If I do sit ups, leg lifts and other resistance training will I slim down or bulk up?
Question:
I am a 5″8 girl, currently 153 pounds with a goal of 140. I made a routine that goes like this:
1. stand up and bend one knee until it is barely on the ground and repeat 3 times very slowly. this works my calves.
2. get on ground and lift one leg, bring it down and then hang it up so that it is just barely above the ground. repeat with both legs at once. works my upper thighs and stomach.
3. 10 sit ups and crunches but i hold each for about 30 seconds long. works stomach.
I’m still adding.This doesn’t really get my heart rate up though, so I’m wondering if this is gonna help me lose weight or just add muscle (i have no interest in that until I’ve actually lost the weight!)
Also, I’m not sure how I can work my ARMS. Any suggestions?
All these exercises are done very slowly so that the muscle keeps working for a long time, but I don’t know if what I’m doing is right. HELP PLEASE! Thank you!
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One Response to If I do sit ups, leg lifts and other resistance training will I slim down or bulk up?
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I hate to tell you this, but what you’re doing is not resistance training. Resistance is a force against the muscles like pushing or pulling a weighted object. All the situps in the world aren’t going to make you lose weight.
The fastest way to lose weight is to build muscle. Each pound of lean muscle burns about 40-50 calories per day at a resting metabolic rate. 10 lbs of muscle will burn 400-500 calories. 20 lbs of muscle will burn 800-1000 calories. The fat will melt off and you’ll end up with a lean body.
Women don’t have the testosterone that men do, so you’re not going to get massive muscles, but they will be tight and lean.
To build muscle you want to do high intensity resistance training. High intensity does not mean spending hours in a gym getting an intense workout and it doesn’t mean working out really hard so the sweat’s dripping down your face. It means doing roughly 8-10 reps with a level of resistance that challenges you enough so that it takes a significant amount of effort to complete that last rep. Then rest for about 30 seconds and move to the next muscle group. Workout out every major muscle group like this 3x times a week like Mon, Wed, Fri and then rest two days. You do not have to spend hours in a gym to effectively build muscle and you don’t even need weights.
I highly recommend resistance bands. They are considerably cheaper than weights, not to mention portable. If you get the kind with the clips on the end, you can easily customize the resistance level as your body adapts. That will prevent you from plateauing and will keep your muscles challenged.
Here is some more information on where you can get free muscle building workouts. There are new workouts posted Mon-Fri. There are also toning, cardio, pilates, workouts for teens and sports specific workouts. All of it’s free.