first two benefits to weight training, but if not, just take a moment and go read parts 1 & 2. 

Today’s blog is about bone density and how weight training can help increase it.  If you’re like me, you’ve heard that before…weight training can help increase bone density, but you’re curious as to how.  I mean how does building muscles help build stronger bones?  Without being too overly scientific, I’m gonna break it down for you.  Read on.

Ok…first a quick lesson on osteoporosis.  Osteoporosis occurs over time when the amount of bone broken down exceeds the amount of bone replaced by new bone cells which in turn leads to a decrease in bone density.  The result…brittle, frail, easily broken bones.  Now, you probably think of old women when you hear or read about osteoporosis.  Truth is, however, it can affect men as well and though my blog is geared towards women, here are a couple of quick facts…of the 10 milliion Americans estimated to have osteoporosis, 2 million are men and about 1 in 5 men will suffer from osteoporosis.  Additionally, osteoporosis can take place at any age and there are typically no symptoms until a fracture occurs.

Women, however, are at greater risk of osteoporosis.  Why?  It’s hormonal (isn’t everything).  Up to the age of 30 the human body builds and stores bone quite efficiently.  After that, bone starts breaking down faster than new bone is formed and that rate of deterioration is accelerated in women after menopause due to the decrease in estrogen production.  Women can lose up to 20% of their bone mass in the 5-7 years following menopause.  WOW.

BUT, there is good news.  Osteoporosis or at least the degree of osteoporosis is highly preventable.  You can do something about it.  The National Osteoporosis Foundation lists 5 factors that will optimize bone health and help prevent osteoporosis.  ALL 5 factors…balanced diet with adequate calcium and vitamin D, WEIGHT BEARING AND RESISTANCE TRAINING EXERCISES, healthy lifestyle with no smoking or excessive alcohol consumption, educating yourself and getting testing/appropriate medication when necessary…are in your control.

So, how does weight-training help bone density?  By putting stress on the bone.  Yep.  It’s that simple.  Muscles are attached to the bones.  When you train a muscle, it puts stress on the bone.  If the stress is great enough, bone growth is stimulated because bone is living tissue that adapts to the amount of stress placed on it.  Bone density decreases when muscle atrophy (wasting away) occurs through inactivity and bone density increases as muscle tissue increases due to the stress on the bone.  Like I said, it adapts.

AND…free weights have been shown to be more effective than machines in osteoporosis prevention.  Why?  More stress is put on the muscle with free weights.  Think about it.  Machines assist and guide you through the exercise .  They don’t allow you to bear the weight against gravity thereby limiting the amount of stress to the bone.  Gravity is a factor when training with free weights.  You’re bearing the weights against gravity using nothing but the muscle you have.  Stress on the muscle is created which in turn stresses the bone and leads to stronger, healthier, more dense bones.

You’ve heard the slogan, "Milk builds strong bones", right?  I have a new one…Weight-training builds strong bones!

So yesterday was my day off and my official cheat day which I don’t do too often.  I actually ate pretty well up until evening time.  Hubby and I went out…we get to do that now that the kids are too cool to be seen with us…I had already decided it was a mexican food night, so that’s what we had.  Chips and salsa with a margarita to start with.  Now, understand that I really don’t drink too much.  In fact prior to last weekend, I don’t think I had an alcoholic beverage since like last year or something.  Anyway, it was quite hot and humid AND the margarita, on the rocks, tasted like lemonade.  I drank it as if it was.  Downed it in about 5 minutes.  No problem. 

The ladies next to me had these sangria margarita swirls which looked absolutely enticing, so that was my next drink.  Frozen this time (it was hot).  By the time I got it, that first margarita was taking effect so the second one went down a bit slower.  It actually lasted through dinner.  Dinner…fish tacos, rice and beans….not too bad.  Needless to say, when done, my belly was full and I had a pretty good little buzz going.  On the way home I decided that I don’t need to do that again anytime soon.  It was kind of miserable, not necessarily the buzz, the full feeling.  Also decided that I was gonna pay for it with the cardio in the morning by doing an extra 15 minutes on the stairmaster.  Of course, the night wouldn’t have been complete without polishing off the last of the moollineum crunch ice cream we had in the freezer.  I’m happy to report that the ALL of the ice cream is gone now and no more will come into this house anytime soon.  Man, I slept really well.

