You can slim your body with heart-pumping exercises, but it takes some form of iron pumping to define it.
Resistance training — weight bearing exercises that work the muscles with dumbbells, elastic bands or your own body mass — is one of three facets of an optimal exercise program that also includes aerobic activity and stretching.
Seattle-based fitness instructor and club owner Kari Anderson started weight training after the birth of her first baby, 12 years ago. “The changes were immediate. After all my years of doing aerobics I finally got the lean and strong look I wanted,” she says.
Most importantly, weight bearing exercises increase bone strength and can prevent osteoporosis, a thinning of bone mass that commonly afflicts post-menopausal women.
A little strength training goes a long way to improving health. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, each major muscle group should be exercised at least twice a week, for a total of eight to 10 exercises each repeated eight to 12 times. To consolidate further, trainers suggest alternating workouts, training lower body one day, upper body the next, routines that can easily be kept to 10 minutes each.
If you find the gym’s sweaty, testosterone-fueled weight room a bit intimidating, the best place to tone is at home, in front of the VCR.
Unlike aerobics videotapes with complicated choreography, strength training routines are easy to follow. Tired toners can wait out the last few repetitions of any exercise and easily rejoin the instructor on the next.
Richard T. Cotton, exercise physiologist and spokesperson for the American Council on Exercise, calls videos a “moving demonstration of technique,” second only to a personal trainer. Stalled by banter, however, many videotaped programs take too long to complete. Cotton recommends learning from a video and then paring down the moves to suit your own needs.
With videos, exercisers can tone at home with Navy Seals, “Baywatch” babes and, of course, Jane Fonda. Though many tapes focus on one body part — abdominals, buns and upper body are the most common — an all-over body program provides balance. Here’s a recommended list, all available from Collage Video (800-433-6769):
BEGINNERS
Leslie Sansone’s Firm Up Fast — $14.95, 40 minutes. A friendly introduction to fitness, this tape shows every exercise with a variety of equipment — dumbbells, elastic bands and even weight-free — performed by models who range from petite to plus size. Easy to follow.
Denise Austin’s X-tra Lite Toning — $9.95, 30 minutes. Elementary exercises — bicep curls, tricep extensions, squats — performed by a perky instructor in a pretty beachside setting. Austin encourages viewers to get started at any level, suggesting a soup can in place of a one-pound weight.
BEGINNER TO INTERMEDIATE
Donna Richardson’s 4-Day Rotation — $14.95, 60 minutes. Four workouts in one tape, Richardson’s routine can be done in sequence or in segments, focusing on abs, buttocks, hips and thighs and upper body. The instructor’s fun-loving attitude is infectious. Dumbbells required.
Kari Anderson’s Tone it Up — $14.95, 40 minutes. Using an elastic Dyna-Band that comes with the video, this workout focuses on safety and versatility, cutting to similar moves using free weights and gym machines.
INTERMEDIATE TO ADVANCED
Karen Voigt’s Streamline Fitness — $19.95, 60 minutes. Fitness tailored to the time crunched, this tape gives you two workouts — legs, arms and buttocks in one; abs, back and yoga in another — and quickly paced, fluid choreography. Voight uses weighted balls but also demonstrates all exercises with dumbbells.
“The Method: Balanced Zones” — $14.95, 90 minutes. Combining ballet, yoga and principles of Pilates, The Method develops long, lean muscles by pitting the body against gravity, encouraging flexibility along with strength. A weighted bar, for which viewers can substitute a broom, is used for the upper body portion. Emphasis is on posture and breathing.
ADVANCED
“Maximum Intensity: Strength” with Cathe Friedrich — $19.95, 60 minutes. Remember your brother bench pressing barbells in the basement? Friedrich takes classic equipment and makes a class of it. Her serious manner, superheroine figure and power moves should inspire the truly toned to keep up. Uses barbells, dumbbells and step.
STRENGTH TRAINING TIPS
To get the most out of a resistance training program follow these guidelines:
– Lift the weight to a count of two and lower it to a count of three or four
– One set of 8 to 12 repetitions per exercise is sufficient to increase strength
– Once you can do 12 repetitions correctly, increased the weight by 5 percent to 10 percent
– Strength train at least two days each week, resting 48 hours before working the same muscle again.
