Get Off That Elliptical Machine Already!

If I had a dollar for every woman I've seen at the gym on the elliptical machines for an hour or more, I wouldn't have to worry about how to survive the recession.

I know what these women on these machines are thinking, "I'm going to stay on this thing until I burn 500 calories and then I can eat pizza for dinner." Or maybe it's, "I shouldn't have eaten all that ice cream last night. Now I'm paying for it. I have to burn it all off."

Are you one of these women?

The truth is that trying to burn off calories on a cardio machine won't work. When you do cardiovascular training, like running, biking or using one of the machines at the gym, you burn calories while you're active and that's it. It takes a long time to burn even 100 calories. I don't know about you, but I have no desire to spend an hour or two at the gym doing the same motion over an over while being forced to watch Paula Dean stuff her face with a pound of lasagna on the Food Network. It's boring, punishing and self-defeating. I have better things to do with my time. Don't you?

You can boost your metabolism. You can burn hundreds of extra calories all day long, even while you sleep. It's not magic; it's muscle.

It's commonly known that muscle burns calories, and lots of them, much more so than fat. The more muscle you build, the more calories your body burns, even when you are not active.

Women are so obsessed about their weight, yet they don't want to learn the facts. They just keep mindlessly plugging away on those cardio machines. The truth is, to manage your weight, you need to build muscle and eat a healthier diet. There is no substitute.

I know from experience. I was one of those women, maybe like you, who struggled with my weight all my life. But 27 years ago, I started strength training at the gym. In the intervening years, I have reshaped my body, managed my weight and continued to grow stronger than ever. I'm now 52 years old, 5' 3" and somewhere around 105 pounds with all my clothes on.

The more I learn about training and apply those lessons, the more I feel and see the results.

You can do it, too. I want to share with you everything I've learned so that you can get in and out of the gym fast while maximizing the benefits of your workouts. Who knows? Like me, you may even come to consider weight training your favorite hobby. Who wouldn't like a hobby that makes you feel so good?

Each post will focus on one aspect of strength training, or working with weights. We may even expand out to look at other areas of healthy living. If you have specific questions or comments, please post them. Maybe you have great suggestions to share or a burning question. I'll get your questions answered so you can get that great burn at the gym and start remaking yourself into the woman you know you can be.