Keep Going, Keep Growing

Have you been going to the gym consistently without seeing results?

Maybe you’ve tried it before, but it never really stuck with you as a habit. Maybe you didn’t like it. Maybe you didn’t see results fast enough to keep trying.

Maybe you didn’t have all of the facts.

Lifting weights will make me bulky.

• women don’t have as much testosterone as men, which makes gaining large amounts of muscle without years of intense training, incredibly difficult
  • also don’t assume that you can do in months what it takes people years of consistency to do
• most women who lift weights get a lean, toned, and athletic look

I need to lose fat first before lifting.

• many women believe that they need to lose weight or lose fat before they can step foot in the gym, as if they haven’t earned the right
• lifting weight while losing fat prevents muscle loss, leading to a more toned look rather than just getting smaller or “skinny fat”

The scale is the best measure of progress.

• muscle is denser, and weighs more than fat, which means you can lose fat and gain muscle all the while seeing the scale change very little, or even go up
• you can lose inches around your waist and still maintain your weight
• someone who lifts weights may weigh the same as someone who doesn’t, but they will look drastically different

Strength training burns less calories than cardio.

• a cardio session burns more calories while you’re doing it, but strength training can allow your body to burn claories for up to 48 hours after training
• more muscle = higher resting metabolism
  • this means that the higher your metabolism, the more calories you burn all day long
• strength training also improves insulin sensitivity, which is important for anyone with diabetes, but also to the average individual who wants to use food more efficiently rather than storing it as fat

I need to train abs to lose belly fat.

• you cannot target fat loss. this is a myth.
• the best way to lose fat in your belly is to focus on overall fat loss, which comes from strength training, proper nutrition, and a caloric deficit
• core training is important for strength and posture, but without losing body fat, you can grow the muscle there for years without ever seeing any definition

Lifting heavy weights is dangerous, light weights are better for “toning”.

• lifting heavy relative to your strength level isn’t dangerous unless you don’t know what you’re doing
  • it actually decreases risk of injury, and strengthens joints and bones
• “toning” isn’t real. muscle either grows or shrinks
• lifting heavy is the best way to increase muscle and lose fat

If I don’t sweat, it’s not a good workout.

• you might not always sweat during a workout, but that doesn’t make it ineffective
• sweating is your body’s way of cooling itself down, it doesn’t measure fat loss

I’m too old to lift weights.

• People of all ages benefit from strength training
• especially during perimenopause and menopause, lifting weights helps to prevent muscle loss, boosts metabolism, and increases bone density (which decreases the risk of osteoporosis)

I don’t enough enough time to see results.

• Any time spent in the gym is better than nothing at all
• 3 x 45min weight training sessions / week is enough to see significant results over time
• consistency matters more than duration, so gradually increasing reps and weight is key

Have you ever thought these things? Or maybe someone taught you these things, or even said them offhandedly.

It’s not your fault for not knowing. It’s not your fault for believing people when they say things.

Here are some truths about the gym that you may not know:

1. Dieting + Cardio can lead to muscle loss
   • Adding strength training to this mix is important to preserve muscle and lose weight in fat instead
2. Better Body Composition = A Leaner Look
   • Having more muscle than body fat leads to looking leaner
   • The higher your lean muscle mass gets, the more athletic you will look

This is an example of lean. This is an example of toned.

This is what strength training does. Gigi Hadid has very low body fat, and proportionally higher muscle mass.

1. Lifting weights is more effective than cardio alone
   • Cardio burns calories while you do it
   • Lifting weights burns less calories while you do it, and more for an extended period of time
   • A mix of both is great, but if fat loss is your goal, prioritizing lifting and increasing your metabolism will give you long-term results
2. You get stronger, not just smaller
   • The more time you spend in the gym, the more you will realize that chasing a number on a scale is like running on a treadmill. They don’t get you anywhere.
   • Shifting the focus from what you look like to what you can do leads to better motivation and consistency
3. Hormonal Benefits for Women
   • Lifting weights can improve insulin sensitivity, balance cortisol (stress hormone) levels, and support hormone health, which makes fat loss easier
   • This is crucial for women in peri and post-menopause
4. Strength training is more sustainable
   • You don’t have to spend hours a day doing excessive cardio or stressing about your latest extreme diet
   • Three sessions a week, for 45min to a hour is more than enough to see long-term results
   • It is a habit that you can, and should maintain for life

Now don’t get me wrong.

