resistance training

Absolutely you need resistance training, but it doesn’t need to be lifting weights.

Each pound of lean muscle burns about 40-50 calories per day at a resting metabolic rate. Add 10 lbs of muscle and you’ll burn 400-500 calories. Add 20 lbs and you’ll double that. Forget about how much you weigh. The real results are in inches lost.

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 fact. 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.

Have you considered using resistance bands (fitness tubes) to build muscle? Physical therapy rehab clinics use them because of their smooth resistance through the entire movement. They are also 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. http://LiveExerciseOnline.com/free-workouts/