ROSIE - "I don't want to bulk up" ... that old chestnut...

I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve had people say to me “but I don’t want to use weights as I don’t want to get bulky”… it’s the biggest fitness myth. Strangely enough, these same people tend to be overweight and unhappy with their body. Their goal? To become toned, lean and slender. I’m going to cover more on this in my next blog but for now I will just focus on muscle building. Let me clarify. Men and women have different hormones; men have a higher ratio of testosterone, women have a low ratio of testosterone. Testosterone is the hormone that makes men naturally more muscular than women. Unless you take hormone-altering supplements it is VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR WOMEN TO GET “MUSCLY”! Those body building women? That is not naturally achievable, apart from the rare exception where a woman’s hormones are out of balance.

Resistance training is SUCH an important part of any fitness regime. Cardio training alone will not help you get the body you desire. Of course, there are different ways to weight train and I would not advise any woman, unless, of course they are training for strength or body building, to go for training with low repetitions and high weights.

If you are a fairly “normal” (what’s that?!, you know what I mean!) woman who is just looking to get fitter, stronger and more toned, there are a few simple rules. Start with the big muscle groups (think chest, arms, legs, back) and get a circuit together of 5 or 6 different exercises. If you need help with this, ask a trainer at your gym.

WORK TO FAILURE: I will talk more about this is in my triceps piece later in the week. It’s vital that you get the right weight for you – you should always find that the last 2 or 3 repetitions of each set are extremely hard. If you don’t work to failure you are wasting your time. Resistance work should be hard work, but luckily it’s quite a quick activity!

If you are just starting out, I would start with 2 sets of 15 repetitions of each exercise, when you are feeling more confident, up the weight and move on to 3 sets of 10 repetitions.

When you find the weight getting easy, it’s simple, take the weight up!

Give it a go. Weight training does take a little time to see results but if you’re doing it right and to the right intensity, combined with your cardio workouts you should see dramatic results. Good luck!