Getting Psyched About Resistance Training

How Strength Training Transformed My Life

Elaine Mansfield

For twenty years I worked as a nutrition counselor, specializing in women's health, preventive nutrition, menopause, and, of course, weight control. Problem was my advice learned from all the "experts" didn't work so well for me. I advised and followed the prevailing wisdom--45 minute aerobic sessions 5 or more times a week and a high bulk, low fat, whole foods diet to promote slow weight loss. The food was healthy and the aerobics energizing, but my body still grew softer and weaker. I walked daily, monitoring my heart rate, warming up and cooling down with an intensive session in the middle, but my weight did not respond. I was either hungry and slowly shedding a few pounds or eating regularly and gaining weight. It was discouraging, to say the least, and embarrassing to be an overweight nutrition counselor.

I now realize that each time I lost weight I lost muscle mass. Loss of muscle mass always accompanies weight loss to some extent, but losing pounds quickly promotes muscle and bone loss. It's also natural to lose muscle as we age, even if we are aerobic exercisers. Although estimates and specific bodies vary, muscle uses 25-50 calories a day per pound just to maintain itself, while fat uses 1-2 calories per pound a day. Obviously, the more muscle you have, the higher your basal metabolism and the more calories you burn. Aerobic conditioning is essential for building the cardiovascular system, but does little to promote muscle growth, so my body was gaining fat while losing muscle and my caloric requirements were diminishing. It was infuriating to eat the small amount of food I needed to maintain a lower weight, and I was tired of being hungry. I kept walking, but my weight cycled up and down, reaching as high as 150--too much for my height of less than 5'3". At 54, I was discouraged and decidedly plump.

In January 2000, I began strength training. I had all the stereotypical resistance--too much effort, too rough and crude, muscles aren't feminine--but I was desperate and feeling old and depressed. I was also motivated by my husband who had started lifting weights and was raving about how terrific he felt. I began training with full body routines using increasing levels of resistance as I got stronger, two sets of 10 exercises. Along with this, I continued walking on days I wasn't weight lifting and lowered my calorie intake to about 1700 calories a day. I walked on days I didn't strength train. Each workout lasted less than an hour including warm up and cool down. I continued to practice yoga to keep limber. I made quick strength gains as most beginners do. My goal was to be lean and strong with lots of energy, and my program was obviously working. After about six months, I was eating nearly 2000 calories a day and continued to lose one or two pounds a month.

Meanwhile, my husband who teaches physics and researches everything read a stack of strength training books, explored the web, and was soon convinced that HIT (high intensity training) was the most efficient and productive way to increase strength. He passed the best articles, web sites, and books my way, and I began to find my own. (You'll find practical information about strength training in this section of my website, including strength training technique and progression.)

Now, I maintain a healthy weight without much problem, although in times of stress or during holidays, I sometimes gain a few pounds despite my best intentions. When that happens, I don't panic. I return to my 2000 calorie a day plan, and excess fat comes off at the rate of 1-2 pounds a month. In general, I eat more than I have since I was a teenager and can maintain my weight with about 2500 calories a day, with an emphasis on vegetables, protein, and whole grains.

My body is transformed. I have defined muscles, especially in my upper body. It may be a little silly to enjoy showing shapely arms and shoulders in my sixties, but I'm enjoying sleeveless shirts for the first time in my life. My legs and buttocks, once dimpled and flabby and still the place where I carry the most fat, are firm with some muscle definition. Despite being over 60, I feel like a jock for the first time in my life. Most important, I feel emotionally balanced, grounded on this earth, and healthier than when I was 25.

My old enthusiasm for nutrition and fitness is stronger than ever because I've found something that works. Despite the aerobic exercise information that is everywhere, the research and the results are clear. Healthy bodies are muscular bodies. Research shows that older men respond to strength training just as well as younger. Three recent articles in the NY Times about the obesity crisis in America mention the research supporting the necessity to build muscle mass for weight control--and then continue with detailed aerobic advice. There is an odd and maddening prejudice going on with the medical and health establishment. They're wearing blinders.

I want to talk to the women and men sweating away on treadmills and stair-master machines for an hour at a time and tell them, "I know strength training sounds hard, but it's much easier and more interesting than what you're doing." I want to take aside my friends and tell them why they are getting fat despite hours of aerobic exercise. There is a way out of this, and it only takes two hours a week. Where else can you get so much for so little?

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Look at other articles at my web site for specific and practical information for getting started with a exercise and nutrition programs that will work for your body and your life.