Forward to today…felt great getting up…no hangover, which would have been really bad after only 2 drinks…did the 60 minutes on the stairmaster…5 minute warm-up followed by 52 minutes of intervals, 3 minutes high followed by 3 minutes lower, increasing the level on the high intensity intervals each time and ending with a 3 minute cool down.  I was sweating my ass off.  Average level was 8.2 which is .5 higher than my highest prior.  It was an exceptionally good cardio day, but I can’t wait to hit the weights tomorrow night!

If you didn’t read part 1, go do it…NOW!  It’s not that long and will only take like 2 minutes or less.

Anyway, in Part 1, I talked about benefit number 1 to weight training, “Increasing Strength” and how that happens without increasing muscle size.  Today’s blog will focus on the second benefit, “Increased Muscle Mass/Decreased Body Fat.”

Now women, you may be thinking “you just told me I could increase strength without worrying about getting big, bulky muscles and today you’re gonna talk about getting big, bulky muscles…I’m confused…aren’t those contradictory??????”  When I talk about increasing muscle mass, I’m not talking about getting big, bulky muscles.  Fact is, women don’t naturally have the hormonal make-up to add big muscles nor do most do what it takes training and diet-wise to get big and bulky.  So just put the words big and bulky away.  Won’t happen without a lot of focused action with that goal in mind.

So, what do I mean by “Increased Muscle Mass/Decreased Body Fat”????? 

When weight-training or training to increase your strength consistently over a period of time and provided you are eating enough of the right kinds of food (subject of a later blog), you will inevitably add some muscle to your body.  Again, we’re not talking big, bulky muscles, just some muscle.  Muscle is different from fat in numerous ways…it looks better for one as it is more dense than fat.  More dense means it takes up less space which means if you add muscle and lose fat you may weigh more but be smaller.  Who doesn’t want to be smaller?  Let me rephrase that…what non-bodybuilding woman doesn’t want to be smaller? 

AND…muscle requires energy (calories) to merely exist.  Fat does nothing but exist.  Muscle burns calories even if you are doing absolutely nothing.  The implication being that, if you add some muscle, you will burn more calories all the time, not just while exercising and thus, you can eat more and maintain your weight or burn fat and lose weight, depending upon your goals.  Why do you think men can do this?  They have more muscle so they burn more calories all the time!!

Now, if you’re skeptical, just try it.  Add some weight-training to your fitness program for a 6-week period and see what happens…what do you have to lose?

 This is exactly what I did last summer when starting to workout with weights.  What happened?  Well, the first six weeks, I stayed at EXACTLY the same weight, however, my clothes size went down…a testament to the statement I made above about being smaller.  Then we went on vacation…I ate well and continued to workout.  Upon returning from vacation I got more aggressive with the weights and made some additional diet changes.  What happened?  My weight decreased by about 10 pounds in a 4-week period and I dropped about two more sizes. 

The amazing part came when I started back to school after the summer break.  Now, realize that when school let out for summer, I had lost about 30+ pounds in the 5 months preceding,  but had only dropped about 1 to 2 sizes in my clothing.  Over the summer I lost only 10 pounds and another 2 to 3 sizes in my clothing.  The comments I got from co-workers upon returning to work amazed me.  I knew I had lost some weight, but didn’t really realize how I had transformed my body until those who had not seen me for awhile saw me for the first time.  Awesome feeling it was!!

Add the weights and you too can experience that feeling.  Again, I ask,  what do you have to lose?

I’m a woman and like it or not, at 40, I am middle-aged.  I don’t FEEL middle-aged, but I am.  AND…there are a lot of us out there.  If you’re one of us and you’re on this site, I hope that you are already familiar with the why’s of weight-training and that you’re have already incorporated a regular weight-training into your fitness program.  However, if you’ve just found this site because you’re looking to lose weight, tone or just plain get healthier OR you’re just not convinced that weight-training is for you, I’m here to persuade you to at least think about adding it to your program and to give you some good information in the process.

The positive effects of weight training are numerous and you may be familiar with some of them.  Below is my list upon which I will expand in a series of blogs over the next few days.

1.  Increased Strength

2.  Increased Muscle Mass/Decreased Body Fat

3.  Increased Bone Density

4.  Improved Immune Function

5.  Reverse the Effects of Aging

6.  Improved Mood/Increased Confidence

Today’s blog focuses on number 1, "Increased Strength".  Now, you may be thinking, "duh", lift weights, increase my muscle size, increase strength…no brainer.  But, increases in strength aren’t necessarily due to increases in muscle size AND most women don’t do what it takes to REALLY increase muscle size anyway.  So now, if you’re like me, you may be wondering where increased strength comes from if not from increased muscle size.  Don’t fret.  I’m here to tell you!

