A question generated by a previous article, “How You Train Determines How You Look”, is from a reader who exercises regularly, but still has concerns regarding the approach to training and disappointing visible results.

Question: I am 57 years old and have been exercising regularly for the last 9 years. I do cardio classes at the YMCA two times a week, yoga one day a week, and additionally I am in a weight training class two days a week. I eat healthy, feel good, and am at a good weight, although I’d like to lose about 6 pounds. I have a lot of energy too, but with all this exercise, I still don’t look like I work out. My arms are flabby, I have no waist, and my posture is semi-poor. I don’t understand your last letter on recruiting muscle fibers with weight training for a leaner look! Don’t I do that in my weight training classes?

Your concern is understandable and also very typical for many people who exercise regularly. You are putting much energy into working out, but you just cannot get the look you desire.

Here’s What You Need to Know:

What is Cardiovascular Exercise Good For? What is it Not so Good For?
Cardiovascular exercise is great for burning calories and for making the heart strong. However, it does little for shaping the muscles of the upper body or even the legs. It’s true, sometimes you’ll see runners or other people who only do lots of cardiovascular exercise like biking and the elliptical trainer and they have nice looking legs. However, this is rare and seen mainly in those individuals with very little body fat. You’ll notice they look good, even though their muscle mass is minimum. For the other 99% of us, we must use full range of motion weight training techniques to fully sculpt not only the muscles of the legs and gluteus maximus ( rear) but the muscles of the upper body as well, especially the tricep muscles ( back of upper arms). As an additional note, if you are not exercising with good form and through a full range of motion, you are encouraging bad habits and increasing the likelihood of furthering poor posture.

What Can Yoga and Pilates Do For Us?

Yoga, pilates, and well designed stretching routines are great for increasing flexibility, general strength, and core strength. They aid our appearance by helping us move more fluidly as in our younger days. Some people who are very lithe and slender can attain a lean look solely by faithfully implementing these forms of exercise. This advantage lays in their super low body fat percentage visually magnifying what little muscle mass they may have. For those of us who are not so thin and lissome, or want a more fit look, developing muscle through properly tailored weight training routines are critical to achieving a visually appealing body frame.

Fortunately, many of today’s yoga and pilates instructors are well aware of the benefits of specialized weight training for a more desirably aesthetic look. These savvy instructors smartly refer and encourage their clients to engage in uniquely designed weight programs that are not being implemented in their yoga , pilates, or general weight training classes.

How Specialized Weight Training Can Change the Look of Your Body

Weight training is different than cardiovascular training flexibility. Of all the forms of activity, it is weight training that is crucial to shaping our muscles!

Think about this, but don’t get the wrong idea. Body builders sculpt and shape their muscles through the lifting of weights. It is not through hours on the treadmill, hours in the yoga studio, or hours spent on the pilates machine that muscles are densely defined. Now, before your image of the body builder is taken to the extreme form, know that their training is highly rigorous, highly intensive and highly systematic. That’s ok for them, but for those of us that want just a small amount of defined muscle that looks good and gives us that chiseled smooth look, we need not follow their program intensity or duration, but only their highly specialized weight room system for building muscle.

The progressive overload technique as well as various forms of what is called pyramid training done properly and implemented correctly are two of the quickest ways to achieve muscle tone that has been lacking for years. And yes, even in the hard to define areas of our bodies such as back of the arms, abdominals, rear end, hips and shoulders. What you need to know is that regardless of age, you are capable of gaining muscle, gaining strength, and gaining the confidence that you can not only feel better, but look better. For this to occur, specialized weight training is crucial, but the results are remarkable! You can do it! I will help. Bodysmart gives you the flexibilty to train online, on the telephone, or in person. For questions or inquiries on training with kim go to [email protected].