Its Strength Training Time!

Tighten up as you lighten up, that's what strength training is all about. It's an extraordinary way to tone your body and turn that extra flab into muscle. We're not talking about body building, just simple, light weights and floor exercises designed for targeting different muscle groups. Contrary to popular believe, strength training may be more important to successful fat loss than aerobic exercise. Depending upon the intensity of your workout, you may actually burn more calories with weight training. Done right, you will gain muscle, but you'll lose fat, and muscle burns calories faster than fat ever will. In just 30 minutes, two to three times per week you can tone, tighten and lose weight.

There are a number of strength training exercises you should incorporate into your exercise routine, each targeting different areas. These include the following:

· Squats: These work your gluts, quads, calves and hamstrings all at the same time.

· Push Ups: Work all the muscles of your body at once including your chest, shoulders, back, triceps and abs.

· Lunges: Tighten up those leg muscles including quads, gluts, calves and hamstrings.

· Sit ups: Work those abs with crunches and sit ups as well as elbow to knee twists.

· Weights: Using light weights to focus on your arms shows almost instant results. Toning your arms is best done with single-joint movements like curls, kickbacks, tricep presses and tricep extensions.

A personal trainer at Lucille Roberts can help design a strength training program that targets each of your muscle groups, appropriate for your strength level. In addition, there are a number of classes specifically designed for strength training as well as those that incorporate all or some of the above mentioned exercises.

Once you understand the importance of the Big Three you're on your way to a stronger, firmer, thinner you. Training with others helps motivate you and keep you on track, and you'll find a community of women at your local Lucille Roberts that have like-minded goals. Hop on a tread mill, do some sit ups, ride an elliptical, join in on one of the hottest exercises classes around, get tips from a personal trainer…everyone's there to help. Plus, Lucille Roberts has a new diet menu each week for you to try as well as weight loss products and supplements to help you reach your goals. Together you can create great things.