Inside all of us are many, many, many nerves controlling our every function.  Likewise, "motor nerves" control the muscles.  These motor nerves can be broken down into single cells called "motor neurons" each of which controls hundreds of fibers.  The motor neurons and fibers together are collectively referred to as "motor units."  When these motor units are not used, the old saying "use it or lose it" applies.  They don’t disappear, they just lie dormant, not working for you.  It’s kind of like that piece of exercise equipment that you bought, used once and then stuffed under the bed or in a closet.  You’re not doing your part to put it to use, so it’s just gonna lie there, doing you no good at all when if would use it, chances are some good would come from it.

Now, the trick to increasing strength is to get those dormant motor units working and to get the most motor units working at one time.  You see, the nervous system is an eager thing…it wants to perform for you and adapts accordingly.  It steps up to the plate when weight-training is introduced.  By weight-training, motor units previously not used are recruited which in turn leads to muscles being activated fully. Hence, increased strength without an increase in muscle size.  Additionally, by activating the muscles fully, they become more efficient at everyday chores like carrying in the groceries, moving things, taking out the trash, etc.

So…middle-aged woman or not…if you want increased strength without increased muscle size, put those motor units to work by incorporating weight-training into your workouts.

I feel like I’m embarking on the second leg of my bodybuilding journey.  My first contest is past me.  I’ve decided to give it another go, but not too soon.  I need to really work on some things…pump up the upper body to give it some "fullness" that I need to balance out what seem to me to be massive hips and at the same time, take the fat off those massive child-bearing things that genetics so kindly gave me (I think it’s the offsetting genetic gift of decent abs).  Anyway, two goals that seem a little contradictory.  If not impossible, challenging for sure. 

So…the plan…find a trainer with competition prep experience who understands my goals and can customize a plan of action to help get me there.  Done!  At the recommendation of a fellow bodyspace member, I found one.  A local guy.  Met with him yesterday after sending him background info and pics.  He seems to understand and be up for the challenge.  Even holds posing classes regulary for his women clients which is something that I also need to work on.  Affordable too.

Needless to say, I’m excited at the prospect of working with this guy.  I can’t wait to really get started and I have total faith that I will get to where I see myself in my vision.  I am typically the type of person that does things on my own…independent… do it my own way, etc.  I like trial and error, experimenting to figure out what works and what doesn’t, doing a little research to see what has worked for others, etc., but, this time around, I decided I want some help.  I think sometimes, we just need to admit, we need a little guidance from others more knowledgeable.  It can shorten the distance between where we are and where we want to be.

Last night, hubby and I had an awesome bi/tri workout.  We started taking the NO XPlode and I think it is making a difference in strength and with my cardio.  This morning I did 45 minutes on the stairmaster with an average level of 7.7 (alternating 3 minutes high intensity with 3 minutes lower intensity).  Anyway, last night, had a really good pump going…here’s what you gotta try…I’ve been experimenting with recipes and this is good!!

Put 1/2 cup blueberries (or other berry or even banana would be good I think) in a bowl with 2/3 cup cottage cheese on top.  Cook 1/2 cup Ezekial 4:9 Almond Cereal in 1/2 cup water plus 1 tablespoon of sugar free vanilla syrup until most of the water is absorbed/evaporated and cereal is a little mushy.  Pour cereal on top of cottage cheese and blueberries.  377 calories, 29g protein, 53g carbs, 6g fat…Enjoy!

Even if you don’t like cottage cheese, you should try it.  It’s REALLY good!!!!  

Tonight was my first weight training session in about two weeks.  I looked forward to it all day.  Worked chest and shoulders.  Hit em hard.  Even tried some things I hadn’t done before…Arnold Presses and DB Incline Front Raises…liked them both, especially the front raises…really got a good burn…totally awesome.

Seriously, it was a great feeling to hit the weights again and I was extremely pumped, mentally, afterwards.  I don’t know why so many women spend time just doing cardio or playing with the girly weights.  I’ve been doing the cardio only thing for the last week and while I do really sweat when I do it, it’s just not the same as lifting.  That’s another thing, rarely do I see women in our gym really sweating at all.  I mean, maybe a little perspiration, but real sweat, not usually.  When I first started working out regularly I overheard a trainer telling one of his women clients that when she finishes her cardio she should be drenched in sweat.  Being a women not afraid to sweat, I thought, amen to that and I’ve always kept that in the back of my mind when doing the cardio.  More women need to sweat AND lift weights.

