Thursday, December 4, 2008

Rachel Cosgrove on the AOS Women's Page

I should've realized Rachel's gym was an AOS affiliate. Not that AOS Providence isn't a fantastic workout, but it's hardly the only good kettlebell workout available on DVD :)

But no matter. Rachel has a good article up on the AOS Women's Page re: metabolic resistance training for fat loss. According to Rachel it's even more beneficial than high intensity cardio intervals, which boost metabolism and burn calories but don't build muscle or increase strength. If your workout time is limited, Rachel recommends making metabolic resistance training workouts your main priority. Do up to 4 a week, and if you have time to do more, add in a cardio interval session or two. If you're really gung ho and want to do even more, you can throw in some steady state cardio, which will burn calories while you do it but won't build muscle or increase metabolism. But that should be your absolute last priority.

The foregoing assumes, of course, that your primary goal is fat loss. If you're looking for premium muscle gains or you've got an endurance event like a triathlon coming up, you'd want to train differently. But if what you really want is to see your six-pack abs, you should train as Rachel recommends.

http://www.artofstrength.com/WomensPage/WomensPage10/tabid/580/Default.aspx

(There's a nice picture of Rachel and her six-pack, showing that her program works. I think she's a great physical role model because she looks healthy-lean, not extreme. A body that's fitness-model lean isn't something a woman should try to maintain indefinitely if she cares about her health, but a body like Rachel's is a totally appropriate thing to strive for. Not to mention, if that's where you maintain, you'll already be 3/4 of the way there on those occasions when you DO want to have more of a fitness-model extreme look :))