Toning Muscles But NOT Building Bulk

One of the most common question, or rather, trouble, amongst ladies with regards to exercising is the worry of building bulky muscles instead of slimming down. Well, to start with, it's really not easy to build bulk. If it's that easy, there wouldn't be guys out there buying supplements and visiting the gym every other day and working on those heavy metals... The simple principle to prevent your muscles from bulking, is that you shouldn't be using too much strength when carrying those weights or doing any exercising, 'cause as soon as that happens, you are most likely causing microscopic tear to your muscle fibers which will then heal itself to gain in size and mass as a natural response to ensure you can lift that amount the next time you do it again!

Of course, such advise is not detailed enough. The scientific advise will then be, in terms of frequency and intensity, to use only about 70% of your available strength, to perform 8 to 15 reps, 3 times a day.

70% of your available strength:

If you are working out in the gym, find out your maximal strength by challenging yourself to lift at least once or twice of the heaviest weight you can handle. (Tips: Don't start small, if not, muscle fatigue will most likely result in a lighter maximal than your true ability.) For eg. your maximal manageable weight is 10kg on a bicep curl machine, 70% of 10kg will mean you should only be using 7kg at the bicep curl machine each time you are at it.

Take note that your maximal weight changes as you gain strength with your muscle, you can readjust your maximal but do not add to the point that you start aching, if not, bulk will be built.

8 to 15 reps:

Take note that this is dependant on individual. If you are already feeling the strain after 8 reps, please do not continue. But if you only feel fatigue after 15, then carry on till 15. This discrepancy could be due to the errors that could have occured when you were measuring your maximal weight. The rule of the thumb is, do not cause damage to your muscle fibers. (Tips: It's not easy to tell how many reps could result in muscle fiber tear, so do some trial and error, the pain due to the tear usually comes in a day later or so.)

3 times a day:

It's not exactly practical to need to exercise 3 times a day, don't we have to work?? A shortcut to this will be to do all 3 times in a single gym session, intervening aerobic exercises (like running, rowing and cycling) in between sets to ensure circulation of oxygenated blood to all parts of the muscle to aid recovery for the next set. Again, rule of the thumb is, not to damage the muscle fiber.

The muscles that are toned will in turn burn more calories throughout the day to maintain themselves. Also, keep in mind that, your weight might not decrease but stay constant due to the fact that muscles are heavier than fats. So while the exercising helped to lose fats and the muscles help to prevent storage of calories, your muscles' mass will offset the decrease in weight from the fats. But it will also mean that you feel healthier and fitter!

Happy experimenting!

Exercise and Fertility

Thanks to "Med" for her question in my shoutbox, I am posting the answer here as knowledge for all who may be interested.

Med's question goes, "LadyRTC, I got two conflicting messages from "older" people. One camp says women should exercise to boost their fertility. The other says no. Do you know? But I think for men, exercises helps."

I did some research and found some articles talking about the relationship between exercise and infertility.

In a research by Derbyshire (2007), it was found that “reproductive abnormalities are more likely to be present in women at either ends of the energy spectrum (excessively high, or low energy intake). An inadequate energy intake coupled with intense levels of physical activity is known to suppress reproductive function in women.” Basically, it says that women who over-exercise (resulting in a loss of energy), have a higher possibility of being infertile.

In another article, it was reported that “women who are on either side of the weight spectrum, either too thin or too heavy, often have difficulty conceiving. For women who are too thin, either strict dieting or excessive exercise is often the cause of their infertility. For these women, gaining weight or reducing the volume of exercise may reverse infertility. For women who are overweight, obesity can exacerbate infertility. One study showed that weight loss alone reversed infertility. Weight loss may reduce the rate of miscarriage and improve the success of fertility treatment." (Jeffreys & Nordahl, 2002) So basically, obese women who are hoping to become pregnant, should try to lose some weight by exercising in order to become fertile again and women who are too thin, should try to regain some weight by healthy eating coupled with moderate exercising for a fit and healthy body to get fertile.

After reading these, I guess the ultimate answer to the relationship between exercise and fertility is that, moderation is key, be it exercising or your weight; Overexercising, obesity and underweight may result in infertility.

To find out more about what is considered “intense” and “light” exercising, read my other blog entry and take note of 60-70% of maximal heart rate for moderate exercising.

References:

Derbyshire, E. (2007) Taking it a step too far? Physical activity and infertility. Nutritionand Food Science, 37, 5, 313-318

Jeffreys, R. & Nordahl, K. (2002) Preconception, Prenatal, and Postpartum Exercise.Healthy Weight Journal, 16, 3, 36(3p)

Sleep is key to weight loss for new moms (research shows)

I was doing some research for my project and I chanced upon this article which could be of interest for my readers, here it goes:

Dr. Erica Gunderson (PhD), an investigator from Kaiser Permanente Northern California, led a study of 940 women enrolled in Project Viva, a multicentre observational study of prenatal diet and lifestyle, pregnancy outcome and infant health. Dr. Gunderson and colleagues analyzed weight and sleep duration data at six months and one year postpartum.

The study links shorter sleep duration to postpartum weight retention, Dr. Gunderson told the Medical Post. "The findings suggest that getting enough sleep may be as important as a healthy diet and physical activity to helping new mothers return to their pre-pregnancy weight."

Mean weight retention at one year was 0.8 kg. There were 124 women (13%) who retained substantial pregnancy weight (5 kg or more above their prepregnancy weight) at one year postpartum. Sleep duration was divided into four groups: five hours or less, six hours, seven hours and eight hours or more per night.

Mothers who got the least sleep at six months postpartum were the most likely to retain substantial pregnancy weight after one year.

"When the baby is six months old, if they report getting five hours of sleep or less, they have a three-fold risk of substantial weight retention at one year, compared to women who report getting seven hours or more," Dr. Gunderson said.

Those who got less sleep in the second six months than they did in the first six months postpartum were also at significantly increased risk for substantial weight retention, compared with those who got more sleep in the second period. "No matter what amount they said they were getting at six months, if that decreased over time so that at one year they were sleeping less, that doubled the risk."

New mothers, bear this in mind! Get your hubbies to feed the babies at night if they want your figure back!

Reference:

Patricia Nicholson. (2007) Sleep key to weight loss for new moms. Medical Post. Vol. 43, Iss. 40; pg. 1, 2 pgs. Toronto.