How exciting!
My first question from a blog reader.
I would quite like to be Dear Deirdre of the fitness world so if anyone thinks I may be able to help point them in the right direction with their own training then please do get in touch.
And if I don’t know the answer I will do my best to find somebody who does.
In the meantime Mr Edwards asked if there was anything he could do to help shift the weight he was carrying around his waist.
Like many people who go the gym he has been doing a lot of cardio vascular training - things like running, rowing, cycling etc - but has still not managed to beat the bulge.
Also like many he has shyed away from the weights section of the gym fearing that pumping iron will simply cause him to bulk up - the exact opposite result he wants.
But this is simply just not the case.
Training for strength using low repetitions of the heaviest weight you can lift can cause you to bulk up.
BUT training for endurance which involves high repetitions of a lighter weight will create much longer leaner looking muscles and will help to fight the flab.
Almost every female personal training client I have coached looked horrified when I first told them they would be doing weight training as part of their programme.
And the horror was then almost always followed by the phrase: “But I don’t want to look like a shot-putter!”
I don’t want to look like a shot putter either - especially not a Russian one - but I still do two or three weights sessions a week.
You see muscle burns calories. FACT.
If we can all carry a few extra pounds of lean muscle our ability to burn calories increases and if we continue to eat the same amount we should lose fat.
Now the bad news is that as part of the natural aging process we all lose muscle mass.
(And the really bad news is this normally starts when we are about 30).
In losing muscle mass we are losing the ability to burn calories as well as we did when we are younger - hence the phenomena of ‘middle-age spread.’
So many times people tell you how difficult it is too lose weight as they get older and don’t understand why they are putting weight on when there diet has remained unchanged for 30 years.
This is why.
If you have lost muscle through the natural aging process then you are not going to able to burn calories at the same rate.
Continue to eat the same amount of calories as before and you will put on weight. FACT
Now good the news is that this process can be reversed.
We can all increase our muscle mass through weight training and use weights to get the body shape that we want.
By starting weight training many clients have found that the stubborn few pounds that they have struggled to shift finally go. Their endurance and stamina also improve dramatically.
While it can be quite intimidating to head for the weights section in a gym, I would say brave the meat-heads as the results can be staggering.
However anybody starting using weights for the first time should get advice from a qualified gym instructor on technique and what exercises will get then the results that they want.
And if the gym is not your cup of tea then try something like a Bodypump class, where an instructor can lead you through a muscular endurance workout in a group studio environment.
If anyone else has any questions, please post them on here (but only about fitness, anything else I'll leave to Deirdre).

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