I am not anti-cardio.

I know how important cardio is for your heart health, but cardio is often pushed as the best form of weight loss, the only thing you need to do to see results, and the be-all-end-all.

It isn’t.

Cardio is harder for some people to do. Sometimes lifting weights is the easier way to start.

For me, it was more enjoyable than going on a run.

It’s important to find a form of cardio that you like to do, but remember that 25 minutes a day of moderate-intensity exercise is enough for optimal health. (150mins a week)

This includes:

• swimming
• brisk walking
• jogging
• cycling
• rowing
• elliptical
• hiking
• tennis
• dancing
• skating/rollerblading

Why is there so much misinformation about fat loss?

1. The fitness/wellness industry profits off of confusion.
   • Don’t know what to do? Do it all.
   • Don’t know what to buy? Buy it all.
   • They push quick fixes because they work for a short time, and then you have to spend your money all over again when it stops working.
2. The “smaller is better” narrative.
   • Beauty standards are outdated.
   • Women have been told for decades that being smaller and not stronger is the goal.
   • This leads to so many women wasting their time doing years of endless cardio and extreme dieting that doesn’t only not give them the result that they want, but it also doesn’t contribute to their health.
3. Most early exercise research was done on men.
   • Men and women have different hormones, and different bodies, therefore the same training principles do not apply to both equally.
4. Social media wildfires.
   • Clickbait and extreme advice are pushed in the algorithm, so evidence-based research and advice gets lost.
   • Aesthetically fit influencers share what works for them, though they may not have any expertise or knowledge.
5. The fear of “bulking up”.
   • Many women still believe that lifting heavier weights leads to looking like a bodybuilder over time.
   • Women are targeted in programs for “toning up” that include more reps, and lighter weights rather than proper education on muscle growth.
6. Obsession with the scale.
   • Many women believe that fat loss = weight loss, but aren’t taught about body composition.
   • Instead of focusing on inches lost, increased strength and energy, or performance, women are led to chase a specific number on the scale that makes them feel more worthy.

I have been a victim of each of these forms of misinformation at one point in my life. Buying endless supplements, including weight loss pills, metabolism boosters, and fat burners.

I wanted to be small until I realized that the look I was chasing was one that required muscle.

I trained like a man for a while until I realized that I was so much better off training like a woman, until I realized that there was even a difference.

I also got lost in the doom scroll of fit-fluencers during lockdown.

I was scared of bulking up by lifting weights, but thankfully I had a gorgeous, shapely friend who lifted weights often, and I wanted to look just like her.

And then there’s the obsession with the scale. It’s so easy to get caught up in these numbers, but they truly mean nothing. I had a specific number in my head that I thought I needed to get to to be happy, but when I got there, my body looked nothing like I thought it would, so the number kept getting smaller and smaller until my trainer told me that the number needed to get higher before I could see the changes that I wanted.

Sometimes we need to forget what we think we know.

Here are some examples of women who strength train, compared to women who use cardio as their only form of exercise. One of which is a world class weightlifter, who literally lifts HEAVY weights for a living. One is a professional track and field athlete. One is a model who had a baby 1 year before getting back on the runway.

But I’m not telling you to compare yourself to these women. It is their job to look like this. They have special programs, diets, and coaches and they follow them like it is their life because it is. If you had all day every day to get yourself into shape and take care of yourself, AND get paid to do it, you’d probably have done it a lot sooner.

If you’re like me, and you’re NOT in that position, you have to do it yourself. You have to become the best version of you, because you cannot be anyone else.

The only thing stopping you from living the life that you want is you.