The biggest misconception that I see in the gym business is that women think free weights are just for men.  For any female that wants to lose weight or sculpt her physique, free weights should most definately be included in their program.

Without getting too in depth, women don’t have high enough levels of the male hormone testosterone to become “muscle bound”.  Most women are afraid that they will become too muscular and become masculine looking if they train with free weights.  This is just not true, as it is physiologically impossible for a woman to build massive amounts of muscle naturally.

Added muscle is a good thing for men, women, young, and old.  As stated above, there are limited amounts of muscle a person can gain naturally given age, gender, genetics, and other factors.  But if we can get a person to increase their lean muscle tissue they will in turn increase their metabolic rate.  What this means is that even at rest a person who carries more muscle will burn more calories than those with less.  Muscle is an “active” tissue, which means that muscle requires energy (calories) in order to sustain intself.  Whereas “inactive” tissue, such as fat, does not require energy to sustain itself.

So my advice to all women is to at least include some basic free weight exercises into your routine.  Increasing lean muscle will allow you to burn more calories while your sitting at your desk, watching TV, and even sleeping.

Regardless of a persons goals, nutrition will be the deciding factor of how successful a person is in reaching their goals.  Whether your goal is to gain muscle, lose fat, participate in a triathalon, or just increase your quality of life, nutrition is going to be the cornerstone to achieving the results you desire.

Even though nutrition can seem like a scary, complicated subject, it really is nothing to be intimidated by.  There is a lot of conflicting information floating around out there, but in the end it all comes down to balance.  Fad diets come and go by people who use marketing to get rich off uninformed consumers.  There is no such thing as a perfect diet out there.  It doesn’t exist.  And despite what people may think, there are really no hard and set rules when it comes to nutrition.  Genetically we are all different, and we all respond to foods in our own way.

The best advice I can give is to do what works for you.  This will require some experimenting, but in the end this has to be something that fits into your current lifestyle, something you will be able to stick to, and most importantly something your body will respond to.  I will get more in depth on this subject in the future, but for now balance is key. 

We all know to cut the junk out, and eat food that is as fresh as possible.  This will require some time, and planning, but the results will speak for themselves.  Eat small, frequent meals throughout the day.  I like to see people eat 6-7 meals a day, but if they can only get 5, I will take it.  Our bodies are more efficient when we eat this way.  Get a good balance of protein, complex carbs, fruits, and veggies.  It’s all about food choices and how we make them.

This is just the basis, so stay tuned for more detailed info. in the future.

Welcome to the new Blue Springs Fitness website.  We are currently tinkering with a lot of cool stuff on the site, so check back often.  The site is being built and run by one of our very own members, so we’ll be trying out a lot of new things, and experimenting with the capabilities of the site.

This blog will be updated regularly with fitness tips, and you can subscribe to it automatically using the RSS button on the right panel. The new blog will contain everything from training advice and advances in nutrition, to news about Blue Springs Fitness and it’s members.  There will be a little bit of everything. Feel free to leave comments here, drop us an email, or come by the gym for a visit. We are very excited about this new way to communicate with our members, and potential members, via the web.