Hello!

Welcome to Monday.

This is our final week of our weight loss month! Today is the day that the 30 Day Weight Loss Accelerator mini course goes live.

Today we’re talking about strength training and why it is so important if you want to lose weight.

Importance

Strength training is crucial, no matter your goals, age, or abilities.

Everybody should be incorporating some sort of strength training into their routine. If you want to lose weight, this becomes even more important.

Strength training will improve every aspect of health and wellbeing.

Let’s talk about why it’s so important if you want to lose weight.

Resistance training is a powerful tool for minimizing age-related muscle loss and subsequently helps keep us mobile and functional well into old age. Resistance training builds and maintains muscle mass, and improves bone health and strength.

We lose about 6 pounds of muscle per decade after the age of 30. This is a lot. Fortunately, a regular resistance training routine can help mitigate this.

If you can stay mobile and functional as you age, you are way more likely to be able to manage your weight and prevent weight gain.

2. Body composition

Strength training is arguably the most powerful tool for improving your body composition - for both losing fat and gaining muscle. There are 3 key mechanisms behind this:

1. Increases metabolic efficiency and muscle mass. The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn on a daily basis. It also increases the number of type II fibers we have in our muscles. Having more of these fibers leads to a reduction in fat mass as well as increasing insulin resistance.

2. Increases excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). This means you keep burning calories even after you’re done exercising.

3. Switches on a fat-burning mode. This increases the amount of energy we burn through a specific molecular pathway. A recent study showed that when we load our muscles they send a message via little vesicles to our fat cells, triggering them to start burning fat.

3. Blood sugar control

Strength training is incredibly effective at regulating blood sugar. Blood sugar has a huge impact on our overall wellbeing and our ability to lose weight. If you can regulate your blood sugar levels, you'll find it much easier to lose those last few stubborn pounds.

Implementation

People think they don’t have the time, energy, or experience to lift weights. But the thing is, you don’t need to “lift weights”. You can use your body weight, resistance bands, or exercise machines. The key is simply to load your muscles.

An effective resistance training routine doesn’t take long - 30 minutes 2-3 times a week is enough to reap the benefits discussed above. You’ll also gain this time back because you’ll increase your energy and effectiveness in other areas of your life.

Aim to complete 3 dedicated strength sessions each week - i.e, a period of time where you are working on increasing strength.

There are loads of free workout routines online, or you can apply for my coaching program if you want one on one support and guidance.

Here are some free links to articles where I discuss how you can create an effective strength training routine:

A Simple Framework for Ultimate Strength and Fitness

In this article, I outline the various ways in which you can work on your fitness, touching on a few different ways to strength train.

How You Can Work Out for 7 Minutes a Week and Still See Results

This is a simple but effective bodyweight routine.

Before You Go

Today is the last day to get the 30 Day Weight Loss Accelerator course on pre-sale price. Make sure to check it out before the price goes up tomorrow!

I’ve got 3 openings in my online coaching program. If you’re a high-achieving woman who wants to build muscle and get lean, reply to this email and let me know!

As I said last week, I’m starting to post more on Instagram and Facebook, so please give me a follow there!