 By Heather I am currrently at the lowest weight I've been in 10 years! Having reached this optimal weight, I decided I don't want to lose much more but I do want to tone up. To this end, two months ago I increased my level of strength training. Actually, who am I kidding? I started a regular schedule of strength training for the first time in my life and the impact on my body has been awesome. Note: Strength training is the same thing as resistance training. What counts as resistance training? Resistance training normally doesn't require much movement from one place to another; it's achieved using the body's own strength.  Examples include:
What isn't resistance training? Any activity that involves a huge amount of movement and can increase your heart rate significantly e.g. running, cycling, dancing, football and other sports that involve a lot of moving. These are cardiovascular exercises or simply, cardio. Why is resistance training good? 1. It increases your strength (and energy) levels which is good in itself 2. It improves your muscle tone and with consistency builds muscle 3. It increases your metabolism; the more skeletal muscle you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate i.e. you burn more calories when you're doing nothing which certainly cannot be bad What's harder - resistance training or cardio? Personally, I would say resistance. Cardio involves a repetition of the sam movements over and over again so you can jog or cycle, for example, but have your mind in another place entirely. A successful strength traning workout involves lots of different actvities and your mind has to be more engaged in the session. Indeed, the first sessions are almost imppossible. Two months ago, I couldn't do two consecutive bent-knee leg-drops (the easiest form) it took me two full months to get to six consecutive leg drops. And the best bit? I found that I was eating a little more but still maintaining my weight. This goes to show that the combination of cardio and resistance does help with weight maintenance. If you don't already do both, start to incorporate both forms of exercise into you regime to get more out of your work outs. Currently, I do two 5 km jogs per week and two sessions of resistance training. I also use cycling as a mode of transport if I'm not going very far.  Although your personal finances and your business success are my primary interest, I believe you only operate at peak efficiency when you're fit and healthy. If you feel good, it filters through to your work. To help you with that, click for your free ebook: The Quick Guide to Sexy
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By Heather
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Heather Katsonga-Woodward, a massive personal finance fanatic.
** All views expressed are my own and not those of any employer, past or present. ** Please get professional advice before re-arranging your personal finances.