There’s nothing like it and I am just tickled pink that I could train today.  Can’t wait until Wednesday!! 

Just designed my training & nutrition program for the next 4 weeks.  4 weeks cause that’s basically how long I have before I go back to school.  Wow how time flies in the summer!!!  Here it is…feel free to critique it or give me some input.  BTW…goal is to add some muscle to the upper body and continue to tighten up the lower body.  Can’t do any leg work, running or incline walking yet due to the herniated disk.

DIET/SUPPS

2400 calories total…180-210g Protein, 270-300g Carbs, 54g Fat  (This is about 500-600 cals more than I was getting pre competition and I was maintaining my weight and losing bf with the increased cardio.)

PreWorkout…NO XPlode plus Glutamine 

PostWorkout & PreBedtime…Protein Shake plus Creatine & Glutamine

WORKOUTS

Sunday…HIIT 45 minutes on stairmaster + Abs

Monday…AM swim (about 20 minutes) and PM Chest/Shoulders

Tuesday…HIIT 45 minutes on elliptical + Abs

Wednesday…AM swim and PM Bi’s/Tri’s

Thursday…HIIT 45 minutes on stairmaster + Abs

Friday…AM swim and PM Back

Saturday…OFF

Lifting will be heavy and 3-6 rep range after light warm-up.

Anyway…feel free to critique away.  I welcome the feedback!!

Ok…just read gymfreak’s blog and besides making me smile, it made me think of something that happened a couple of days ago.  Thought I would share.

This was Wednesday.  After being back home from my competition for a few days.  Feeling a little down.  Missing the weights some, etc.

I went to CVS to get a few things and was putting them in the trunk of my car.  I noticed an older yet very nice looking man in the car next to me.  He backed out and went on his way.  A few seconds later, I heard a screech and looked up to see him backing his car up hurriedly.  He stopped right by me, rolled his passenger side window down and said "I don’t want you to think anything by this, but I just have to tell you that your legs look really nice."  He went on to compliment my tan and assure me that his only intent was to compliment me.  WOW.  A perfect stranger, someone who didn’t HAVE to put his car in reverse and tell me that.  What made him do it?  I don’t know, but talk about an instant pick-me-up!  I needed that.  Things like that motivate me especially when I’m not feeling so good about myself.  And yes, I do have those days where I don’t feel so good about myself.  I think we all do.

So…ladies and gentlemen…don’t hesitate to give a compliment if you’re sincere about it.  You never know when the recipient might really need it!

I seriously need to update my favorite cheat foods…add ice cream.  I’ve always loved ice cream, but before this past week I could have it in the house and not really be tempted.  What’s up with that?

It started Friday night after my pitiful finish in the novice class…wanted ice cream…Ben & Jerry’s just down the street from the hotel…hubby and daughter so willing to go get me some.  Brought be back a scoop of "Half-Baked"…chunks of fudge brownies and nuts…yum-o!!

Then, Saturday night after a wonderful meal at Landry’s…Ben & Jerry’s closed, but not to fear, Baskin Robbins also just down the street was still open…nutty coconut or something like that was on the agenda and it was a two-scoop night…almonds and walnuts and toasted coconut…double yum-o!!

And it didn’t stop there!  Bahamaman’s blog entitled "Skinny Jeans and Blizzards" had me craving a DQ blizzard and since we don’t have a DQ close, had to stop on the drive home just for that.  Reese’s Peanut Butter Blizzard and I’m proud to say that I stuck with the small though I thought long and hard about the medium…pure HEAVEN is what it was!!

Ice cream three days in a row…wow…long, long time since I did that.  And you know what?  It didn’t stop there!

Of course, I had to make a trip to the grocery store upon returning home and my daughter (definitely her mother’s daughter) says "If they have any good ice cream, will you get some?"  Like there exists on this planet some "bad" ice cream!!  I wasn’t even gonna venture down that aisle, but ya know she really wanted some.  I headed straight for the Ben & Jerry’s section.  Decisions, decisions.  Went with the "Mint Chocolate" and "Peanut Butter Chunk". 

I think that was on Tuesday.  I polished off the pint of Peanut Butter Chunk yesterday and the Mint Chocolate will be history today (after a killer cardio session, of course).  I had to tell my daughter that after Saturday, ice cream isn’t coming in this house.  She was really disappointed.  Told me I need to control myself.  Ha!