Strength Training

Well hello again my friends! Happy Thursday!! One day closer to FRIDAY :)  So I usually have a post before now, but I sat here thinking over and over again, what do I write about today?  Then I got up to grab something from the printer and my tush hurt, so I thought Aha! Ill talk about one of my favorite machines at the gym!  I dont know what its called, so I refer to it as the "butt machine".   You lean forward on this contraption, hold on to the hand rails, set the desired weight and one leg at a time, extend your leg backwards, I usually do ten reps per each leg, three different times, so a total of 30 butt excercises.  This machine works! I mean it looks silly but it really firms your gluteaus maximus! Ive tried to use this machine at least three times a week and in no time, I saw a difference in my tush!  lol I know you are thinking Too Much Info!  Butt ( haaa) my point is, you need strength training as well as cardio.  Cardio burns the fat, but the strength helps to build the muscle.

Resistance training builds muscle strength and tone. Humans lose 5 pounds of muscle every decade after age 30.Strength exercise can raise metabolic rate, an important factor in maintaining body weight. During cardio exercise, the heart loads up with blood and pumps it out to the rest of the body: As a result, the heart gets better and more efficient at pumping.

But during resistance training, muscles generate more force than they do during endurance exercises, and the heart is no exception. During a strength workout, the heart's muscle tissue contracts forcefully to push the blood out. Like all muscles, stress causes small tears in the muscle fibers. When the body repairs those tears, muscles grow. The result is a stronger heart, not just one that's more efficient at pumping.
Another big advantage of working out with weights is improving glucose metabolism, which can reduce the risk of diabetes. Strength training boosts the number of proteins that take glucose out of the blood and transport it into the skeletal muscle, giving the muscles more energy and lowering overall blood-glucose levels.

For me this is a good thing, being diabetic, I can use all the help I can get! Strength training has been good in so many other ways, it has made certain areas of my body look better. I have a muscles in my legs I never knew I had before.  My legs are tone, I have muscles in my arms. I know I have abs somewhere built underneath all that protective "flabby armour" :)   Continue to work on that cardio, but also at least one day a week, lift some weights, your children, pets, garbage cans, anything you can grab! Make it a great day! kisses Amy