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Wednesday, 03 September 2008

Start Your Fat-Burning Engine

Our expert helps five frustrated women beat a plateau and slim down for good.

The facts are simple: To look fit and firm at any age, you have to strength-train, says Wayne Westcott, PhD, senior fitness research director at the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, MA. Women lose about ½ pound of muscle a year, beginning as early as in their 20s. But that's not inevitable. According to two studies Westcott conducted over 15 years of more than 2,800 women and men, on average, you can gain 3 pounds of muscle, lose 2 inches around your waist, and drop 4 pounds of fat — without dieting — in 10 weeks by strength-training at least twice a week. Plus, new muscle revs metabolism. "A 3-pound muscle gain increases metabolism by about 7%, which translates to burning roughly 100 more calories a day," explains Westcott. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn.

Here, Westcott (coauthor of Get Stronger, Feel Younger) and his associate Rita LaRosa Loud use his findings to help five women reshape their current toning routines with more impressive findings — up to 4 inches off their waists and 5 pounds down on the scale in just 8 weeks.

1. "I lift weights but my arms jiggle!" —Arnesse Brown

Arnesse regularly worked out 4 days a week, alternating between traditional 60-minute aerobic classes and 90-minute combo ones that included cardio, weights, and ab exercises. She also did a series of upper-body moves with 6- or 8-pound dumbbells. "I'm in my 40s and in good shape but not satisfied with my triceps," she says. "For someone who works out as much as I do, I'd like to see a little more definition."

Expert Rx: Change things up

Regular activity keeps you fit and healthy, but if you always do the same exercise with the same weight for the same number of reps, your muscles get bored. "Muscles adapt to repetitive movements and eventually stop developing," says Westcott. To help Arnesse bust her plateau, he suggested challenging her muscles with the following strategies:

Mix single- and multimuscle moves

To tone a specific area, your workout should include exercises that isolate a trouble spot (single-muscle moves) and those that also work the surrounding muscles. You'll get better results, says Westcott, because you're still training the target area but not overloading it to the point of injury.

Practice the 6-second rep

Lift for 2 counts, lower in 4 — that's the breakdown that challenges you the most, says Westcott. The reason: Your muscles are strongest during the eccentric contraction, or lowering phase. "Slowing down this part of the exercise makes your muscles work significantly harder," he says.