Lifting weights will make you hench, I just want to "tone up"

So, as a personal trainer, I have a larger percentage of female clients than male clients. Something I hear a lot in consultations is the phrase "I want to tone up". So, what does that actually mean? And Why are women so afraid of lifting weights? Is it the experience of going to a gym and the loud grunting/screeching/almost retching like sounds you hear? Is it the thought of a body builder in the back of your mind?

Well, let me say a few things. 1. You don't HAVE to shout when you lift weights but try it, sometimes it's quite satisfying!! The main problem is that the people you hear before you see in the gym, are usually young whippets lifting less weights than the girls but trying to enlarge their biceps through grunting. Now, I haven't done any clinical trials but i'm pretty sure, whilst grunting might promote some testosterone stimulation it won't be enough to get you jacked for life! 2. You have to work INCREDIBLY hard to look like a body builder. I'm talking six to eight meals a day (a lot of the time of chicken, brown rice a broccoli x 6), training twice a day six days a week and NEVER having that treat! If your training is close to that then we can talk. If you manage to squeeze the gym in three to four times a week between work and kids and you enjoy a glass of vino that the weekend then please, don't panic!

So, what is "toning up"? Honestly, scientifically there is no such thing. You have options with lifting weights but all of them involving creating a stimulus which exceeds your muscles current capabilities. Your muscles then goes through (very tiny - don't over dramatise this bit) tares in the sarcomeres of the muscles. These tares then repair (whilst you sleep and have you protein in take) and the muscle adapts to said load making you stronger. In doing this your muscle grows and adapts becoming larger. As your muscle grows in size it fills out in the skin becoming more visible creating what you might call a "toned" look. This is the same as building any kind of muscle but obviously there is a point where you stop trying to get "bigger" and maintain. For most people this is never an issue because life tends to get in the way of training and they balance what they can fit in with the time they have rather than if they do or do not want to gain more muscle.

One thing I'll always say to my female clients. If you ever get too ripped and can't handle your six pack or gun show....just STOP training and it will vanish before your eyes. To-date, that has not happened.

Check out this perfect squat!! Go on son!

So, ladies (and gents), if you want a pert backside, if you want "toned" arms and legs (if you still have to call it that) then lift weights. It increases your metabolism as your body adapts burning more fat, it feels great, it looks great and if you want to, it's the best excuse to scream and grunt!

PS if you're ever in the gym and surrounded by grunters, go and stand next to them and grunt even louder - it's very fun and they'll soon shut up (or you'll all get thrown out the gym!).

Till next time - lift some weights and stay lean.

Hannah Johnson
Personal Trainer
www.leanbodyvision.com
@leanbodyvision

Running (or lack there of!)

Introducing running...

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Hannah, I'm a personal trainer and sports massage therapist and director of Lean Body Vision, a Coventry based fitness company. Now, when people hear that information for the first time it's usually followed by one of the following three statements...
"Oh gosh, I need a personal trainer, i've got so fat the last year" OR
"Oh really, I went to...." (Followed by their past week or if you're lucky year of exercise classes/trials and tribulations) OR
"Oh you must be SO fit"
As amusing as they all can be, the latter is the focus of today's blog. People assume, that when you boss other people around and make the exercise (essentially that's what my job is) that someone also makes you really fit and more importantly really good at ALL forms of exercise. Now, whilst I have big beef with personal trainers who don't practise what they preach (that's a topic for another blog), i'm not actually good at all forms of exercise and dare I say it, I don't enjoy them all either. You know why? Because I too am human and therefore have the right to choose, be picky and moan just like everyone else! With all that information in mind i'll talk to you about my recent adventure of trying running....

How do you feel about running? Never tried it? Always wanted to? Tried it and hated or love it to death? People seem generally rather split but one thing I have learned is this. Most people's experience of trying running goes something like this;
Went for a run
Got out of breath
Got stitch after five minutes
Concluded running is rubbish
Fair?
The main reason for this seems to be over gassing on the speed to start with and not pacing the run (due to enthusiasm).

So, i've done a bit of running here and there but was never really very good at it and didn't particularly enjoy it. A very good friend of mine is getting married this November and i'd noticed one too many Facebook status' commenting on how she would never get in her wedding dress. This friend of mine had mentioned to me before that she'd love to do a mud run/obstacle run. So one day, I text her and said, that's it, we're entering in a race. You're getting in your wedding dress and i'm going to challenge myself to something new. So, we entered the Shropshire Follies 10k Mud Run to take part in September 2013. My friend, with a renewed enthusiasm, found a training plan online and we decided how we'd handle running. We both went to a great running shop in Coventry called Coventry Runner, we got fitted for proper running shoes and off we went. We went slow, and I mean slow and we chatted the whole time. After a few runs we ran for 40 minutes. FORTY MINUTES I TELL YOU! I'd never run for that long and I actually enjoyed it.

So we persisted, only running a maximum of twice a week. I had various hurdles (no pun intended) injuring my hip after a long treadmill run (another first), which I then got treated by the osteopath and my friend injuring her knee after a hill run. Rest helped both but that doesn't stop the frustrating or the realisation that running certainly is high impact on the joints.
The day arrived and we drove to shropshire and do you know what? WE DID IT! We ran the whole 10k including huge hills, muddy water, step (after step, after step) and a lot of puffing and panting. Am I now going for a marathon? No. Did I enjoy it? Actually yes! And I would do it again.

Our muddy, post race shoes!

So, remember that your body gets as bored as your head so a new challenge is a great stimulus. If you want to run, start slow, get the right shoes (a must) and try the chatting test to keep it slow. It was nice to show myself that although I can't do any physical challenge that I too can put myself out my comfort zone like I ask my clients to!

Till next time.....
Hannah Johnson
Chief Catalyst at Lean Body Vision
www.leanbodyvision.com