Start Big. Stay Focused. Don't Faint.

You're ready to start your workouts. Now what? Today, we'll look at some basic principles to consider, even before you start thinking about what exercises you need to do.

Work large muscle groups first. Let's say you are working your upper body when you visit the gym today. You will likely want to work the chest, back, shoulders and arms.

Work your largest muscle groups first, the chest and back. Then move to the shoulders. Finish by focusing on the triceps and biceps and even the forearms. Why? Think about it from the opposite perspective. Let's say your started with triceps and biceps. Now these two small muscle groups are worn out (if you've worked hard enough). Now you go on to work the chest. When you work the chest, you also involve the arm muscles. Take a bench press, for example. When you lift the barbell, the triceps contract to help you lift, even though the focus is on the chest muscles. If your triceps are already fatigued, they can't help with the bench press. This means you won't be able to work the large chest muscles effectively. If you start with the large muscle groups, the smaller muscles are also involved. When you finally get to these smaller muscle groups, you are adding to the workout they have already had.

One exercise at a time. I see people at the gym all the time running around from machine to machine with no apparent plan. They will do a chest press, then a leg curl, then ab crunches, then bicep curls. They always seem to have a vacant look in their eyes that's a little scary. The look says, "I have no clue what I'm doing, but if I do enough exercises, it must be good. Right?" Wrong!

It's not a good idea to switch around among the upper body, lower body and core muscles. Focus on one area and on one exercise. There are two reasons this is important.

First, to maximize the benefits of your workout, your goal is to fatigue your muscles. You must tax them to build strength. If you switch back and forth between different muscle groups, you are giving each group too much of a rest. When you finally get back to a previous muscle group, the second set doesn't add to the first. The benefit if not accretive. Bottom line: you're wasting your time.

Second, fainting at the gym is not a good idea. Your body sends blood to the muscles you are working. When you switch between the upper body and lower body, the blood flow can't keep up. This can result in dizziness or even passing out.

You don't have to follow these basic principles, of course. But, if you don't, you are not making the most of your time at the gym. You work out to look and feel good, not to live at the gym. Let other people besides your fellow gym members see how great you look.

Work out hard. Stay focused. Get out and enjoy how great you feel after your workout.

Myth-Busting: Women & Weights

Perhaps you have hesitated starting a strength training program because you have heard the common myths about it: 1) you will lose flexibility and 2) you will develop big muscles. Let's look at each of these myths.

Myth: You will lose flexibility. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, done correctly, you will increase your flexibility. The secret is to use full range of motion when you complete an exercise. Let's say, for example, you are doing bicep curls with a dumbbell. You should begin with your arm completely down (without hyper-extending your elbow). As you do your exercise, bend your arm until your hand is at your shoulder. Using full range of motion, you will build long, lean muscles and improve flexibility. And this helps prevent injury, too.

Myth: You will develop big muscles. To build massive muscles, you need lots of testosterone. Without resorting to steroids, there's nothing most women can do to make their muscles big. No matter how much weight lifting you do, you can't get bulky. Your muscles will be toned and well defined. Instead of those weak-looking, skinny, no-definition arms like you see on most fashion models, you can have healthy, strong arms that look great in sleeveless shirts and dresses. Even better, if you are a bit more mature, you can get rid of those "bat wings" that flap around your upper arm. One of my Japanese friends says that in Japan, they call these "kimono sleeves." Lift weights and say goodbye to kimono sleeves forever.

Where to Work Out

If you are still pondering how to get started with your strength training, you may be considering the best place to work out. Do you buy equipment and set it up in your home or join a gym? Here are some considerations.

If you are intimidated by the gym, you may want to opt to work out in the privacy of your home. The advantages to this include the following:

• No grunting, sweating guys (or gals) to contend with
• No excuses for not being able to get to the gym
• No commute time to and from the gym
• After the initial investment in equipment, no contracts or monthly membership fees

Conversely, there are many advantages to joining a gym:

• Motivation from being around others working out hard
• Separation of your home activities and training (Will you feel guilty about the equipment in your basement when you're not using it?)
• No space needed at home for workout equipment
  
• Variety in the equipment, which allows variety in your workout

This last point is the overriding criterion for me. No matter what you do, if you do it the same way, over and over, week after week, year after year, it's gets boring. If the variety will help you stick with your training, it's worth a lot of money. For example, I can do three entirely different kinds of workouts using machines, free weights or the cable pulley machine. I can also mix up all three any way I wish. This allows me to make every workout different. Also, by using different pieces of equipment, I work my muscles slightly differently. When you do the same exercises all the time, your muscles get accustomed to it and the improvement slows or stops. You have to mix it up to keep seeing results. I happen to belong to a gym, Planet Fitness, with a low annual membership, no contract and a $10 per month fee. My costs are minimal. It has everything I need in terms of equipment. You can't beat a bargain like that. Someday I hope to have my own, well-equipped home gym. I'll use it when the weather is bad or I just can't make it to the gym. However, I'll still keep my gym membership to give me the variety I need. Now that's the perfect solution to the question of where to work out.

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.