| Get With the Program! Basics |
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| Can you believe that fruit-flavored yogurt and ice cream have almost the same amount of sugar? Per four-ounce serving, the yogurt has about 21 grams of sugar and the ice cream has about 23 grams. |
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| 5-in-1 Fitness Calculator |
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Strength training is a key component in the long-term maintenance of a healthy weight. It should be an adjunct to your aerobic program (click here to learn more).
Strength training will increase your musculature, your primary calorie burner. Plus it will strengthen your body and allow it to function more efficiently so you can perform your aerobic  exercise at higher levels, which will decrease your percentage of body fat. You’ll also get the added aesthetic benefit of toned muscles.
Another important yet often overlooked benefit of strength training is the way it combats two of the most profound effects of aging: the loss of muscle and the loss of bone mass (osteoporosis).
I recommend doing strength training three times a week. As you progress, you can increase the amount of weight you use and the number of sets you perform.
Sets are groupings of repetitions of the same exercise performed before you take a brief break. You should do between eight and ten repetitions in each set. A repetition is one successful completion of a given exercise. In general, a higher number of repetitions using a relatively low amount of weight is conducive to building more muscular endurance. Fewer repetitions with a relatively high weight will build muscular strength.
How much weight to use? Most personal trainers
recommend a weight that is between 60 percent and 80 percent of your maximum ability, with 70 percent of your maximum ability being the most common. To arrive at this number, a trainer will determine the most weight youcan lift at one time, and the prescribed percentage of that weight is calculated. This is an acceptable method, but I personally prefer another. I want you to begin each exercise using a very light weight that you know you can lift. Then increase this weight gradually until you arrive at a weight that makes you fatigued after eight or ten repetitions.
Be sure to do a warm-up set—four or five repetitions using about half the amount of weight you select—before beginning your workout. I’d like you to start by performing one set of the Essential Eight Dumbbell Exercises (click here and you can download the exercises to print out and keep). After about a month—at three times a week—you will probably be able to progress to two sets of each exercise. Another month, and you can go to three sets. Remember, your progress is completely under your control. If you’re not ready to increase the number of sets, you don’t have to.
You’ll find more detailed information about incorporating strength training into your life in my book books Get With the Program! and The Get With the Program! Guide to Good Eating.
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