I have a serious pet peeve when I see black women in the gym using three pound weights to complete a weak workout. Many times I’ve seen trainers tell women they should use light weights and high reps to sculpt their bodies. This is a joke. Or women who forgo weights altogether for fear of looking like a man. Also a joke.
Weight training should be an intergal part of black women’s health and fitness regime. BUT proper weight training is key. Throw out the light weights and start lifting heavy. Here are a few tips on how to properly use weights to sculpt your body:
1. Perform dumbbell exercises that recruit as many big muscle groups as possible.
Dumbbell lifts like squats, deadlifts, rows, presses and cleans, snatches and jerks require a lot of big muscle groups to complete the movement. Plus, using big muscle groups allows you to use heavier weights. Using more muscle with heavier weights means more muscle!
2. Perform dumbbell exercises that require a great deal of energy.
Heavy grinding exercises, explosive exercises and combo matrixes require a lot of energy for completion. Expending more energy means less fat!
3. Perform dumbbell workouts in such a manner as to simultaneously build muscle, improve cardio-respiratory endurance and burn fat.
Doing workouts like super sets, timed circuits and peripheral heart action training, you can make your dumbbell workouts SUPER efficient. You’ll get the most out of your training time by attacking your body on many fronts!
Since black women gain muscle faster then other groups of women, with proper training and using these techniques, you can have the sexy physique you’ve been dreaming of in record time.
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Hey there!!
Great post!! Question – do the nautilus machines count? I hate free weights, but love the quad – leg machines and the arm machines.
And I have no problem stacking the weights on – just have to find a machine that works out the core..
oh and how long is a good work out? I figured 45 min to an hour of sets?
An hour is good, but i don’t use weight machines because:
a. They do some of the work for you
b. Often it’s not that natural of a movement.
Usually with free weights you’re moving as you would naturally, but machines can often constrict that movement.