Body sculpting - weight training and aerobics for women

Raised on a typical southern diet, where everything was either fried or smothered in gravy, I was overweight as a child. In high school I became bulimic, trying to undo the damage from my 10,000-calorie-a-day eating binges by downing as many as a dozen laxatives at a time. This continued throughout college. Finally, chronic headaches, anxiety attacks, fatigue and depression forced me to see a doctor, who warned me that I was a borderline diabetic. My disastrous eating and exercise habits were destroying me. That's when I vowed to turn my life around.

After years of research and professional training, I can speak from the hear: A smart exercise plan--combined with healthy eating--can boost your self-esteem and change your outlook on life. Today I'm careful not only about what I eat, but how I eat: smaller but more frequent low-fat meals; carbohydrates for energy early in the day; protein and vegetables for my evening meal. My late-night snack is usually fruit.

THE BENEFITS OF WEIGHT TRAINING

Aerobic exercise burns fat. But the best exercise program combines aerobics and weight training. There are many benefits to working out with weights:

* Weight training sculpts your body by restoring muscular definition. * It increases your strength. The stronger and fitter you are, the better your posture and the fewer back problems you'll have as you age. * It raises your metabolic rate. The more muscle you build, the higher your metabolism. Muscle, unlike fat, is the active part of your body, requiring more food energy and calories to maintain. * Weight training helps build stronger bones, making it a good defense against osteoporosis, the extreme weakening of the bones that can come with aging. * It is an inexpensive way to stay in shape. Ask your spouse or a friend to join you. Each of you can purchase different-size weights so that you can trade off; you can also motivate each other during your workout.

WORKOUT GUIDELINES

An exercise set consists of 10 to 12 repetitions. To make your workout aerobic, put down your weights between each set and perform three to five minutes of another type of exercise, such as dancing or step aerobics. Varying exercises this way is known as circuit training, and it enables you to burn fat while you tone muscle.

* Be sure to check with your doctor before beginning any exercise program. The amount of exercise you do depends on which category you're in:

BEGINNER: Start gradually by performing each exercise in the series once. Then do one to two sets of each exercise. Begin with no weights and graduate up to three-pound weights over four weeks. Work out every other day until you are exercising four times per week.

INTERMEDIATE: If you are already lifting weights at least twice weekly, do two to three sets of each exercise, keeping the weights between three and five pounds.

ADVANCED: If you are weight lifting four times or more per week, use this workout as a cardiovascular workout, moving continually along to music with no rests between sets. Do three to four sets using two- to three-pound weights. If you're already lifting heavy weights, be careful not to overtrain. Muscles need 48 to 72 hours to recover after a strenuous lifting session.

* Remember to tighten the muscles you're working and to:

WARM UP: It takes three to five minutes of rhythmic movement--dancing, walking, riding on a stationary bike--to prepare for your workout. Follow your warm-up with brief stretches using the muscle groups you'll be working with. Hold each stretch for 10 to 20 seconds.

BREATHE PROPERLY: Inhale through the nose for two counts, exhale through the mouth for two counts. Always exhale on the "effort," or the most difficult part of the exercise.

COOL DOWN: Finish your workout with more stretches, holding each one for 15 to 30 seconds.

SELECTING YOUR FREE WEIGHTS

Plan to spend between $9.99 and $19.99 for a decent pair of three- to five-pound hand weights. You can find them at sporting-goods and large department stores. They come in a variety of materials. But resistance is resistance, so let your pocketbook be your guide. Here are some of the factors that you need to consider when you're deciding which kind of weights to buy:

CHROME: More expensive and can easily slip out of your hands if your hands sweat a lot.

CAST-IRON: Inexpensive, but they can can rust.

PLASTIC: Be careful when handling. They are filled with sand and can break. If dropped on a hard surface, you could end up with sand on your floor.

ARM BANDS: They come in pretty colors, but because they don't come in heavier weights--most are two pounds max--they can become too light as you progress.

FOAM-COVERED WEIGHTS: More expensive, but good if you have small children around. The foam adds protection from injuries it dropped.

Store weights in a cool dry place. Clean them with a dry towel and periodically spray with a disinfectant. E

Victoria Johnson, president of Metro Fitness, Inc., is a fitness-video producer, professional dance and fitness trainer and the author of Attitude (Viking Penguin, 1993).

For more information on Victoria Johnson's books of videos, call (800) 635-3893.

COPYRIGHT 1994 Essence Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group