5 Steps To A New You In The New Year – Step 4
“The Lord is my strength and my song; He has given me victory.” – Psalm 118:14
If you’ve been following along, we’ve covered Step 1 (Write down your goals and set deadlines), Step 2 (Surround yourself with a good support system) and Step 3 (Proper nutritional guidelines). Today, we’ll cover Step 4: Resistance Training.
Step 4: Make Resistance Training a Priority.
If your goal is to lose fat, increase stength and gain muscle, make resistance training your priority. Resistance training is essential because it builds muscle, burns calories (during training and for 38 or more hours afterward) and increases your metabolism, strength, and bone density, improves your posture, and strengthens your heart and lungs.
Resistance training has been proven to be more effective for fat loss than aerobic training when combined with a proper nutritional plan (See Step 3). Aerobic training also results in muscle loss which will lead to a slower metabolism – both are counterproductive to your goals.
Resistance training also provides all the cardiovascular benefits of aerobic training in addition to all the other benefits mentioned above - something aerobic training can’t claim. In fact, metabolic resistance training or cardio strength training is a form of training that helps burn fat while maintaining or increasing strength and mass. These types of workouts are difficult, but they also take less time than aerobic training and provide far more benefits.
Resistance training includes all forms of weight training and body weight exercises. At Underground Fitness Revolution, we use many methods including dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells, medicine balls, sleds, the Prowler, the TRX suspension system, ropes and a variety of body weight exercises such as squats, lunges, pushups, pull-ups, jumps and a whole lot more!
The key to resistance training is to use progressive overload. You must continue to improve and try to get stronger or do more each workout. However, there is a point where you won’t be able to add more weight to an exercise. In this case, a variety of techniques can be used to keep improving such as increasing reps, increasing sets and decreasing rest periods.
If you want to make your best gains ever, be sure to make resistance training your priority. It will help you lose fat, increase strength, gain muscle and improve your health and fitness far better than aerobic training and anything you see on an infomercial.
Stay tuned tomorrow as we conclude with Step 5. Soon, you’ll be well on your way to reaching all your health and fitness goals.
Happy New Year!
Dedicated to your health and fitness,
Nate
